bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
An Approximate Log-Linear Model for Predicting Magazine Audiences
Authors: Danaher Peter J.
Published: December 2018

In 1988 Danaher showed a log-linear model to be accurate for predicting magazine exposure distributions. However, the model was expensive on computer time and stored array space when the number of magazines and insertions was large. An approximation to that model is developed that is of comparable accuracy yet takes less than one quarter of the computation time and eliminates the need for a large stored array. The approximate log-linear model is compared empirically with Danaher's previous log-linear model and one of Leckenby and Kishi's Dirichlet-multinomial models for equal-insertion schedules. For unequal-insertion schedules, the approximate log-linear model is compared with the log-linear model and the popular Metheringham beta-binomial model. The results show that in accuracy, the approximate log-linear model is between the log-linear and Leckenby and Kishi's model for equal insertions and is about the same as the log-linear for unequal-insertion schedules, but is significantly more accurate than Metheringham's model.
The Mediating Role of Attitude toward the Ad: Some Additional Evidence
Authors: Homer Pamela M.
Published: December 2018

MacKenzie, Lutz, and Belch have enhanced our understanding of the mediating role of attitude toward the ad (AAd). The current study replicates and extends the structural equation tests of the four competing models they presented. Two independent datasets are used to examine the role of processing involvement. Consistent with the earlier findings, the dual mediation hypothesis model provides the “best” fit of the data in both experiments. However, the hypothesized causal path between brand cognitions and brand attitudes that emerges for each of the datasets conflicts with the earlier findings. Contrary to expectations, processing involvement does not produce substantial differences in the specification or strength of the causal paths.
Estimation of Latent Class Models with Heterogeneous Choice Probabilities: An Application to Market Structuring
Authors: Jain Dipak , Bass Frank M. , Chen Yu-Min
Published: December 2018

Recently, Grover and Srinivasan developed a latent-class-based approach to analyze market structure by using brand-switching data. The authors provide an iterative maximum likelihood procedure for estimating parameters of a model that incorporates heterogeneity within segments. Using the same dataset, they compare the results obtained by incorporating heterogeneity in two different ways.
An Elimination by Aspects Model of Consumer Response to Promotion Calibrated on UPC Scanner Data
Authors: Fader Peter S. , Mcalister Leigh
Published: December 2018

Because consumers are believed to use simplifying heuristics to screen alternatives before choosing one to purchase, the authors formulate and estimate an elimination by aspects model at the individual household level, using UPC scanner data collected from purchases of regular ground coffee. The proposed model fits and predicts the data as well as its compensatory approximation. The parameters of the proposed model are reasonably stable, unbiased, and different in interesting ways from their compensatory counterparts.
A Longitudinal Assessment of the Impact of Selected Organizational Influences on Salespeople's Organizational Commitment during Early Employment
Authors: Johnston Mark W. , Parasuraman A. , Futrell Charles M. , Black William C.
Published: December 2018

To examine the antecedents and consequences of the development of salespeople's organizational commitment during early employment, the authors conducted a longitudinal study. The study focused on how changes in three key antecedents (leadership behavior, role stress, and job satisfaction) influence the development of commitment and how changes in commitment, in turn, affect turnover intentions and behavior. Results suggest that role ambiguity and job satisfaction (but not leadership behavior) are significant contributors to the development of organizational commitment during early employment. The results also show that organizational commitment influences turnover through its significant impact on propensity to leave.
Ease of Message Processing as a Moderator of Repetition Effects in Advertising
Authors: Anand Punam , Sternthal Brian
Published: December 2018

The study suggests that the effect of repeated advertising exposures on brand evaluations is moderated by the ease with which the advertising message is processed. Increasing exposures enhanced the effectiveness of a difficult appeal, increased then decreased the effectiveness of a moderately difficult appeal, and decreased then increased the effectiveness of an easy appeal. These outcomes support the premise that message effectiveness can be affected by the time available for message processing and the time required for that task.
A Quasi-Experiment Assessing the Effectiveness of TV Advertising Directed to Children
Authors: Goldberg Marvin E.
Published: December 2018

A Quebec low eliminating advertising to children on Quebec TV stations left American border TV stations as the only source of TV commercials for toys and children's cereals. As a result, English-speaking children in Montreal who watch more children's TV on American stations were exposed to more advertising than French-speaking children who watch more children's TV on French-language Quebec stations. This situation facilitated the structuring of a quasi-experimental design comparing the two groups of children. As expected, English-speaking children were able to recognize significantly more toys available in the marketplace and reported having more children's cereals in their homes than did French-speaking children. Correlational analyses within each language group helped confirm the role of exposure to American TV (and hence of the Quebec law) as the probable cause of the observed differences.
Robust Measures of Consumer Brand Beliefs
Authors: Barnard Neil R. , Ehrenberg Andrew S. C.
Published: December 2018

Three measures of consumers’ beliefs about different attributes of competitive brands of packaged goods—free choice, scaling, and ranking—are found to place the brands in the same relative positions on each attribute dimension. In addition, gradients by the recency or frequency of claimed brand usage that have been observed previously in free-choice belief data now are found also in the scaling and ranking data.
Modeling Dyadic Interactions and Networks in Marketing
Authors: Iacobucci Dawn , Hopkins Nigel
Published: December 2018

Many substantive areas in marketing share a basic concern with relationships. Social network and dyadic interaction methods are techniques that can enrich a researcher's understanding of the structure of relationships, whether a few actors or many are involved and whether the relationships are at the consumer or business level. Network models are discussed in a variety of substantive areas, including coalition formation in buying centers, identification of opinion leaders in word-of-mouth networks, power and cooperation in channel dyads, conflict resolution in family purchasing, and the management of expectations in service encounters. In addition, important modeling advances are described, including techniques that enable researchers to make comparisons between networks and adaptations of reciprocity parameters to allow for identification of stochastic cliques.
The Effects of Sequential Introduction of Brand Extensions
Authors: Keller Kevin Lane , Aaker David A.
Published: December 2018

A laboratory experiment examines factors affecting evaluations of proposed extensions from a core brand that has or has not already been extended into other product categories. Specifically, the perceived quality of the core brand and the number, success, and similarity of intervening brand extensions, by influencing perceptions of company credibility and product fit, are hypothesized to affect evaluations of proposed new extensions, as well as evaluations of the core brand itself. The findings indicate that evaluations of a proposed extension when there were intervening extensions differed from evaluations when there were no intervening extensions only when there was a significant disparity between the perceived quality of the intervening extension (as judged by its success or failure) and the perceived quality of the core brand. A successful intervening extension increased evaluations of a proposed extension only for an average quality core brand; an unsuccessful intervening extension decreased evaluations of a proposed extension only for a high quality core brand. Though a successful intervening extension also increased evaluations of an average quality core brand, an unsuccessful intervening extension did not decrease core brand evaluations regardless of the quality level of the core brand. The relative similarity of intervening extensions had little differential impact, but multiple intervening extensions had some different effects than a single intervening extension.
Evaluating the Multiple Effects of Retail Promotions on Brand Loyal and Brand Switching Segments
Authors: Grover Rajiv , Srinivasan V.
Published: December 2018

The authors determine the multiple effects of retail promotions on brand loyal and brand switching segments of consumers. Segments are determined by an iterative Bayesian procedure. The variations in within-segment brand shares within a store are related to promotional variables by a logit model estimated by nonlinear least squares. Store share is modeled as a function of store attractiveness, a summary measure of the store's promotional activity on the multiple brands. Finally, category volume is related to overall product category attractiveness in a model that includes both current and lagged effects. The research approach is applied to the IRI ground coffee data. Results include: (1) the market can be characterized by brand loyal segments, each of which buys mostly their favorite brand, and switching segments, each of which switches mainly among different brands of the same type (e.g., drip, percolator), (2) promotional variables have significant effects on within-segment market shares, the effects being different across segments, (3) store share is related significantly to promotional attractiveness of a store, (4) the overall promotional attractiveness of the product category has significant current and lagged effects on category volume, and (5) the lagged effects resulting from consumer purchase acceleration and stockup last longer for brand loyal segments than for switching segments.
Converting from Independent to Employee Salesforces: The Role of Perceived Switching Costs
Authors: Weiss Allen M. , Anderson Erin
Published: December 2018

A study was conducted to understand when and why manufacturers might convert from an independent salesforce to a direct salesforce. On the basis of hypotheses developed from channel distribution theory and ecological theory of organizational change, the authors estimate a model of a firm's intention to “go direct” with survey data from 243 manufacturers currently using manufacturers’ representatives. Results indicate considerable inertia in the manufacturer/agent relationship and suggest some reasons for the stability of those arrangements.
Promotion Has a Negative Effect on Brand Evaluations—Or Does It? Additional Disconfirming Evidence
Authors: Davis Scott , Inman J. Jeffrey , McAlister Leigh
Published: December 2018

Early research on the effect of promotion suggested that a brand using that element of the marketing mix would be evaluated lower and therefore have a reduced repurchase probability. Though that hypothesis refers to a change in brand evaluation at the individual level, tests of it typically have been performed with repurchase probabilities at the aggregate level. Recent work by Neslin and Shoemaker shows that it is possible to observe a decrease in aggregate repurchase probability due to promotion even if individual-level repurchase probabilities are unchanged. Though their evidence does not directly test the hypothesis of a negative effect for promotion, it does provide an alternative explanation for observed results. The authors expand their work by directly testing the hypothesis of a negative effect for promotion and by performing that test on the underlying construct, brand evaluation. After initial measurement of shoppers’ evaluations, brands in test categories were promoted for three months. At the end of the promotion manipulation period, brand evaluations were remeasured. The hypothesis that overall evaluation of promoted brands would decrease is rejected.
Improving Rating Scale Measures by Detecting and Correcting Bias Components in Some Response Styles
Authors: Greenleaf Eric A.
Published: December 2018

The author examines whether the response styles of yeasaying and standard deviation in rating scale responses convey information on respondents’ attitudes or create bias that distorts attitude information and marketing research. A method is proposed to identify attitude information components and bias components in response styles, using prediction errors in attitude-behavior models. Analysis of data from a large-scale consumer survey supports the presence of both attitude information and bias components in standard deviation, and an attitude information but not a bias component in yeasaying. This finding suggests that correcting rating scale data by removing the bias but not the attitude information in standard deviation can increase the accuracy of survey research. Examples are given of how bias in standard deviation, and the scoring correction, affect segmentation research.
Market Share Response When Consumers Seek Variety
Authors: Feinberg Fred M. , Kahn Barbara E. , Mcalister Leigh
Published: December 2018

Using a model of consumer variety-seeking, the authors study the long-term market share implications of changes in variety-seeking intensity, brand preferences, and pairwise similarities between brands. Those analytically derived guidelines are examined in three-brand and five-brand markets through simulation. The least preferred brand is found generally to gain market share as variety-seeking intensifies whereas the most preferred brand tends to lose share. If two brands are perceived as having become more similar without a change in overall preferences, the repositioned brands are likely to lose market share while uninvolved brands gain share. If two brands are perceived as having become more similar in a way that increases overall preference for those repositioned brands, they should gain market share while uninvolved brands lose it. A behavioral experiment provides preliminary empirical support for some of the findings.
Richness Curves for Evaluating Market Segmentation
Authors: Novak Thomas P. , de Leeuw Jan , Macevoy Bruce
Published: December 2018

Overall evaluation of market segmentation often is based on variance-explained measures, such as R2. However, variance explained measures can be misleading if applied to the managerial problem of selecting target segments. Richness curves are proposed as an alternative way of evaluating market segmentation. Statistical considerations (bias and stability) are addressed.
The Effects of Brand Extensions on Market Share and Advertising Efficiency
Authors: Smith Daniel C. , Park C. Whan
Published: December 2018

The authors examine the effects of brand strategy (i.e., brand extensions vs. individual brands) on new product market share and advertising efficiency, and the degree to which these effects are moderated by characteristics of the brand, the product to which it is extended, and the market in which that product competes. The findings indicate that brand extensions capture greater market share and realize greater advertising efficiency than individual brands. The strength of the parent brand is related positively to the market share of brand extensions but has no effect on advertising efficiency. Neither the market share nor the advertising efficiency of extensions is affected by the number of products affiliated with the parent brand. The relative effect of brand extensions on market share is not moderated by the degree of similarity between the extension and other products affiliated with the brand. Advertising efficiency effects, however, are elevated when similarity is high, but only when it is based on intrinsic attributes. Market share and advertising efficiency effects are elevated when the extension is composed primarily of experience attributes and competes in markets where consumers have limited knowledge of the product class. Competitive intensity does not moderate advertising efficiency effects; however, market share effects are elevated when the extension competes in markets comprising few competitors. Finally, both market share and efficiency effects diminish as the extension becomes established in the market.
The Overconfidence Effect in Marketing Management Predictions
Authors: Mahajan Jayashree
Published: December 2018

Estimating the likelihood of future events is a critical aspect of making a variety of marketing management decisions. Prior research has shown very robust patterns in the probability assessments of individuals, the predominant finding being that individuals are overconfident. The author theoretically investigates why overconfidence occurs by drawing on prior work on how cognitions are used in decisions. Specifically, the effects of evaluative feedback, counterfactual reasoning, and expertise are explored in two experiments in the context of making strategic marketing predictions. The findings provide some novel insights on overconfidence and accuracy of predictions. They suggest that (1) “humbling” feedback increases accuracy and lowers overconfidence, (2) overconfidence from being “blind sided” can be reduced by counterfactual reasoning, and (3) “richness” of experts’ mental representations results in higher overconfidence. The author concludes with a discussion of these findings and managerial implications.
Elimination by Dimensions
Authors: Gensch Dennis H. , Ghose Sanjoy
Published: December 2018

The well-known PRETREE model, though rich in behavioral structural theory, is virtually unused by marketing practitioners. Four problem areas relating to the application of PRETREE are identified. The authors then develop the “elimination-by-dimensions” (EBD) model to address these problems. A key feature of the EBD model is the recognition that most real-life marketing attributes are continuous dimensions, not aspects. The EBD model provides diagnostic information by labeling the specific dimensions consumers use to eliminate alternatives hierarchically. A procedure for naming the key dimensions directly from the data is suggested. Empirical information from both an industrial buying dataset and a consumer product dataset is used to compare the predicted market share estimates of the EBD model with predictions based on Tversky and Sattath's suggested conditional probability approach and the multinomial logit model. The EBD model gives substantially better market share predictions on both datasets than the conditional probability approach. Finally, using only dimensions identified by the disaggregate EBD model, the authors show individual-level predictions to be significantly above the chance level.
Influence Strategies in Marketing Channels: Measures and Use in Different Relationship Structures
Authors: Boyle Brett , Dwyer F. Robert , Robicheaux Robert A. , Simpson James T.
Published: December 2018

The authors develop new measures of influence strategies in marketing channels (i.e., the means by which a firm's personnel communicate with its partners to affect their behavior) in order to examine associations with the strength of buyer-seller relationships (relationalism) and alternative governance structures (market, administered, franchise, and corporate). Study 1 was a field test of the new multi-item measure of influence strategies in a contractual channel system. The results confirm the predicted negative association between relationalism and the following influence strategies: threats, legalistic pleas, and requests. Study 2 replicated tests of the psychometric quality of the scales in all four forms of governance. The results show that (1) the frequency of recommendations, promises, and information exchange is associated positively with a global measure of relationalism and (2) the frequency of almost all supplier communications differs across the four governance structures.
The Future of Research in Marketing: Marketing Science
Authors: Bass Frank M.
Published: December 2018

This February 1993 issue begins the 30th Anniversary volume of the Journal of Marketing Research. The academic marketing discipline, as reflected in the articles published in JMR, has certainly changed dramatically over this time period. To reflect on these changes and generate discussion about the future directions for marketing research, I have asked several marketing scholars to prepare guest editorials.

It is fitting that Frank Bass write the first of these guest editorials. Professor Bass is a former editor of the JMR and a recipient of the William O'Dell Award for the best paper published in JMR, the Paul D. Converse Award for outstanding contributions to marketing science and theory, and the Richard D. Irwin/American Marketing Association Distinguished Marketing Educator Award. In addition to his research published in the leading marketing and management science journals. Professor Bass has made significant contributions through his former doctoral students who are professors in leading management schools across the world.

—Barton A. Weitz, Editor
Toward Formalizing Fashion Theory
Authors: Miller Christopher M. , Mcintyre Shelby H. , Mantrala Murali K.
Published: December 2018

The authors develop a theoretical framework of the fashion process and a mathematical model of that framework. Basic constructs related to an individual's motivations for adopting fashions are extracted from the fashion literature and related to the individual's fashion decision process. The individual-level model is then integrated into a societal-level framework that can be represented as a system of difference equations. The parameters of the system represent static interpersonal influence networks. The general solution for the system of difference equations is presented and the dynamic implications of several interpersonal influence patterns assumed in previous research are derived mathematically.
Pioneer Advantage: Marketing Logic or Marketing Legend?
Authors: Golder Peter N. , Tellis Gerard J.
Published: December 2018

Several studies have shown that pioneers have long-lived market share advantages and are likely to be market leaders in their product categories. However, that research has potential limitations: the reliance on a few established databases, the exclusion of nonsurvivors, and the use of single-informant self-reports for data collection. The authors of this study use an alternate method, historical analysis, to avoid these limitations. Approximately 500 brands in 50 product categories are analyzed. The results show that almost half of market pioneers fail and their mean market share is much lower than that found in other studies. Also, early market leaders have much greater long-term success and enter an average of 13 years after pioneers.
Price Perceptions and Consumer Shopping Behavior: A Field Study
Authors: Lichtenstein Donald R. , Ridgway Nancy M. , Netemeyer Richard G.
Published: December 2018

Seven price-related constructs—five consistent with a perception of price in its “negative role” and two consistent with a perception of price in its “positive role”— are used as independent variables to predict marketplace responses/behaviors in five domains: price search, generic product purchases, price recall, sale responsiveness, and coupon redemption. The price-related constructs explain a significant amount of variance in all five domains, providing evidence of predictive validity. Results of a higher order factor analysis are also reported, which provide some support for the positive-negative perception of price taxonomy.
Inferring Market Structure with Aggregate Data: A Latent Segment Logit Approach
Authors: Zenor Michael J. , Srivastava Rajendra K.
Published: December 2018

In this paper, the authors introduce a “latent segment logit” (LSL) model that allows the identification of latent market segments when only macro-level time-series data (e.g., market share or sales, not individual choices) are available. The proposed model provides a paramorphic representation of market structure, based on the notion that “structure” implies heterogeneity in preferences and/or response to marketing mix elements. It assumes that independence of irrelevant alternatives (IIA) holds within latent segments (i.e., segments are homogeneous) but allows for heterogeneity across segments. Estimates for segment characteristics (including size, brand preferences, and sensitivity to marketing mix variables) are obtained by applying the model to aggregated longitudinal panel data. Validation tests are conducted on both the aggregated and disaggregated panel data. Aggregate validation demonstrates that the model is superior to standard market share models in terms of calibration and predictive fit. Disaggregated validation demonstrates that the latent segments recovered by the model account for much of the variation across household purchase histories, even though these data were not utilized in the estimation.
A Probabilistic Approach to Pricing a Bundle of Products or Services
Authors: Venkatesh R. , Mahajaim Vijay
Published: December 2018

The authors propose a probabilistic approach to optimally price a bundle of products or services that maximizes seller's profits. Their focus is on situations in which consumer decision making is on the basis of multiple criteria. For model development and empirical investigation they consider a season ticket bundle for a series of entertainment performances such as sports games and music/dance concerts. In this case, they assume consumer purchase decisions to be a function of two independent resource dimensions, namely, available time to attend performances and reservation price per performance. Using this information, the model suggests the optimal prices of the bundle and/or components (individual performances), and corresponding maximum profits under three alternative strategies: (a) pure components (each performance is priced and offered separately), (b) pure bundling (the performances are priced and offered only as a bundle), and (c) mixed bundling (both the bundle and the individual performances are priced and offered separately). They apply their model to price a planned series of music/dance performances. Results indicate that a mixed bundling strategy is more profitable than pure components or pure bundling strategies provided the relative prices of the bundle and components are carefully chosen. Limitations and possible extensions of the model are discussed.
Reliability Measures for Qualitative Data: Theory and Implications
Authors: Rust Roland T. , Cooil Bruce
Published: December 2018

Data based on qualitative judgments are prevalent in both academic research in marketing and applied marketing research. Reliability measurement of qualitative data is important to determine the stability and quality of the data obtained. The authors assume a decision theoretic loss function, formally model the loss to the researcher of using wrong judgments, and show how this produces a new, proportional reduction in loss (PRL) reliability measure that generalizes many existing quantitative and qualitative measures. Because the PRL measure is often cumbersome to compute directly, they provide reference tables that enable the researcher to apply their approach easily. They then use this new approach to explore several important practical issues in conducting marketing research with qualitative judgments. In particular, they address the issues of (1) how reliable qualitative data should be (extending directly from Nunnally's rule of thumb for Cronbach's alpha in quantitative measurement), (2) how many judges are necessary given a known proportion of agreement between judges, and (3) given a fixed number of judges, what proportion of agreement must be obtained to ensure adequate reliability.
Perceptual Mapping Based on Idiosyncratic Sets of Attributes
Authors: Steenkamp Jan-Benedict E.M. , Van Trijp Hans C.M. , Berge Jos M.F. Ten
Published: December 2018

The authors describe a compositional perceptual mapping procedure, unrestricted attribute-elicitation mapping (UAM), which allows consumers to describe and rate the brands in their own terminology and thus relaxes the restrictive assumptions of traditional compositional mapping techniques regarding the structure and interpretation of the set of attributes. They compare the performance of three estimation techniques for constructing a group space based on the idiosyncratic data, namely, INDSCAL, CANCOR, and generalized procrustes analysis (GPA). Their findings indicate that the three estimation techniques perform about equally well. UAM also is compared with traditional compositional mapping. They find that UAM is superior on fit of the solution, interpretability, and sample reliability. UAM probably holds an edge with respect to data collection. Traditional compositional mapping is superior on ease of data analysis. No major difference was found on predictive validity and structural reliability.
A Tale of Two Cities: Distinctiveness Theory and Advertising Effectiveness
Authors: Deshpandé Rohit , Stayman Douglas M.
Published: December 2018

The authors conducted an empirical study to test McGuire's (1984) distinctiveness theory within an advertising context. First, following the distinctiveness theory postulate, they found that members of minority groups were more likely than majority groups to have their ethnicity salient. Furthermore, in applying distinctiveness theory to persuasion, they found that members of minority (versus majority) groups find an ad spokesperson from their own ethnic group to be more trustworthy and that increased trustworthiness led to more positive attitudes toward the brand being advertised. The authors draw implications for both advertising to ethnic/minority groups as well as for further research applications of distinctiveness theory.
Benchmarks for Discrete Choice Models
Authors: Kalwani Manohar U. , Meyer Robert J. , Morrison Donald G.
Published: December 2018

In assessing the performance of a choice model, we have to answer the question, “Compared with what?” Analyses of consumer brand choice data historically have measured fit by comparing a model's performance with that of a naive model that assumes a household's choice probability on each occasion equals the aggregate market share of each brand. The authors suggest that this benchmark could form an overly naive point of reference in assessing the fit of a choice model calibrated on scanner-panel data, or any repeated-measures analysis of choice. They propose that fairer benchmarks for discrete choice models in marketing should incorporate heterogeneity in consumer choice probabilities, evidence for which is by now well documented in the marketing literature. They use simulated data to compare the performance of parametric and nonparametric benchmark models, which allow for heterogeneity in consumer choice probabilities, with the performance of the aggregate share-based benchmark model, which assumes consumers are homogeneous in their choice probabilities. They also assess the performance of two previously published consumer behavior models against the proposed fairer benchmark models that allow for heterogeneity in consumer choice probabilities. They find that one provides a significantly better fit than their more conservative benchmark models and the other performs less favorably.
Signal Detection Theory and Single Observation Designs: Methods and Indices for Advertising Recognition Testing
Authors: Cradit J. Dennis , Tashchian Armen , Hofacker Charles F.
Published: December 2018

Most marketing applications of signal detection theory (SDT) produce an estimate of the respondent's memory accuracy based on exposure to a number of advertisements. Marketing practitioners, however, are usually more interested in the performance of an individual advertisement, or elements of that ad. Moreover, advertising recognition paradigms are typically limited to single observations per respondent. The authors present and compare two alternative methodologies that estimate SDT parameters for such designs by pooling recognition performance across respondents. They present two simulations that explore the most efficient methodology and suggest guidelines for selecting appropriate accuracy indices.
Foreign Branding and Its Effects on Product Perceptions and Attitudes
Authors: Leclerc France , Schmitt Bernd H. , Dubé Laurette
Published: December 2018

With three experiments, the authors examine the notion that foreign branding—the strategy of pronouncing or spelling a brand name in a foreign language—triggers cultural stereotypes and influences product perceptions and attitudes. Choosing French brands as one specific case, Experiment 1 shows that the French pronunciation of a brand name affects the perceived hedonism of the products, attitudes toward the brand, and attitudes toward the brand name. Experiment 2 shows that congruent country-of-origin information, added to French branding, does not result in more hedonic perceptions; incongruence, however, diminishes the effect. In Experiment 3, an actual product taste test is performed. Despite the presence of direct sensory experience, consumer perceptions of a product change as a result of French branding.
Understanding Brand Competition Using Micro and Macro Scanner Data
Authors: Russell Gary J. , Kamakura Wagner A.
Published: December 2018

Recent advances in data gathering through checkout scanners have produced vast amounts of data on the actual behavior of consumers in the marketplace, creating new opportunities for managers and researchers to understand competition and consumers’ response to the marketing mix. Previous analyses of this data in the literature have focused either at the household (micro) or store (macro) level. The authors propose a method of enriching the analysis of competitive behavior by combining the in-depth consumer information obtained from a micro-level household scanner panel with the comprehensive market data supplied by a macro-level retail-tracking panel. The approach offers the manager detailed information about consumers (e.g., identification of consumer segments in terms of brand preferences and socioeconomic characteristics) along with strategic diagnostics of the product-market (e.g., the sensitivity of the market to price promotions, impact of a brand's strategy on competitors, vulnerability of the brand to competitive actions).
Meaningful Brands from Meaningless Differentiation: The Dependence on Irrelevant Attributes
Authors: Carpenter Gregory S. , Glazer Rashi , Nakamoto Kent
Published: December 2018

Conventional product differentiation strategies prescribe distinguishing a product or brand from competitors’ on the basis of an attribute that is relevant, meaningful, and valuable to consumers. However, brands also successfully differentiate on an attribute that appears to create a meaningful product difference but on closer examination is irrelevant to creating that benefit—“meaningless” differentiation. The authors examine how meaningless differentiation can produce a meaningfully differentiated brand. They argue that buyers may infer that a distinguishing but irrelevant attribute is in fact relevant and valuable under certain conditions, creating a meaningfully differentiated brand. They outline the consumer inference process and develop a set of hypotheses about when it will produce meaningful brands from meaningless differentiation. Experimental tests in three product categories support their analysis. They explore the implications of the results for product differentiation strategies, consumer preference formation, and the nature of competition.
Advertising's Impact on Category Substitution
Authors: Wansink Brian
Published: December 2018

The usage frequency of a mature brand can be increased by encouraging consumers to substitute it in situations for which it is not normally used. They are most likely to do so if they perceive the target brand as neither too similar to nor dissimilar from the product it is replacing. In study 1, the author shows that ads are most likely to change usage attitudes by either (1) advertising common attributes when the comparison product is dissimilar or (2) advertising distinct attributes when the comparison product is similar. In study 2, replicating the design of study 1, the author demonstrates that ads that have a positive impact on usage attitudes toward the target brand can have a corresponding negative impact on usage attitudes toward the comparison product. Hence, the effectiveness of an expansion advertising campaign depends on its positive impact on the target brand and its negative impact on the comparison product.
An Integrated Framework for Relating Diverse Consumer Characteristics to Supermarket Coupon Redemption
Authors: Mittal Banwari
Published: December 2018

The author proposes a model of consumer redemption of grocery coupons, integrating the separate literatures on consumer demographics, nondemographic consumer characteristics, and cost/benefit perceptions. The model posits that demographics are poor predictors of coupon-use behavior, because they are the farthest in the causal chain. The effects of demographics are mediated by three layers of mediating variables, each successively closer to coupon attitudes and use. Data from a sample of grocery shoppers show most of the hypothesized mediational paths to be significant. The research cautions against arbitrary use of demographics for targeting promotional efforts and offers an approach to constructing an understanding of the psychological processes that mediate between consumers’ demographics and their marketplace behaviors.
Efficient Experimental Design with Marketing Research Applications
Authors: Kuhfeld Warren F. , Tobias Randall D. , Garratt Mark
Published: December 2018

The authors suggest the use of D-efficient experimental designs for conjoint and discrete-choice studies, discussing orthogonal arrays, nonorthogonal designs, relative efficiency, and nonorthogonal design algorithms. They construct designs for a choice study with asymmetry and interactions and for a conjoint study with blocks and aggregate interactions.
Life-Style Segmentation with Tailored Interviewing
Authors: Kamakura Wagner A. , Wedel Michel
Published: December 2018

The authors present a tailored interviewing procedure for life-style segmentation. The procedure assumes that a life-style measurement instrument has been designed. A classification of a sample of consumers into life-style segments is obtained using a latent-class model. With these segments, the tailored interview procedure classifies consumers into the same segments in future studies. The procedure minimizes the error of misclassification and decreases the interview costs by using only a fraction of the items for each respondent. In an empirical application to a questionnaire designed to assess lifestyle related to the consumption of fashion, the authors obtain a classification that agrees with the full interview (i.e., using all scale items) for 73% of the respondents while using only 22% of all the questions in a traditional life-style battery.
Organizational Market Information Processes: Cultural Antecedents and New Product Outcomes
Authors: Moorman Christine
Published: December 2018

Organizational research suggests that the way information is used is likely to be a function of the presence of organizational systems or processes, in addition to individual manager activities. The author suggests that firms vary their emphasis on certain organizational market information processes, such as information acquisition, information transmission, conceptual use of information, and instrumental use of information. The author argues that the emphasis is determined, in part, by the congruence, or fit, among an organization's cultural norms and values and theorizes that the presence of these organizational information processes affects new product outcomes. Survey results indicate that clans dominate the other cultures in predicting organizational market information processes, suggesting that information processes are fundamentally “people processes” that involve commitment and trust among organizational members. The results have important implications for balancing internal and external orientations within firms. The results also indicate that the information utilization processes, especially those that are conceptual in nature, are strong predictors of new product performance, timeliness, and creativity, indicating that competitive advantage is tied to information utilization activities in firms.
The Effects of Perceived Interdependence on Dealer Attitudes
Authors: Kumar Nirmalya , Scheer Lisa K. , Steenkamp Jan-Benedict E. M.
Published: December 2018

Channels research has consistently argued that asymmetric channel relationships are more dysfunctional than those characterized by symmetric interdependence. The authors propose that the degree of both interdependence asymmetry and total interdependence affect the level of interfirm conflict, trust, and commitment. Using survey data from automobile dealers, they demonstrate that, with increasing interdependence asymmetry, the dealer's trust in and commitment to the supplier decline while interfirm conflict increases. In addition, they demonstrate that relationships with greater total interdependence exhibit higher trust, stronger commitment, and lower conflict than relationships with lower interdependence. The effects on conflict are consistent with those predicted by bilateral deterrence theory, and the effects on trust and commitment are in accord with the authors’ bilateral convergence predictions.
Modeling Consumers’ Choices of Multiple Items
Authors: Harlam Bari A. , Lodish Leonard M.
Published: December 2018

Contemporary choice models focus on choice opportunities in which consumers purchase a quantity of a single item in a product category. However, failing to recognize the possibility of assortments of multiple-Item purchases can lead to incorrect conclusions about the impact of past purchase behavior on current choices. The authors propose a model that allows for multiple-item shopping trips and apply it to scanner data for powdered soft drinks. The model provides descriptions about the influence of (1) consumer's prior behavior across previous shopping trips, (2) behavior within the same shopping trip, (3) the in-store shelf assortment available at the time of purchase, and (4) marketing mix variables on multiple-item shopping trip choices. The authors’ model provides better choice predictions in a holdout sample at the aggregate and assortment composition levels than a traditional, single-purchase choice model. Using the model, they present simulation and naturally occurring experiment results in the powdered soft drinks category. Finally, they discuss the value of their results for understanding the consequences of consumers’ choices and their implications for manufacturers.
Implications for Asymmetry, Nonproportionality, and Heterogeneity in Brand Switching from Piece-wise Exponential Mixture Hazard Models
Authors: Wedel Michel , Kamakura Wagner A. , Desarbo Wayne S. , Hofstede Frenkel Ter
Published: December 2018

The authors develop a class of mixtures of piece-wise exponential hazard models for the analysis of brand switching behavior. The models enable the effects of marketing variables to change nonproportionally over time and can, simultaneously, be used to identify segments among which switching and repeat buying behavior differ. Several forms of asymmetry in brand switching are accommodated. The authors provide an application to the analysis of scanner panel data on ketchup, which illustrates the implications for asymmetry, nonproportionality, and heterogeneity. The results show that the model predicts purchases and purchase timing in holdout data better than the models proposed by Kamakura and Russell (1989) and Vilcassim and Jain (1991).
The Impact of Affective Reactions on Attitudes toward the Advertisement and the Brand: A Step toward Ecological Validity
Authors: Derbaix Christian M.
Published: December 2018

The author investigates the impact of affective reactions elicited by television advertisements on two variables of major interest in advertising: attitude toward the advertisement (Aad) and postexposure brand attitude (Abp). Previous research has suffered from using non-natural settings, verbal measures of affect, and unknown brands. The author's study avoids forced exposure, uses a real program in which real commercials for unknown and known brands were embedded, and interviews subjects after they have viewed all the commercials. Thus, it offers a more natural setting in which to examine whether previously established relations between affective reactions and Aad and attitude toward the brand (Ab) still hold. The author measures affective reactions through facial expressions, as well as classical verbal measures, and finds that the contribution of affective responses to Aad and Abp is evident for verbal, but not facial, measures of affect. The impact of affective responses varies in a theoretically predictable way across familiar and unfamiliar brands, with the latter being more influenced by verbal affective reactions generated by the advertisement. The author presents several explanations for the results and offers issues for further research.
Equity Estimation and Assessing Market Response: A Rejoinder
Authors: Rangaswamy Arvind , Krishnamurthi Lakshman
Published: December 2018

The authors use a simulation that explores the same factors used by Wildt (1993), but provides results that refute several of the findings reported in that study. The authors maintain that, under conditions of multi-collinearity, the Equity estimator provides estimates that are typically closer to the true parameters than the ordinary least squares and Ridge estimates.
The Impact of Organizational Memory on New Product Performance and Creativity
Authors: Moorman Christine , Miner Anne S.
Published: December 2018

Arguing that organizational memory affects key new product development processes by influencing the (1) interpretation of incoming information and (2) the performance of new product action routines, the authors introduce four dimensions of organizational memory, including the amount and dispersion of memory. Data from 92 new product development projects indicate that higher organizational memory levels enhance the short-term financial performance of new products, whereas greater memory dispersion increases both the performance and creativity of new products. They also find, however, that under some conditions of high environmental turbulence, high memory dispersion actually detracts from creativity and has no effect on financial performance. Under conditions of low turbulence, high memory dispersion promotes higher levels of creativity and short-term financial performance. These findings provide some initial evidence that knowledge is not an unconditionally positive asset and suggest that developing and sustaining valuable organizational memory may require attention not only to the appropriate levels of memory but also to managing subtle aspects of memory dispersion and deployment. These results imply that if organizations fail to understand the subtle ways in which different features of organizational memory influence product development, they may fail to harvest the full value of organizational learning.