Marketing Commons^™

Metaphors, Mental Models, And Multiplicity: Understanding Student Perception Of Digital Literacy, Jason Tham, Kenyan Degles Burnham, Daniel L. Hocutt, Nupoor Ranade, John Misak, Ann Hill Dunn, Isabel Pedersen, Jessica Lynn Campbell

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

This study examines student perception of digital literacy from their engagement with the Fabric of Digital Life, a digital archive of emerging technologies. Through grounded theory analysis we identified the ways students make sense of an unfamiliar technology. Our results show students assign metaphors to understand a new digital platform, apply mental models transferred from previous conceptual domains onto new technologies, and express multiply-layered approaches that facilitated their digital literacy development––an indication for instructors to orient toward an expansive description of digital literacy that caters to student learning needs as well as their professional futures.

Making Energy Metrics Relevant To Service Firms: From Energy Conservation To Energy Productivity, Randle D. Raggio, Peter Ekman, Steve Thompson

Marketing Faculty Publications

Although energy conservation and reduction in environmental impact are on the international and most national agendas, service firms rarely include energy consumption metrics in their strategic decision-making. One reason for the omission is that for service industries, firm level energy utilization is most commonly measured in kilowatt hours per square meter of office space where changes often related to the space rather than the firm performance. The measure also presents several problems for firms in service industries. First, energy conservation and reduction may be counterproductive for service firms that are growing and require energy to sustain that growth. Second, it …

Dynamics Of Country Image: Evidence From Malaysia, Dana-Nicoleta Lascu, Zafar U. Ahmed, Irfan Ahmed, Tan Hui Min

International Business Faculty Publications

Purpose – Previous research has posited country image to operate at two levels: the country’s macro image, based on general politico-economic descriptors of the country, and the country’s micro image, based on perceptions of products from the country. The purpose of this paper is to further explore this premise in a practical study, using a psychometric assessment of macro and micro country images by ascertaining the nature of differences in macro and micro images of leading exporters, the USA and China, for consumers in Malaysia, a top import destination of US and Chinese goods; the images of Malaysian goods were …

Who’S Got My Back? Comparing Consumers’ Reactions Topeer‐Provided And Firm‐Provided Customer Support, Lan Jiang, Matthew O'Hern, Sara Hanson

Marketing Faculty Publications

This study demonstrates that when an individual encounters a product‐related problem, fellow consumers (i.e., one’s peers) have a unique advantage in providing social support to the affected consumer. Specifically, we find that social support can be a dominant driver of consumer satisfaction when the risk of customer defection is at its highest (i.e., following an unsuccessful attempt to solve the consumer’s problem). Using real‐world data from an online support community, a pilot study finds that if the problem that a consumer faces goes unsolved, satisfaction is greater when consumers receive peer‐provided versus firm‐provided support. Study 1 replicates this finding in …

Influence Of Country And Company Characteristics On International Business Decisions: A Review, Conceptual Model, And Propositions, Kotler Philip, Lalita A. Manrai, Dana-Nicoleta Lascu, Ajay K. Manrai

Marketing Faculty Publications

This research advances four propositions and a conceptual model of country and company characteristics influencing key International Business Decisions (IBDs). The IBDs in this study are country selection and evaluation, entry mode, segmentation-targeting-positioning, and the marketing mix – the first two in the international business domain, and the latter two in the international marketing field. The conceptual model and related four propositions are advanced, based on an extensive literature review and subsequent in-depth review of 169 published research papers on major IBDs and their determinants, namely, country characteristics, including opportunities, risks, and various distances between the host country and home …

A Study Of Safari Tourism In Sub-Saharan Africa: An Empirical Test Of Tourism A-B-C (T-Abc) Model, Lalita A. Manrai, Dana-Nicoleta Lascu, Ajay K. Manrai

Marketing Faculty Publications

The competition for safari tourism in sub-Saharan Africa is intense. Aside from inter-country competition, there is also intra-country competition among game viewing lodges and resorts within each country. In this context, it is important to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each country for safari tourism. We empirically test the relationship between tourism performance and multiple tourism dimensions, namely, tourism Attractions (A), Basics (B), and Context (C). We test the Tourism A-B-C model (Manrai, Manrai, & Friedeborn, 2018) using data from Botswana, Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.

The study, a first in the region, addresses tourism …

Enhancing Consumer Engagement In An Online Brand Community Via User Reputation Signals: A Multi-Method Analysis, Sara Hanson, Lan Jiang, Darren Dahl

Marketing Faculty Publications

Generating and maintaining consumers’ engagement in online brand communities is critical for marketing managers to enhance relationships and gain customer loyalty. In this research, we investigate how the type of signal used to indicate user reputation can enhance (or diminish) consumers’ community engagement. Specifically, we explore differences in perceptions of points (i.e., point accrual systems), labels (i.e., descriptive, hierarchical identification systems), and badges (i.e., descriptive, horizontally-ordered identification systems). We argue that reputation signals vary in the degree to which they can provide role clarity—the presence of user roles that deliver information about expected behaviors within a group. Across several studies, …

Society Or The Environment? Understanding How Consumers Evaluate Brand Messages About Corporate Social Responsibility Activities, Sara Hanson, Lan Jiang, Jun Ye, Nagesh Murthy

Marketing Faculty Publications

This research examines how and why consumers evaluate brand messages about corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities differently. Insights from secondary data suggest that brands may prioritize environmental activities over social activities, and vice versa, depending on the type of company. Using a field experiment and surveys, we explore whether consumers’ attitudes toward these brand decisions follow company priorities. We find that consumers perceive brands that sell goods and communicate messages about environmental sustainability activities more positively than services companies, while consumers perceive brands that provides services and communicate messages about social sustainability activities more positively than goods companies. We show …

Buying Unicorns: The Impact Of Consumer-To-Consumer Branded Buy/Sell/Trade Communities On Traditional Retail Buying Behavior, Catherine Armstrong Soule, Sara Hanson

Marketing Faculty Publications

Branded buy/sell/trade (BBST) is a consumer-to-consumer (C2C) selling phenomenon that is both massive in scale and meaningful in its impact on consumer behavior and the traditional retailing landscape. Consumers buy, sell, and trade one focal brand’s products in these social media-hosted, consumer-initiated communities. This article introduces the phenomenon, differentiates it from other forms of C2C exchange, and explores relationships between members and the brand. Although brands may view these activities as a potential threat to retail sales, the effects are more complex and paradoxical. The authors present data collected from Facebook, in-depth interviews, and a survey. Findings suggest that buyer-sellers …

Friends With Benefits: Social Coupons As A Strategy To Enhance Customers’ Social Empowerment, Sara Hanson, Hong Yuan

Marketing Faculty Publications

Businesses often seek to leverage customers’ social networks to acquire new customers and stimulate word-of-mouth recommendations. While customers make brand recommendations for various reasons (e.g., incentives, reputation enhancement), they are also motivated by a desire for social empowerment—to feel an impact on others. In several multi-method studies, we show that facilitating sharing of social coupons (i.e., coupon sets that include one for self-use and one to be shared) is a unique marketing strategy that facilitates social empowerment. Firms benefit from social coupons because customers who share spend more and report greater purchase intentions than those who do not. Furthermore, we …

Friends With Benefits: Social Coupons As A Strategy To Enhance Customers’ Social Empowerment, Sara Hanson, Hong Yuan

Marketing Faculty Publications

Businesses often seek to leverage customers’ social networks to acquire new customers and stimulate word-of-mouth recommendations. While customers make brand recommendations for various reasons (e.g., incentives, reputation enhancement), they are also motivated by a desire for social empowerment—to feel an impact on others. In several multi-method studies, we show that facilitating sharing of social coupons (i.e., coupon sets that include one for self-use and one to be shared) is a unique marketing strategy that facilitates social empowerment. Firms benefit from social coupons because customers who share spend more and report greater purchase intentions than those who do not. Furthermore, we …

The More Things Change: Reflections On The State Of Marketing In Continuing Higher Education, James D. Campbell, James L. Narduzzi

School of Professional and Continuing Studies Faculty Publications

All of us can readily identify the major changes that have occurred in society over the past several decades and, more important, the manner in which these changes have affected the way we conduct the business of continuing higher education. For example, the telephone has been replaced by e-mail, which is now the most prevalent way we communicate with each other in the workplace. Social media and the web now dominate how we market our programs and communicate with our various constituencies. Instruction, once delivered primarily face-to-face in a classroom setting, is now routinely delivered utilizing various digitally mediated formats, …

How Consumers’ Use Of Brand Vs. Attribute Information, Randle D. Raggio, Robert P. Leone, William C. Black

Marketing Faculty Publications

Prior research has identified that brands have a differential impact on consumer evaluations across various brand benefits. But no work has considered whether these effects are stable over time, or evolve in a consistent way. We address this question by decomposing consumer evaluations of brand benefits into overall brand and detailed attribute-specific sources in order to understand whether brand effects remain stable or evolve over time. With two unique datasets, the first containing cross-sectional data from Kodak across four different consumer goods categories, and another longitudinal dataset from the U.S. and Canada in the surface-cleaning category, covering seven brands over …

Beyond “Halo”: The Identification And Implications Of Differential Brand Effects Across Global Markets, Randle D. Raggio, William C. Black, Robert P. Leone

Marketing Faculty Publications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether brands impact consumer evaluations in ways other than a consistent halo and the degree to which consumers use both overall brand information along with detailed attribute-specific information to construct their evaluations.

Design/methodology/approach – The authors decompose consumer evaluations of brand benefits into overall brand and detailed attribute-specific sources through a standard CFA approach. Data cover 55 brands in four product categories sold in nine global markets.

Findings – Halo effects are rare in global CPG markets. The authors identify the presence of differential brand effects in eight of nine …

Gratitude In Relationship Marketing: Theoretical Development And Directions For Future Research, Randle D. Raggio, Anna M. Walz, Mousumi Bose Godbole, Judith Anne Garretson Folse

Marketing Faculty Publications

Purpose – For centuries, gratitude has represented an integral component of social relationships, yet it remains relatively overlooked by marketing scholars in the study of commercial relationships. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate how gratitude helps to build, maintain and transform commercial relationships and to suggest noteworthy areas of investigation for those researchers seeking to help companies understand the role of gratitude in relationship marketing.

Design/methodology/approach – Gratitude's role in relational exchange is explored by a review of relevant literature and two qualitative studies. Questions developed from the literature and exploratory interviews are then investigated in a main …

Amazon.Com: Offering Everything From A To Z, Stephanie Lang, Logan Tinder, Jarett Zimmerman, Jeffrey S. Harrison

Robins Case Network

Amazon’s focus on customer service has led to an impressive record of growth and profitability. However, late in 2012, the company posted a quarterly loss. This asks whether the company may be sacrificing profits in the interest of growing rapidly. It also explores the incredibly competitive environment Amazon faces.

The Walt Disney Company: A Corporate Strategy Analysis, Carlos Carillo, Jeremy Crumley, Kendree Thieringer, Jeffrey S. Harrison

Robins Case Network

Walt Disney is a completely integrated media powerhouse. Films provide material for theme parks and resorts, consumer products, and even a cruise ship. Network and cable broadcasting is also a part of the integrated Disney package. None of Disney’s competitors are as successfully integrated. Still, in spite of a long record of success, Disney is facing more competition on many fronts and, like other media and entertainment companies, must continue to adapt to a changing technological and social environment.

American Airlines: Bankrupt, Like Every Other Legacy Airline, Jeffrey S. Harrison, Siri Kalburgi, Colleen Koch Reed

Robins Case Network

American held out to the end, being the last of the large legacy carriers to file for Chapter 11 protection. This case reviews the history of American from its inception through its filing. Current strategies and industry trends are also examined.

Lockheed Martin: Dealing With Dependence On A Single Customer, Timothy Kyle Benusa, Sam Gottwald, Jeffrey S. Harrison, John Reed

Robins Case Network

Lockheed Martin is a giant in the aerospace and defense industry, and obtains more than four fifths of its revenues from governments for national defense. Budget deficits have caused the United States and other governments to carefully evaluate the amount they allocate to defense, and sharp cuts are anticipated. What can Lockheed Martin do to deal with reductions in demand from its most important customer?

The Robins Center: Is Less More?, Randle D. Raggio, John Richardson

Marketing Faculty Publications

The Robins Center at the University of Richmond, home of Richmond’s men’s and women’s basketball teams, had hosted a Presidential debate in 1992, but at 38 years old it was time for a major renovation. In mid-March 2011, based on the success of the men’s basketball program over the past two seasons, a generous donor had agreed to contribute the total amount needed to renovate the Robins Center.

In late April, Jim Miller, Richmond’s Athletic Director, had to make a presentation to the board of trustees and the university president with his proposed renovations. One of his major decisions was …

An Empirical Examination Of University Intercollegiate Athletic Expenditures, Jeffery L. Stinson, Adam Marquardt, Joshua Chandley

Marketing Faculty Publications

To date, little empirical work has examined the institutional returns associated with athletic program investments. While intangible brand effects are commonly cited, such as athletics serving as the perceptual "front porch" of the institution, direct examination of the effects of athletic programs has often been narrow in scope. Within this study, we assess the contributions of investment in athletics as compared to other areas of institutional investment, on important institutional outcomes. Data for the study was collected from two datasets, the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) and the Equity in Athletics dataset. Fixed effects models for NCAA Football Bowl …

Dr Pepper Snapple Group: Fighting To Prosper In A Highly Competitive Market, Joseph S. Harrison

Robins Case Network

Since its separation from the food giant Cadbury Schweppes, Dr Pepper Snapple Group has experienced successes such as the turnaround of the Snapple brand and growth in demand for some of its popular brands. However, the company is still a distant third in an incredibly competitive industry. How can the company achieve continued success in the shadows of Coca Cola and PepsiCo?

Expressions Of Gratitude In Disaster Management: An Economic, Social Marketing And Public Policy Perspective On Post-Katrina Campaigns, Randle D. Raggio, Judith Anne Garretson Folse

Marketing Faculty Publications

In this article, the authors argue that in the wake of a major disaster, it is not only appropriate but also beneficial for governments to spend public funds to support official gratitude campaigns in response to outside assistance. These assertions are based on results of multiple studies on gratitude from both psychology and marketing that show that expressions of gratitude can offer both economic and social marketing benefits. Evidence demonstrates increased consumer willingness to purchase products produced in the devastated area and intentions to continue prosocial support through volunteerism and financial donations after receiving expressions of gratitude. Evidence also shows …

Brand Creation Vs. Acquisition In Portfolio Expansion Strategy, Randle D. Raggio, Yana Damoiseau, William C. Black

Marketing Faculty Publications

Purpose – This paper seeks to address the following question: What causes firms to choose brand creation vs brand acquisition for brand portfolio expansion?

Design/methodology/approach – A multilevel interdisciplinary conceptual model is developed with nine factors at three levels of influence: the market, firm, and brand portfolio. Using 125 brand acquisitions and creations for 22 firms between 2001 and 2007, the model is tested using logistic regression to determine which factors significantly influence brand portfolio expansion strategy and whether they encourage acquisition or creation.

Findings – Significant factors were found at the market and firm levels, with competitive intensity of …

Healthcare Performance Improvement And High Reliability: A Best Practice Methodology, Randle D. Raggio, Kerry Johnson, Carole Stockmeier, Clarence S. Thomas Jr.

Marketing Faculty Publications

Healthcare Performance Improvement (HPI) improves reliability in healthcare by helping organizations achieve and sustain high performance outcomes in safety, quality, and satisfaction. Safety is the core value of the healthcare organization. Yet safety – protection from harm – doesn’t just happen. HPI provides a method for reducing the Serious Safety Event Rate through translating safety from a core value to specific behavior expectations of leaders, staff, and physicians. The HPI method and techniques are based on the best practices of high-reliability organizations (such as nuclear power and aviation) that get it right in safety. While healthcare has focused on traditional …

Postscript: Preserving (And Growing) Brand Value In A Downturn, Randle D. Raggio, Robert P. Leone

Marketing Faculty Publications

We have taken the opportunity provided by the current worldwide recession to further explore the implications of the relationship between brand equity and brand value that we proposed previously,^1,2 and our analysis reveals that companies have one of two strategic options for surviving. The “Just Good Enough” strategy maximizes current value, potentially hurting brand equity and appropriable value (or potential future value) in the process, while the “Altered Amortization” strategy offers an opportunity to chase current value while maintaining brand equity with current prospects and activating latent equity with potential prospects, which may increase appropriable value. Anything between these …

Chasing Brand Value: Fully Leveraging Brand Equity To Maximize Brand Value, Randle D. Raggio, Robert P. Leone

Marketing Faculty Publications

Both researchers and practitioners seek to understand how to leverage brand equity to create value. Adopting ‘the theoretical separation of brand equity and brand value’ framework originally proposed in the Journal of Brand Management by Raggio and Leone, this conceptual paper looks more closely at the brand value construct and the implications of the proposed theoretical separation. The authors argue that firms are continually attempting to ‘chase’ the appropriable value of their brands—defined as the theoretical maximum value that a brand could achieve if all brand equity were fully leveraged. Implications for developing measures of brand value are discussed.

Drivers Of Brand Value, Estimation Of Brand Value In Practice, And Use Of Brand Valuation: Introduction To The Special Issue, Randle D. Raggio, Robert P. Leone

Marketing Faculty Publications

Brands constitute the largest asset for many firms, and brand valuations are increasingly being seen as an important performance metric both for companies and managers.¹ In addition, components of brand valuation models have been found to positively impact financial market performance, so it is critical that managers understand clearly what brand value is, and how they can create and appropriate (capture) as much of that value as possible.² Due to resource constraints, firms are forced at any given time to emphasize either value creation or value appropriation based on strategic priorities. Research shows that the stock market rewards …

The Theoretical Separation Of Brand Equity And Brand Value: Managerial Implications For Strategic Planning, Randle D. Raggio, Robert P. Leone

Marketing Faculty Publications

During the past 15 years, brand equity has been a priority topic for both practitioners and academics. In this paper, the authors propose a new framework for conceptualizing brand equity that distinguishes between brand equity, conceived of as an intrapersonal construct that moderates the impact of marketing activities, and brand value, which is the sale or replacement value of a brand. Such a distinction is important because, from a managerial perspective, the ultimate goal of brand management and brand equity research should be to understand how to leverage equity to create value.

Crossing The Great Divides: Selfridges, Modernity, And The Commodified Authentic, Elizabeth Outka

English Faculty Publications

This article takes these critiques as a given. Incisive critical commentary on advertising and on marketing abounds, and exploring the false claims and schemes within a commercial culture is an essential and ongoing project. This critical approach, however, is not the end of the story, for armed only with skepticism, we are blinded to the dramatic commercial revolution offered by Selfridges, one that is intrinsically tied to British modernism. Selfridges embodies and deploys a surprisingly modernist set of tensions between low and high culture, and between the specter of the mass market and an alternative, non-commercial aesthetic. As this article …