Business Commons^™

Defining Place Image, Candi Clouse, Ashutosh Dixit

Business Faculty Publications

The image of a place is important as it has implications for investments made in cities, workforce locations, and tourism. Place image incorporates concepts including brand, visual image, reputation, the sense of place, and the identity of the place - all of which create an overall image of a place and can lead to investment or abandonment. Place image has ramifications for decisions made about the place, including where businesses locate, where workers live, and where tourists visit (Smith, 2006). Place image has serious ramifications for decisions made about the place as people choose to stay, work, visit, and invest. …

Impact Of Death-Related Television Programming On Advertising Evaluation, Priyamvadha Rangan, Surendra N. Singh, Mark J. Landau, Jungsil Choi

Business Faculty Publications

Programming that depicts or implies death constitutes a vital component of daily television broadcasts, yet the impact of such programming on the evaluation of embedded advertising remains unexplored. Using terror management theory, we propose that exposure to routine and commonplace death-related television programming will lead to the differential evaluation of ensuing advertisements depending on whether they are perceived to be of domestic or foreign origin, and that this effect is contingent on the nature of the death-related cognitions at play at the time of ad exposure. Further, the death-related program context effects on embedded advertising are unique—ads at the end, …

Research Framework, Strategies, And Applications Of Intelligent Agent Technologies (Iats) In Marketing, V. Kumar, Ashutosh Dixit, Rajshekar G. Javalgi, Mayukh Dass

Business Faculty Publications

In this digital era, marketing theory and practice are being transformed by increasing complexity due to information availability, higher reach and interactions, and faster speeds of transactions. These have led to the adoption of intelligent agent technologies (IATs) by many companies. As IATs are relatively new and technologically complex, several definitions are evolving, and the theory in this area is not yet fully developed. There is a need to provide structure and guidance to marketers to further this emerging stream of research. As a first step, this paper proposes a marketing-centric definition and a systematic taxonomy and framework. The authors, …

Corporate Entrepreneurship, Customer-Oriented Selling, Absorptive Capacity, And International Sales Performance In The International B2b Setting: Conceptual Framework And Research Propositions, Rajshekhar G. Javalgi, Kenneth D. Hall, S. Tamer Cavusgil

Business Faculty Publications

In the international business-to-business (B2B) setting, a firm's salespeople often have more direct, prolonged, and intimate contact with the customer and market environments than any other employees of the firm. In fact, for customers in many B2B markets, the salesperson is the face of the firm. The sales function can be characterized as an inherently entrepreneurial activity. Entrepreneurship is founded on knowing or seeing something others do not see, and the sales force has long been recognized as an important source of knowledge about a firm's customers and environment. However, there has been relatively little work linking entrepreneurship to international …

Antecedents Of Taiwan Chinese Consumers' Purchase Intentions Toward U.S. - And Japanese-Made Household Appliances, Rajshekhar G. Javalgi, Jieun Park, Oscar Lee, V. Kanti Prasad

Business Faculty Publications

The purpose of this article is to understand the factors influencing Taiwan's Chinese consumers’ purchase intentions toward U.S. and Japanese household appliances. The authors attempt to develop and test a comprehensive model linking such purchase intentions to several constructs including Taiwan Chinese consumers’ openness to foreign cultures, consumer nationalism, product familiarity, traditional cultural values orientation, and product-country image. The result of analysis using structural equation modeling shows that consumer nationalism has a strong indirect effect on purchase intention via the product-country image construct. Taiwan Chinese consumers’ traditional cultural values orientation and openness to foreign cultures have direct effects on consumer …

Understanding The Characteristics Of The Growth Of Smes In B-To-B Markets In Emerging Economies: An Organizational Ecology Approach, Patricia R. Todd, Rajshekhar G. Javalgi, David Grossman

Business Faculty Publications

Purpose – The aim of this paper is to focus on the determinants that impact the growth of SMEs in B-to-B markets in emerging economies. The objective is to apply the classic model of organizational ecology to examine the characteristics of growth patterns in the B-to-B environment for SMEs in emerging markets, specifically India and China. Application of the model can guide SMEs owners/managers in their effort to successfully expand internationally in turbulent markets characterized by competitive and technological intensity. Design/methodology/approach – An overview of the basics of the organizational ecology model is presented, followed by the description of various …

The Odd-Ending Price Justification Effect: The Influence Of Price Endings On Hedonic And Utilitarian Consumption, Jungsil Choi, Yexin J. Li, Priyamvadha Rangan, Promothesh Chatterjee

Business Faculty Publications

This paper examines how odd-ending pricing influences consumption of hedonic and utilitarian products. Four studies test the hypothesis that the discount image associated with odd-ending prices reduces anticipated guilt and provides justification for hedonic consumption – an effect the authors label the odd-ending price justification effect (OPJE). Study 1 reveals people are more likely to choose hedonic over utilitarian products when they have odd-ending prices. Study 2 finds that the effect of odd-ending prices on hedonic consumption is mediated by guilt reduction. Study 3 reveals a boundary condition for the OPJE – purchase likelihood of hedonic products increases only when …

Influence Of Congruity In Store-Attribute Dimensions And Self-Image On Purchase Intentions In Online Stores Of Multichannel Retailers, Vishag Badrinarayanan, Enrique P. Becerra, Sreedhar Madhavaram

Business Faculty Publications

Online stores of multichannel retailers continue to lag pure internet retailers with reference to consumers' shopping intentions and sales. This study develops and tests a framework in which (a) trust and attitude (conceptualized as a second-order construct with hedonic and utilitarian dimensions) influence purchase intentions, (b) congruity between the multichannel retailer's land-based and online stores (conceptualized as a second-order constructs made up of seven dimensions: aesthetic appeal, navigation convenience, transaction convenience, atmosphere, service, price orientation, and security) influences trust in and attitude toward the online store, and (c) congruity between consumers' self-image and perceived image of the online store influences …

Relationship Marketing Strategy: An Operant Resource Perspective, Sreedhar Madhavaram, Elad Granot, Vishag Badrinarayanan

Business Faculty Publications

Marketing's evolution toward a new, service-dominant (S-D) logic requires the focus of marketing to be on the intangible, dynamic, operant resources. Therefore, in this paper, we examine the relationship marketing (RM) strategy from an operant resource perspective that focuses on how operant resources can influence RM-based strategy success. Specifically, we identify network competence, alliance competence, internal market orientation, and customer response capability as operant resources that have been empirically verified to have positive influences on firms. Next, we identify market relating capability and knowledge management capability as operant resources that need further conceptual and empirical investigation. Furthermore, based on our …

Regulatory Focus As A Predictor Of Attitudes Toward Partitioned And Combined Pricing, Kiljae Lee, Jungsil Choi, Yexin J. Li

Business Faculty Publications

Partitioned pricing is a widely used pricing strategy, but little is known about the buyer characteristics that influence its effectiveness. The current research contributes to the pricing literature by investigating the impact of regulatory focus on the perceived attractiveness of partitioned and combined pricing. In four studies, we hypothesized and found support for the idea that promotion focused individuals perceive partitioned prices to be more attractive than combined prices, while prevention focused individuals do not differentiate between the two pricing types. Our results also show that regulatory focus influences consumers' information processing style, which in turn leads to important differences …

A Socio-Marketing Analysis Of The Concept Of Cute And Its Consumer Culture Implications, Elad Granot, Thomas Brashear Alejandro, La Toya M. Russell

Business Faculty Publications

Cute has become the favored language of (the predominantly female) popular consumer culture. This paper examines the roots of “cute” and its evolution with reference to its relevance to marketers. We follow the cultural appropriation of Japan’s “Kawaii” by the Western “cute”, and introduce a social, marketing-oriented description and analysis of the concept. We present its socio-cultural, experiential, symbolic, and ideological relevance to consumption in general, and to consumer culture theory in particular. This examination steers clear of scientific generalizations prevalent in consumer behavior research and aims, instead, to illuminate the cultural dimensions of the consumption cycle, and allow a …

Knowledge Needs Of Firms: The Know-X Framework For Marketing Strategy, Sreedhar Madhavaram, Andrew C. Gross, Radha Appan

Business Faculty Publications

In today’s knowledge-intensive economy, the acquisition, development, and management of knowledge are fundamental to the survival and growth of firms. Consequently, organizational knowledge has emerged as a potential source of competitive advantage for firms. Specific to the marketing context, research has long since recognized the role of knowledge in effective marketing. Therefore, through a systematic review of organizational knowledge research and the knowledge business environment, this paper (1) identifies different types of organizational knowledge required by firms and develops the know-x framework, (2) discusses exemplars of different types of marketing knowledge products that firms might require, (3) identifies and discusses …

Research On Smart Shopper Feelings: An Extension, Pelin Bicen, Sreedhar Madhavaram

Business Faculty Publications

Drawing from Weiner’s (1985) attributional theory, this study extends the research on smart shopper feelings by testing (1) the relationships involving all causal dimensions of attributions and (2) affective consequences as mediating the relationships between causal dimensions of attributions and behavioral consequences. The results reveal that consumers feel happier when they attribute a price discount’s cause to an unstable reason and feel more appreciative if they think that sellers have control over discounts, and happiness completely mediates the relationship between internal locus and consumers’ behavioral responses. This research has specific theoretical and practical implications in the context of smart shopper …

Application Of Customer Lifetime Value Model In Make-To-Order Manufacturing, Oya I. Tukel, Ashutosh Dixit

Business Faculty Publications

PURPOSE: The applicability of the customer life time value (CLV) concept goes beyond consumer markets. Specifically, the purpose of this paper is to show how a make-to-order manufacturing company in a supply chain can set customer-focus manufacturing strategies using CLV. DESIGN/METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Data from an integrated steel plant is used to calculate the life time value of customers based on the past value, the potential value, and their loyalty. The past value of a customer is based on the historical data and the future value of a customer is then forecasted. The loyalty index of a customer is determined by survey …

The Global Engineering Consultancy Market., Andrew C. Gross

Business Faculty Publications

The purpose of this paper is to assess and analyze the size and characteristics of the engineering consultancy market in select Western nations and worldwide. A secondary goal is two-fold: to look briefly at the training required for careers in this field and to evaluate the strategies of the participating firms. This sector has grown in the past half-century to about U.S.$550 billion revenue globally, with nearly 3 million establishments and about 500,000 employees. There are giant, multinational firms that span across regions; but the sector is still highly fragmented, and the top 10 firms have less than 15 percent …

Do Sensory Ad Appeals Influence Brand Attitude?, Sung-Joon Yoon, Ji Eun Park

Business Faculty Publications

This article presents two studies that investigate whether or not sensory appeal preferences in advertisements affect brand attitude. Study 1 seeks to discover empirically whether self-referencing and positive affect mediate sensory appeals to influence consumers' attitudes toward a brand, and whether such mediation effects differ across various ad formats. Study 2, a case approach, attempts to derive core sensory concepts through qualitative techniques as applied to an established specialty coffee brand. The results indicate that self-referencing and positive affect both have significant mediating effects between sensory appeal preferences and attitudes toward a coffee brand. Moreover, the finding that sensory preferences …

Transference And Congruence Effects On Purchase Intentions In Online Stores Of Multi-Channel Retailers: Initial Evidence From The U.S. And South Korea, Vishag Badrinarayanan, Enrique P. Becerra, Chun-Hyun Kim, Sreedhar Madhavaram

Business Faculty Publications

Drawing from research on retailing, online shopping behavior, and theories of cognitive psychology, we develop and test a framework that investigates purchase intentions in online stores of multi-channel retailers. The framework simultaneously examines the influence of transference of attitude and trust from the multi-channel retailer’s physical to online stores, image congruence between the multi-channel retailer’s physical and online stores, and image congruence between the multi-channel retailer’s online store and a prototypical online store. Further, recognizing that several retailers now operate as multi-channel retailers in different countries, we examine the influence of cultural differences in thought processes (i.e., holistic versus analytic …

What Type Of Framing Message Is More Appropriate With Nine-Ending Pricing?, Jungsil Choi, Kiljae Lee, Yong-Yeon Ji

Business Faculty Publications

While the effect of nine-ending prices on purchases has been well documented, studies that examine the impact of this pricing technique in the context of advertisements are rare. This paper examines the joint effect of the pricing technique and message frames on the advertisement efficacy. Since a nine-ending price is compatible with gain-framed messages due to its gain image, we propose that nine-ending pricing strengthens the effectiveness of gain-framed messages (versus loss-framed messages) on the overall advertisement efficacy. The results of two experiments provide support for this hypothesis.

Price Dispersion In The Airline Industry: A Conceptual Framework And Empirical Analysis, Edward D. Gailey, Ashutosh Dixit, Thomas W. Whipple, Rajshekar G. Javalgi

Business Faculty Publications

Many businesses compete in multiple markets which can cause businesses to temper their price adjustments, affecting price dispersion. The authors propose a framework based on major characteristics of competition and market structure which influence price dispersion. The focus of this study is the U.S. airline industry analyzing data from 5,974 city pair routes. The results of this empirical analysis show that multi-market contact and the interaction of market concentration with multi-market contact have considerable effects on price dispersion. An understanding of these effects provides valuable insights for developing pricing strategies and extending the stream of research on price dispersion.

A Structural Guide To In-Depth Interviewing In Business And Industrial Marketing Research, Elad Granot, Thomas Brashear Alejandro, Paulo Cesar Motta

Business Faculty Publications

Purpose – The authors aim to present a structural guide for data collection in a participant-oriented, B2B context. Design/methodology/approach – A three-stage interview process following the work of Seidman is presented, along with key issues on how to plan, structure, and execute a B2B interview-based hermenuetic ethnographic study. Research limitations/implications – The framework presented in this paper provides strong theoretical foundation for further theory development in global industrial marketing research and managerial cognition research. However, given the conceptual nature of the research, empirical scrutiny and further conceptual and empirical research are required. Originality/value – There is a serious gap in …

Electric Power Transmission And Distribution Equipment, David A, Petina, Michael Murphy, Andrew C. Gross

Business Faculty Publications

The U.S. electrical grid must be upgraded, and there is a strong debate about the characteristics of the next-generation electrical network. However, slow growth of electricity usage, among other factors, means that the demand for transmission and distribution (T&D) equipment is growing slowly also. Within the T&D equipment sector, switchgear and transformers are still the dominant segments, but sales of meters are growing rapidly in response to increased demands for security, safety, and connectivity. Six firms hold about 40 percent of the T&D equipment market share, selling to electric utilities, nonutility industrial firms, commercial firms, and residential customers. Foreign trade …

Qualitative Methods In International Sales Research: Cross-Cultural Considerations, Rajshekar G. Javalgi, Elad Granot, Thomas G. Brashear Alejandro

Business Faculty Publications

As the global marketplace continues to change owing to the proliferation of global brands, changing international trade policies, and the rise of consolidated buyer power, the need for cross-cultural sales research continues to increase. International sales research differs from its domestic counterparts because its application to a multitude of cultural environments where comparable, relevant data are oftentimes nonexistent. In a similar vein, the roles, activities, and approaches to sales may vary across markets, which injects bias and confounds the results. Because of this complexity, conducting international sales research requires flexibility and creativity on the part of the researcher. The complexity …

Pragmatic Learning Theory: An Inquiry-Action Framework For Distributed Consumer Learning In Online Communities, Rama K. Jayanti

Marketing

We examine consumer social learning from distributed inquiry capabilities in online communities. Using an inquiry-action framework rooted in pragmatic learning theory, we longitudinally trace community inquiry processes and their link to individual action in six health-related online communities. Our interpretive analyses reveal leaps and lapses in social learning. Generative learning is evident when collective productive inquiry is linked to expanding individual action repertoires. Individual disengagement diverts inquiry and disrupts inquiry-action linkages, creating lapses that degenerate learning. Within these extremes, instances of individual faltering are evident when inquiry is productive but individuals fail to leverage inquiry for empowered action.

Customer Loyalty And Lifetime Value: An Empirical Investigation Of Consumer Packaged Goods, Jason Q. Zhang, Ashutosh Dixit, Roberto Friedmann

Marketing

It is traditionally accepted that customer loyalty is critical for a firm’s profitability. Recent research,however, questions the effects of customer loyalty on profitability. In light of this controversy, we examine the financial effects of customer loyalty using the framework of customer lifetime value (CLV). Our analysis reveals that in the area of consumer packaged goods, customer loyalty is positively associated with customer revenue and customer retention, both of which drive CLV. Thus, customer loyalty is indeed a predictor of long-term customer profitability to a firm. For marketers, customer loyalty continues to be a legitimate end goal to pursue in marketing …

The Potential Implications Of Web-Based Marketing Communications For Consumers' Implicit And Explicit Brand Attitudes: A Call For Research, Sreedhar R. Madhavaram, Radha Appan

Marketing

Two developments in the last two decades frame the importance of Web-based marketing communications for firms. First is the phenomenal growth of the Internet as a viable commerce and communication option and second is the clear shift in attitude research toward recognizing the pervasive role of automatic processes in almost all the social psychological processes. Therefore, this article discusses the potential implications of Web-based marketing communications for consumers' implicit and explicit attitudes. In doing so, first, this article reviews the emergence of research on implicit attitudes, distinguishes implicit attitudes from explicit attitudes, and discusses research on explicit and implicit attitudes …

Absorptive Capacity And Failed Cross Border M&A, Ping Deng

Business Faculty Publications

Purpose – Chinese companies are increasingly using cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) to source knowledge or strategic assets. For many, global acquisitions have proven to be highly problematic and value-destroying. The purpose of this paper is to address this critical acquisition failure issue from an absorptive capacity perspective. Design/methodology/approach – Guided by the framework that focuses on how acquiring a firm's weak absorptive capacity damages its ability to assimilate, integrate and apply external new knowledge, one high-profile Chinese failed acquisition: TCL acquisition of France's Thomson's TV business in 2004 is analyzed empirically. Findings – Acquisition performance of Chinese overseas M&A …

Developing Complex, Business-To-Business Products: Issues And Implications, Sreedhar Madhavaram, Radha Appan

Business Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Potential Implications Of Web-Based Marketing Communications For Consumers’ Implicit And Explicit Brand Attitudes: A Call For Research, Sreedhar Madhavaram, Radha Appan

Business Faculty Publications

Two developments in the last two decades frame the importance of Web-based marketing communications for firms. First is the phenomenal growth of the Internet as a viable commerce and communication option and second is the clear shift in attitude research toward recognizing the pervasive role of automatic processes in almost all the social psychological processes. Therefore, this article discusses the potential implications of Web-based marketing communications for consumers' implicit and explicit attitudes. In doing so, first, this article reviews the emergence of research on implicit attitudes, distinguishes implicit attitudes from explicit attitudes, and discusses research on explicit and implicit attitudes …

Sustainable Competitive Advantage Of Internet Firms - A Strategic Framework And Implications For Global Marketers, Rajshekhar G. Javalgi, Robert F. Scherer, Glenna Pendleton, Lori P. Radulovich

Marketing

Purpose – At the core of an international marketing strategy is the internet firm’s goal of building and sustaining a competitive advantage. The purpose of this paper is to present an integrative framework to explain the role that customer behavior and customer relationship management (CRM) play in developing a profitable, sustainable competitive advantage for internet companies.

Design/methodology/approach – The integrative framework utilizes existing theoretical concepts from the areas of strategy and internet marketing and develops a framework to provide firms with insights into how they can gain the competitive advantage. Findings – This paper links global customer behavior to the …

The Dynamics Of Global E-Commerce: An Organizational Ecology Perspective, Rajshekhar G. Javalgi, Robert F. Scherer

Marketing

Purpose - A classical model of organizational ecology dynamics which is utilized to characterize an ecosystem called the internet is proposed and a parallel is drawn between the population ecology model and the current global e-commerce environment.

Design/methodology/approach - Survivorship theory is applied to global e-commerce. The Verhulst-Pearl logistic equation can be used to describe the inhibition of growth within an ecosystem. The approach is to apply the Verhulst-Pearl logistic equation to describe international growth dynamics of the internet.

Findings - When applying the Verhulst-Pearl equation to the internet environment around the world, the number of domain names or host …