Customer Perceptions Of Diversity In Health Services: How Other Customers’ Race Influences Customer Perceptions, Ayse Banu Elmadag, Gallayanee Yaoyuneyong, Brigitte W. Burgess, Mehmet Okan

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Using the Similarity Attraction perspective, this study examines racial diversity in health services. An initial review of the literature summarizes currently known findings related to the effects of Other Customers on Customer experiences in healthcare service settings. Two experimental studies, adopting Byrne and Nelson’s (1965) Similarity-Attraction perspective, test the effects of Customer-Other Customer Race (Black vs. White) interaction on Revisit Intentions and Customer Perceived Anxiety. Results indicate that Perceived Anxiety is not reduced by Customer-Other Customer race match (i.e., Black and Black, or White and White), though Other Customer Race (Black vs. White) drives Perceived Anxiety. Customer-Other Customer …

To Share Or Not To Share? Branded Content Sharing In Twitter, Adriana M. Boveda-Lambie, Tracy Tuten, Victor Perotti

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Marketers have long recognized the power of word-of-mouth communication to influence consumer brand perceptions. Social media channels such as Facebook and Twitter make possible an efficient spread of communication to potentially large audiences with the added value of the credibility afforded to earned media. Consequently, marketers seek to encourage social media users to share brand-related messages. But how? To answer this question, we must first understand the decision to share or not to share in a social media context. This paper reports on an investigation as to the source and content of a brand’s tweets as antecedents of an individual’s …

Beauty During A Pandemic: The Impact Of Covid-19 On The Cosmetic Industry, Katelyn Gardner, Diane R. Edmondson, Lucy Matthews

Atlantic Marketing Journal

The cosmetic industry is a multi-billion-dollar industry that has taken a financial hit in 2020 due to COVID-19. The drop in cosmetic usage leaves the industry in question for future consumer intention and behavior. Survey responses from 1,715 female students at a southeastern U.S. public university was obtained using Qualtrics. Results indicate significant differences in cosmetic usage; however, post-COVID predicted usage indicates that cosmetic usage will revert back to pre-COVID levels for eye, lip, and skin cosmetics. For face cosmetics, usage will still be slightly below pre-COVID levels. The most important cosmetic category was skincare, which had the highest levels …

The Customer Value Model And Mobile Banking: Evaluation Of Technology-Based Self Service (Tbss) Gaps, Justin A. Moist, Ismet Anitsal, Melek Meral Anitsal

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Mobile banking has become a prevalent part of everyday banking, and almost all banks have adopted its use. This form of self-service has seen wide adoption because of its ease of use, performance, reliability, and enjoyment of use. These attributes of technology-based self-service options help both customers and businesses determine the value of the service. The proposed customer value model aims to conceptually represent how companies and customers perceive the value of a product or service and pinpoint gaps between these values. This paper presents the customer value model in the context of mobile banking. This new context is part …

Building Connections In Co-Production Environments, Kimberly D. Grantham, Kimberly R. Mcneil, Gail Ayala Taylor, Roland L. Leak

Atlantic Marketing Journal

With the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic felt around the globe, consumers look forward to once again being able to engage in communal experiences where relationships with other customers and with service providers are integral parts of ongoing service experiences. The purpose of this study is to provide a framework for service establishments to better understand the communal approach to becoming a service co-creator, helping service providers create more meaningful relationships between their customers when customers are engaging in the service experience in a group and as an individual. We distinguish individual versus group influences that emerge as a result …

The Faculty Recruitment-Retention Connection: A Strategic Linkage Approach, Mary Mobley, Richard Easley

Atlantic Marketing Journal

The Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB) is clear about the worsening shortage of doctoral qualified faculty. It is the proposition of this paper that business schools should consider evaluating and perhaps reinvigorating recruitment strategies in both the short- and intermediate-term, as well as developing marketing management strategies that will help alleviate business faculty shortages in the long-term. Strategic marketing guidance is set forth in this paper with a focus on the development and institutionalization of managerial linkages between recruitment-retention connections. Our major premise is that leadership robustness is needed relative to the construction and implementation of strategic …

An Analysis On Engaging “Beauty Work”, Timothy Reisenwitz, Jie G. Fowler

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This study attempts to compare non-invasive cosmetic procedures consumers who use a high amount of information sources with those who use a low amount of information sources in the information search stage of the decision-making process. The findings indicate that patients who use more cosmetic procedures information sources have lower cognitive ages. Patients who use less information have a greater attitude toward social media advertising and the traditional advertising of cosmetic procedures. Finally, patients who use more cosmetic procedures information have greater increases in self-image after the procedure than those patients who use less information. The findings contribute to marketing …

Perceptions On Implementing A Comprehensive Athletic Website And Online Streaming Service For Kentucky High Schools, Steve Chen, Adrienne Hall, Anna K. Gdovka, Eric Street

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Student participation in interscholastic athletics reached record levels in 2019-20 for the third consecutive year in Kentucky (KHSAA, 2020). Sport marketers have strongly advocated social media as a powerful and effective tool to promote sporting events at all levels. However, existing studies rarely focus on the trend for promoting interscholastic sports through social media platforms. This study examined the potential of an interactive website and online streaming service focusing on interscholastic sports may provide to high schools in Kentucky. After evaluating more than 102 high school athletic websites, the authors found schools were in need to improve the current website …

Servqual Measurement In A Healthcare Setting: Before And After Corrective Strategy Implementation, Jerome Christia, Aaron Ard, Lorraine Runion

Atlantic Marketing Journal

In the United States, the most dominant industry is services, yielding the highest volume of total employment and gross domestic product. Due to this insight, academics and business professionals continue to research and apply strategies to achieve distinctive competitive advantages in the services arena. The steady growth and increasing significance of the service sector in the United States and other developed markets has resulted in a sizeable body of related research addressing a variety of issues such as service quality and its characteristics. Healthcare is an impactful service industry that has received a considerable amount of attention. In the healthcare …

Importance-Performance Gap Analysis Of The University Brand Equity Dimensions, Tulay Girard, Musa Pinar

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This study examines the gaps between the importance students place on brand equity dimensions and their perceptions of how well their university performs on each dimension. It also assesses if the brand equity dimensions differ based on student demographics including gender, class level, and their living arrangement. Data were collected from a university in the Midwestern U.S. from undergraduate students. The findings reveal significant gaps between the importance and performance perceptions of students, and that females, students living on campus, and freshman require special

Modeling Austrian Consumer Responses To A Vignette Television Commercial Drama For A Vacation Resort Destination, Ozcan Kilic, Michael Stoica, Andreas Nachbagauer, Darryl Miller

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Abstract- This project involved the formulation and test of a model of Austrian consumers' cognitive and affective responses to a vignette television commercial drama for a vacation resort area, the Halkidiki region of Greece. Results indicate that response to the commercial was both cognitive and affective with sympathy and empathy, mediating the influence of verisimilitude on attitudes toward the ad and brand. These results were consistent with what was expected from a sample of consumers from a low power distance and moderate individualistic culture such as Austria. Results suggest that to promote tourism services effectively, a commercial's production value and …

Escape For Boone & Crocket, William Foxx, W. Frank Thompson Jr., Joseph W. Giese, David Vanbuskirk

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Eber Crocket is the owner of Boone & Crocket Trapper Supply (B&C). He feels like the environmental forces that are impacting his business are like a trap slowing closing on him. He is considering ideas to improve his store’s profitability.

Demand for furs as fashion goods is a multi-million dollar industry. Twenty percent of this demand is met by wild fur which is harvested by trappers. Trapping suppliers serve as the middleman between small individual trappers and auction houses. These auction houses collect the raw fur pelts from trappers and trapping stores and hold them until one of their auctions. …

To Everything There Is A Season--A Time To Live And A Time To Die: A Case Study Of The History, Customs, Emerging Trends, And Market Responses In The Final Disposition Industry, John E. Crawford, Rick Holaway

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Marketing is largely about the satisfaction of enduring human needs. That is, marketers strive to provide goods and services that people need to help to them meet the demands of life and achieve goals that they wish to achieve. In addition, marketers promote products to help preserve life and enhance the enjoyment of life. Marketers are also involved with what must be done when a life ends. This case explores the history of final disposition practices in the United States and emerging trends in the final disposition industry. The two most common final disposition methods, burial and cremation, are discussed …

The Impact Of The Social Media Influencer Power On Consumer Attitudes Toward The Brand: The Mediating/Moderating Role Of Social Media Influencer Source Credibility, Lubna Nafees, Christy M. Cook, James E. Stoddard

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This paper presents a conceptual model of the impact of social media influencer power on consumer attitudes toward a brand. The research uses naïve theories of social influence, consumer socialization theory and market signaling theory to support the contention that social media influencer power will impact consumer brand attitudes. However, the impact of the social media influencer power on consumer brand attitudes is posited to be mediated and/or moderated by the social media influencer source credibility. In turn, the social media influencer source credibility is modeled as being positively related to the social media influencer’s expertise/competence with respect to the …

Using An Artificial Real-Time Response Audience In Online Sales Education To Improve Self-Efficacy In Sales Presentations: An Online Classroom Innovation, Nicole A. Flink, Desiree Cooper-Larsen

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Sales education research recently has turned its attention to using artificial intelligence (AI) technology, but much remains in our understanding of its use in the online and virtual sales education environment. AI can be useful to helping online students improve their sales presentations and vocal delivery skills. Examined through the lens of control value theory, this study is a pilot investigation into the effectiveness of using AI technology in the online classroom to help sales education students improve their vocal delivery skills in sales presentations. Based on a paired samples t-test, our results indicated that student use of AI technology …

The Counterfeit Conundrum: A Case Study To Examine The Best Way To Combat Counterfeit Consumption, Heather Kirkwood, Thomas Tanner, Ashutosh Dixit

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Estimated at more than $500 billion, counterfeits are a booming industry. The negative impacts can no longer be ignored. As evidenced by the industry growth, efforts to combat consumption of counterfeit products have largely failed. This case study examines the counterfeit industry and a campaign developed by the U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency. It presents the reader the opportunity to contemplate viable solutions for ending counterfeit consumption.

Blockchain Technology And The Future Of Video Games, Is Presence Still Relevant?, Stef Nicovich, Jessica Scheld

Atlantic Marketing Journal

BlockChain technology has grown exponentially over the last several decades. Early on, cryptocurrency presented a substitute for hard currency as a way to purchase goods and services. Recently, cryptocurrency has entered the video game world. How cryptocurrency, which has value outside of a video game, may impact the virtual reality world, is an open question. Presence, or the state of being in an environment, will be affected by the ability to escape within video games as cryptocurrencies are used. As video games often provide a place to escape the real world, bringing the real world into the game may have …

Earning Extra Credit Or Losing Extra Credit? A Classroom Experiment On Framing Incentives As Gains Or Losses, Vassilis Dalakas, Kristin Stewart

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This exploratory study examines if the way incentives are framed (gains versus losses) impacts how students respond to them. Sixty-two students in two sections of the same undergraduate Marketing course were offered the incentive of an optional final exam by answering correctly quiz questions throughout the semester. One section received the incentive as a gain (opportunity to earn an optional final exam if you get enough quiz points) whereas the other section received it as a loss (final is optional, but you may lose it if you don’t get enough quiz points). Consistent with the principles of loss aversion, framing …

A Guide For Early Career Success In Academic Research, Obinna O. Obilo, William B. Locander, David A. Locander

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Balancing the research, teaching, and service facets is important to achieving success in academia. Doctoral programs should prepare their students to successfully navigate and balance all three of these facets. We focus on the research facet in this study and draw from the experience of a panel of accomplished researchers within the discipline, to compile a set of guidelines for doctoral students and new faculty. Analyzing the qualitative results from the panel interviews, we find that to ensure success within the research facet, one must effectively manage three emergent focal distinctions; a relationship with: oneself, others, and with the work.

Economic Strength And Micropolitan Statistical Areas: Looking Beyond Generalities, W. Frank Thompson Jr., Ayesha Tariq, Connie Nott

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Facility location decisions serve an important role in setting up efficient and cost-effective supply chains. While metropolitan areas may appear an obvious choice for many companies, nonmetropolitan areas deserve consideration. In the past, nonmetropolitan areas have been broadly classified as “rural” with reports of economic decline. This research looks beyond the general category of nonmetropolitan by dividing the area into micropolitan statistical areas and non-core statistical areas. The authors use U.S. Census data from the years 2010 to 2016 to analyze changes in population, median household income, retail employment, and retail salaries in Alabama, Georgia, and Mississippi. Companies can use …

Customer Service Challenges In Omni-Channel Retailing—An Exploratory Study Of Vague Language In Retailer Customer Service Policies, Terence L. Holmes, Edward C. Brewer

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Retailers are interacting with customers via an ever-increasing number of touchpoints. The addition of social media and mobile devices to the traditional physical and virtual retail platforms has created an evolving consumer practice of using several such "touchpoints" in the course of a single purchase (the "omni-channel”). The difficulty of providing high levels of customer service has increased with the necessity of managing multiple channels under the retailer’s control and coordinating formally or informally with touchpoints not directly within the retailer’s own operations. Multiple sources of potentially conflicting information (e.g., order fulfillment) can lead to miscommunication, and thus poor service …

An Analysis Of Millennials And Their Interactions With Financial Institutions, Fallon Endsley, Lucy Matthews, Cheryl Ward

Atlantic Marketing Journal

As the largest generational cohort since the Baby Boomers of the mid-20^th century, Millennials hold significant power over the future. This is especially true in business; therefore, consideration of the environment and the target market should be lucrative. Millennials seem to fit this role more every year. This project investigates the Millennial age cohort and creates a social media portfolio to create a short social media campaign for Ascend Federal Credit Union to market their financial services and education to people ages 23 – 37. This project seeks to better understand how to utilize social media in a business …

The Role Of Social Media And Social Networking As Marketing Delivery Systems For Preventive Health Care Information, Joe Cangelosi, David Kim, Ken Griffin, Ed Ranelli

Atlantic Marketing Journal

The use of social media and social networking (SM&N) is prevalent in health care. Through social media, individuals can access information to enhance their overall health and well-being. Given that prevention is crucial to a long healthy life, as well as restraining escalating health care costs, this study offers insights into the types of social media and networking platforms that health care consumers consider most important, especially with regard to obtaining Preventive Health Care Information (PHCI). Further, it goes on to identify the demographics of persons who consider social media and social networking platforms as most important. This research used …

International Olympic Committee Rule 40: Reasonable Protection For The Ioc Or Unfair Restriction To The Athletes?, Jeri L. Jones

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This paper explores the history, legality and ethical perspectives of the International Olympic Committee Rule #40 that was put into effect starting with the 2016 Olympic Games. Rule 40 was established to protect official Olympic sponsors from marketing campaign dilution and ambush marketing attempts from non-official brand sponsors. It was designed to prevent over-commercialization of the Olympic brand and to protect official Olympic sponsors’ substantial investment for exclusive marketing rights during the Games. It also however effectively prevents athletes from recognizing their own individual company sponsors and goes so far as to limit an athlete’s apparel during the Games, their …

The History And Evolution Of The Market For ‘Delebs’ (Dead Celebrities), Denver D'Rozario, Guang Yang

Atlantic Marketing Journal

In this paper, we survey the history behind the growing market for dead celebrities (‘Delebs’) in their role of creating secondary brand associations. According to some estimates, this market is now worth $2.25 billion in annual licensing and royalty revenues (CBC 2013). We begin, by defining key terms that are used in this market. Next, we do a survey and analysis of the major events that have given rise (intentionally or unintentionally) to this market. For ease of discussion, we discuss these historical events grouped by era. We follow this with a summary of the major events and trends that …

Revisiting Textbook Adoption Decisions: Are Students Finally Ready For E-Books?, Cheryl B. Ward, Diane R. Edmondson

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This study re-examines students’ attitudes and preferences to the four primary textbook types (hardback, paperback, loose leaf, and E-book). One hundred eighty-three students currently taking Principles of Marketing from a large public university in the southeastern United States completed the survey. Unlike the 2014 study, where students overwhelming preferred paperback textbooks, even when this textbook is at a higher price than other alternatives, the 2018 study found that the textbook choice depended on if an access code to publisher’s online course materials was required. When access codes were required, students preferred paperback textbooks, followed closely by E-books. When no access …

Impact Of Customer Engagement, Brand Attitude And Brand Experience On Branded Apps Recommendation And Re-Use Intentions, Nusser Raajpoot, Beth Ghilni-Wage

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Abstract

This paper seeks to understand the impact of customer engagement, brand attitude, and brand experience on branded apps recommendation and re-use intentions. Using structural equation modeling we test a causal model to establish the direct and mediated paths between constructs under study. We found that contrary to popular perceptions, customer engagement does not load directly on the recommendation or re-use intention suggesting that engagement on its own may not be sufficient to elicit recommendation or re-use intention. Other factors and contexts will be necessary to elicit recommendation etc. We also found that recommendation mediates the relationship between brand attitude …

Group Brands As An Innovative Pedagogical Tool: Using Marketing Theory In Real-World Collaborative Teaching, Cheryl A. Tokke

Atlantic Marketing Journal

This teaching and learning pedagogy paper demonstrates how group brands were used as interdisciplinary teaching tools in marketing, business, research, and social science classes by applying theories of branding, collaborative learning, affinity, and social identity in experiential learning. There were two primary reasons why this project was done. First, implementing a pedagogical tool would bring students together in a collaborative team over the period of a semester gaining a critically important business tool; the requirement of working in teams and networked relationships. Second, by enriching the curriculum of business marketing and social science courses through incorporating a semester long term-based …

Online Advertising And Consumer Behavior In Tunisia, Rabeb Hamdi, Romdhane Khemakhem

Atlantic Marketing Journal

The aim of this study was to present new mediating and moderating variables in the relationship between online advertising and purchase intention as well as visiting the store. Therefore, a qualitative study of 17 Tunisian Internet users was conducted (semi-structured interview). Results showed that the lifestyle change and the disposition to visit the store are the mediating variables between these consequences and electronic advertising (purchase intention and visiting the store). Furthermore, the involvement with the product is the moderating variable between e-advertising and lifestyle change, including disposition to visit the store.

Destructive Selling: An Empirical View From The Perspective Of University Level Business Students, Dennis Bristow, Rajesh Gulati, David Titus, Garth Harris, Zhan Wang

Atlantic Marketing Journal

Preliminary evidence indicates that salespeople working in a variety of industries hold the perception that destructive selling (defined as the intentional use of unethical tactics including lying, misrepresenting product/service performance, misleading the client, spreading rumors about the competition, etc. by professional salespeople) does occur in the professional selling discipline. A rich history of related research provides further evidence that university students exhibit negative perceptions and attitudes towards professional selling. In the work reported in this manuscript, the authors employed the survey research method to empirically study the perceptions held by university level pre-business and business students regarding the presence of …