Sales and Merchandising Commons^™

The Impact Of Consumer Product Package Quality On Consumption Satisfaction, Brand Perceptions, Consumer Investment And Behavior, Jeffrey S. Hess Phd, Jay Singh, Lynn E. Metcalf, Jeffrey Danes Phd

Journal of Applied Packaging Research

Consumer product packaging can serve a critical role in the consumption experience, but marketing and packaging science researchers focus primarily on pre and post-consumption aspects of consumer product containers. Exhaustive research into packing ergonomics, logistics, safety, sustainability and promotional features are common across marketing and packaging disciplines, but research isolating the role of a packaging in consumption satisfaction and enduring consumer-brand relationships is rare. In addition to an undervalued role in product satisfaction, functional isolation between marketing and packaging scientists limits packaging’s overall impact on the bottom line.

This research examines the role of bottle quality in bottled-water consumption satisfaction …

The Relationship Between Fashion Blogs And Intention To Purchase And Word Of Mouth Behavior, Cassidy L. Vineyard

Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Blogs are an influential social media platform and a powerful marketing tool (Hsu & Tsou, 2011). A corporate fashion blog is an online product community. Online product communities established by retailers enable customers to interact with the company as well as amongst themselves (Nambisan & Watt, 2011). Online communities are a social space wherein relationships and ties are formed among the members and a common set of values and norms are established and shared (Nambisan & Watt, 2011).

The objective of this study was threefold. First it explored what factors shape readers’ intention to browse products on blogs. Based on …

A Transformative Partnership Between Socially And Historically Disadvantaged Farmers, 1890 Land Grant Institutions, And Walmart, Walter A. Hill, Raymon Shange, Miles Robinson, Tasha M. Hargrove

Professional Agricultural Workers Journal

Ensuring a sustainable future for socially and historically disadvantaged farmers (SHDFs) remains a central mission of many 1890 land grant universities. As major corporations adopt socially responsible and sustainable policies they are exploring new partnerships, including those with the aforementioned farmers and institutions. This article explores the opportunity presented by the partnership between Tuskegee University and Walmart during 2011, 2012, and 2013 that focused on assisting SHDFs to work together to expand their produce marketing opportunities to include large commercial retailers. This article provides perspective for the articles that follow in this issue of the Professional Agricultural Workers Journal (PAWJ). …

How Corporations Use Social Media: An Exploratory Study, Victor Khachatryan

Honors College Theses

This paper explores the role of social media in increasing a company’s brand equity and strengthening its customer relationships. The data collected consists of three case studies of major American companies, two interviews with Brazilian entrepreneurs, and a survey conducted to start-up companies in the New York City area. The paper then concludes that the use of social media by businesses, leads to a positive relationship with brand equity and improved customer relationships. Nevertheless, further research is required to see how other factors interact with brand equity and customer relationships to get a better understanding of social media and its …

Customer Satisfaction Index Of Singapore 2013: Full Year Overview, Institute Of Service Excellence, Smu

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

The Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG) computes customer satisfaction scores at the national, sector, sub-sector, and company levels. Customer responses are derived from Singapore’s resident population and visiting tourists, primarily through face-to-face surveys. This study serves as a quantitative benchmark of the quality of goods and services produced by the Singapore economy over time and across countries. The fourth quarter results mark the end of measurement for CSISG 2013. Singapore’s 2013 national score is computed using the data collected during these four quarters.

Competitive Marketing Strategy: A Best Practices Examination Of Convention Hotels In San Francisco, Jennifer Hardy

Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration

The expansion of convention hotels in metropolitan areas has been steadily increasing in recent years. This expansion causes competition between hotels in the same market. The purpose of this study was to examine the best practices for competitive marketing strategies used by convention hotels in San Francisco. The hotels studied were: Westin St. Francis, Fairmont Hotel, Ritz-Carlton, and Four Seasons. These organizations were analyzed based on several questions developed by the researcher. Data were collected from organizational websites and social media pages. The results demonstrate that the companies use many similar marketing practices. In order to market themselves more competitively, …

A Reusable Wine Package That Also Serves As A Wine Rack, Mariah Cochiolo

Graphic Communication

The purpose of this study was to design and create a prototype of a reusable wine package that would be used primarily to transport a bottle of wine home, but also serve as a piece to build a wine rack when it reaches the consumer’s home.

This study investigated the factors to take into consideration when designing a wine package and coming up with a plan to build a product that met all those needs. One hundred questionnaires were sent to people over the age of twenty one to find out what they thought of the prototype and idea. The …

2014 Spring Convocation Program, Office Of Communications & Marketing, Morehead State University.

Communications and Marketing Publications Archive

Spring convocation program held on January 8, 2014.

The Influence Of Social Identity On Rural Consumers’ Intent To Shop Locally, Rachel A. Addis, Marko Grunhagen

New England Journal of Entrepreneurship

Rural consumers’ in- and out-shopping intention has been a research topic for many years. This study investigates the relationship between social identity and rural consumers’ intent to shop within their local community, along with a number of moderating demographic variables. Using a sample of respondents from the Midwest, this study found a significant and positive relationship between rural consumers who socially identify with people in their local community and their intent to inshop. The influence of several demographic moderators is also explored, and implications for practice and future re-search are discussed.

An Analysis Of Nontechnical Game Theory On Laboratory Sales Trainees In Saudi Arabia, Akram Abdul Cader

International Journal of Applied Management and Technology

The purpose of this case study was to analyze 6 months of training application in a nontechnical game theory setting. Three laboratory sales trainees were studied using training reports that logged their strategic decisions and the amount of sales they obtained from their clients. A pure strategy game theory analysis was conducted on the decisions by the sales trainees. Two types of strategies were derived from the study: (a) allocentric and (b) egocentric. The egocentric strategies yielded higher personal payoffs, while the allocentric strategies yielded higher organizational payoffs. Training intervention was withheld during the 6-month period in order to allow …

Status Of And Future Recommendations For Country-Of-Origin Research, Katie Post

Honors Projects

This research investigates whether country-of-origin (COO) cues have an effect on consumer purchase intentions, based on a review of prior literature published in the EBSCO and Summon databases. The findings of these articles show that COO cues do not, on their own, have an effect on consumer purchase intentions; but do have some effect on consumer attitudes/feelings toward the product. Future research has much to offer in terms of identifying whether COO cues have an effect on consumers’ purchase intentions for specific products, or specific types of products.

Brand Analyses Of Global Brands Versus Local Brand In Indian Apparel Consumer Market, Aniket Sengupta

Theses and Dissertations--Retailing and Tourism Management

The purpose of this study was to conduct brand analyses on global brands in comparison to local retailers in India taking into account the regional differences and Indian consumers’ affinity towards global brands. The study has derived its conceptual framework from previous work done by Lee, Knight, and Kim (2008) and Bhardwaj, Kumar and Youn-Kyung (2010) with some added attributes. Quantitative data included a sample of 194 subjects where the sampling was conducted randomly as well as the involvement of convenient method to analyze the brands in real-world scenario. The survey involved the questionnaire which was utilized in previous researches …

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 …

The Curvilinear And Conditional Effects Of Product Line Breadth On Salesperson Performance, Role Stress, And Job Satisfaction, Jeff Johnson, Ravipreet S. Sohi

Department of Marketing: Faculty Publications

The impact of how product line breadth affects a salesperson is unclear in the existing literature. While numerous product lines can provide certain benefits to the salesperson, they may also have a dark side. This research examines the impact of number product lines handled by the salespeople on their performance, role stress, and job satisfaction. Based on role and schema theories, we test a series of curvilinear and conditional effects, using data collected from salespeople across multiple industries. Our analysis indicates non-linear relationships between number of product lines handled by the salesperson and salesperson performance and role stress. Further, these …

Mannequin Size On Consumers' Perception Of Self And Satisfaction With Fit, Amanda Cohen

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the influencing factors that affect female's perceptions towards mannequins in retail environments. Data was collected using an online survey through the use of a snowball convenience technique. A total of 316 respondents were included. Using Pearson's r, the results indicated that the use of idealized mannequins in retail stores have a significant impact on social comparison, body dissatisfaction, and satisfaction of fit among female consumers. These results suggest that female consumers compare their bodies to those of mannequins and the larger the discrepancy between the size of the mannequin and the woman the more dissatisfied the woman …

An Integrated Marketing Communications Plan For The Great American Comedy Festival, Johnny Carson Theatre, Norfolk, Nebraska, Adnormal Strategies, Emily Schaefer, Tony Nelson, Dominique Brown, Kary Benson, Mickey Mcconkey, Katheryn Schuller, Amanda Gammel, Max Wesely

College of Journalism and Mass Communications: Student Advertising Projects

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Client: The Great American Comedy Festival

Campaign Purpose: In the summer of 2014, members of the Great American Comedy Festival approached our team of 8 advertising and public relation students with a specific task. The proposed task was to help increase attendance as well as raise awareness for future Great American Comedy Festivals. Our team’s mission is to present innovative ideas that will help our client generate an increase in attendance and to also provide them with beneficial tactics for future festivals.

Research: For our campaign, we accumulated various data through both secondary and primary research. Our secondary …

Ratings Lead You To The Product, Reviews Help You Clinch It? The Dynamics And Impact Of Online Review Sentiments On Products Sales, Nan Hu, Noi Sian Koh, Srinivas K. Reddy

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

It is generally assumed that ratings are a numeric representation of text sentiments and their valences are consistent. This however may not always be true. Using a panel of data on over 4000 books from Amazon.com, we develop a multiple equation model to examine the inter-relationships between ratings, sentiments, and sales. We find that ratings do not have a significant direct impact on sales but have an indirect impact through sentiments. Sentiments, however, have a direct significant impact on sales. Our findings also indicate that the two most accessible types of reviews - most helpful and most recent - play …

Why The Madness On Black Friday?, Donelson R. Forsyth

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

Black Friday's climb from marketing ploy to popular craze resists easy explanation. A day of sleeping late, leftover turkey and trimmings and football seems to easily outgun one spent battling strangers to save a few bucks on this year's cool new toy or gizmo, but last year nearly a quarter of a billion Americans chose the check-out line and not the couch. Why?

The Influence Of Mobile Website Quality On Consumer Satisfaction And Behavior, Xiuyuan Gao

Department of Textiles, Merchandising and Fashion Design: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Mobile shopping has grown into a huge market and an increasing number of consumers have begun to use mobile websites to shop. Therefore, how mobile shopping websites provide good shopping to customers is significant. The object of this study is to relate factors of website quality to college students’ satisfaction with mobile shopping experiences, which in turn influence their intentions to return to the website and/or to purchase on the website. Five dimensions of website quality, which were information quality, navigation, visual appeal, response time and interactivity, were selected in this study. The model of self-regulatory process (Bagozzi, 1992) has …

Uncovering Collaborative Value Creation Patterns And Establishing Corresponding Customer Roles, Sabine Moeller, Robert Ciuchita, Dominik Mahr, Gaby Odekerken-Schroder, Martin Fassnacht

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

Research on value creation traditionally has focused on value created by the company, though customers increasingly serve as active partners, able to create value with firms in a collaborative manner. Despite interest by both scholars and managers, existing research has not yet clarified the interdependencies of service offerings and customer role patterns. This article explores value creation rooted in three generic offerings (configuration, solution, and network) and identifies differences in their prerequisites, customer activities, challenges, abilities, ability enhancers, and perceived benefits that arise in collaborative value creation (CVC). Data from 105 collaborations, collected through in-depth interviews, support the qualitative and …

An Investigation Of Key Factors Impacting Front-Line Service Providers' Efforts To Deliver A Quality Customer Experience, Donna Wells

Professional Projects

The relevance of competitive differentiation for any business that strives to achieve success is undeniable. An awareness of how to best satisfy the customer is instrumental in helping a company to distinguish itself from the competition. Service firms in particular realize that the customer’s perception of service quality can prove to be a valuable asset in the quest for customer satisfaction and retention. In the customer’s eyes, evaluation of the service experience as satisfying or less than satisfying is largely dependent upon the treatment extended by frontline employees during the face-to-face service encounter. The aim of this qualitative study was …

A Need For A Sales Course In Academia, Kevin H. Scholz

Professional Projects

Nearly 50% of all college graduates entering the workforce, after earning a business related degree, find themselves initially in a sales role. With only 4.8% of colleges and universities offering a sales course, are the vast majority of recent graduates entering the workforce prepared for a sales role? This exploratory study seeks the feedback of hiring managers in the field to bring awareness to faculty members involved with course selection and academic curriculum design for the purpose of encouraging colleges and universities to consider a sales course. The study provides learning objectives and competencies for a sales course based on …

Customer Satisfaction Index Of Singapore 2013: Q2 Results, Institute Of Service Excellence, Smu

Research Collection Institute of Service Excellence (2007-2024)

The Customer Satisfaction Index of Singapore (CSISG) computes customer satisfaction scores at the national, sector, sub-sector, and company levels. The CSISG serves as a quantitative benchmark of the quality of goods and services produced by the Singapore economy over time and across countries. This is the CSISG’s seventh year of measurement.

Do Short Sellers Front-Run Insider Sales?, Mozaffar Khan, Hai Lu

Research Collection School Of Accountancy

We study the behavior of short sellers as informed market participants and examine potential sources of their information. Using a newly available dataset with high-frequency short sales data, we find evidence of significant increases in short sales immediately prior to large insider sales, but not prior to small insider sales. We examine a number of explanations that the increase in short sales is driven by public information, either about the firm or about the impending insider sale. The evidence is inconsistent with these explanations, but is consistent with front-running facilitated by leaked information. The front-running appears to be concentrated in …

2013 Fall Convocation Program, Office Of Communications & Marketing, Morehead State University.

Communications and Marketing Publications Archive

Fall convocation program held on August 14, 2017.

Compensation And Price Delegation For Heterogeneous Sales Force, Jian Chen, Hongyan Xu, Liming Liu

Hong Kong Institute of Business Studies Working Paper Series

A heterogeneous sales force may not be as desirable as a homogeneous sales force for two reasons: premiums are required for all except from one agent type, and only the highest type would work as hard as though they were from a homogeneous sales force. This study revisits the heterogeneous sales force compensation and price delegation problem with type-dependent reservation. We find that an equilibrium separating or pooling compensation contract always exists. Different types of agents may receive premiums, and there are scenarios when no premiums are paid. Retaining centralized pricing provides a tool for regulating agent behavior. More than …

Relevance And Key Factors Of “Demand-Side Oriented Market” Analysis To Define Indonesia’S Retail Industry, Sih Yuliana Wahyuningtyas S.H. M.Hum, A.Y. Agung Nugroho, Mm

Business Review

The remarkable development of the Indonesia’s retail industry draws attention due to its complexities with regard to the business characteristics and the relation between retailers as well as between retailers and suppliers. This brings competition law into relevance, which one of the fundamental elements for the analysis is the definition of relevant market, in terms of both product and geographical market. The study focuses on the relevance of “demand-side oriented market” analysis with the application of cross shopping approach to define Indonesia’s retail industry taking both the development and formats of retail into consideration. The focal point of this study …

Preferential Attributes In Consumer Buying Behavior At Retail Megastores In Karachi, Javed Ahmed Chandio

Business Review

Retail mega stores are common in developed countries. In Pakistan this is a comparatively recent development. It was assumed that the consumers and their buying behavior are different in these stores as compared to small retail stores in the local vicinity of the customers. This study focuses on some major factors influencing customer buying behavior. Hypotheses were framed and tested through survey research. A total of 100 respondents were interviewed using predesigned questionnaire that had a number of pre-selected attributes for store preference. It appeared that the economy was not the main reason for shopping in these stores despite the …

The Effects Of Pricing On The Sales Force And The Firm: A Strategic View, Wendy Ritz

Dissertations, Theses and Capstone Projects (Full IR Collection)

Previous research has examined the dysfunctional relationships often encountered between marketing and sales, and the importance of cooperation and coordination between these two functional areas. But no prior studies have investigated the consequences of misaligned pricing and sales force compensation strategies that emerge from these two functional areas. This dissertation examines the impact of the firm’s pricing strategy on the sales force, and evaluates the importance of identifying the misalignment of goals of the pricing and sales force compensation strategies as a potential root cause of disappointing program outcomes. Essay 1 uses in-depth qualitative interviews with business-to-business (B2B) salespeople and …