Journal of Marketing

2009-06-11

Journal of Marketing 73(4): i-ii

Guest Editorial: Is Marketing Academia Losing Its Way?

David J Reibstein — 2009-06-11

Journal of Marketing 73(4): 1-3

Marketing of the Life Sciences: A New Framework and Research Agenda for a Nascent Field

Stefan Stremersch — 2009-06-11

Journal of Marketing 73(4): 4-30 Abstract Although marketing scholars often seek to contribute new knowledge that is applicable across industries, some industries have unique characteristics that require industry-specific knowledge development. The authors argue that this requirement applies to the life sciences industry, defined as companies in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and therapeutic medical devices. Marketers in the life sciences industry face novel and unique challenges along eight decision areas in therapy creation, therapy launch, and therapy promotion. In therapy creation, they face therapy pipeline optimization, innovation alliance formation, and therapy positioning decisions. In therapy launch, they face global market entry timing and key opinion leader selection decisions. Therapy promotion mostly revolves around sales force management, communication management, and stimulating patient compliance. The authors qualify these decision areas according to their practical importance and academic potential. The article derives preliminary generalizations and propositions from prior research and practice and steers further research in specific directions. The authors believe that marketing of the life sciences offers a fertile area for further research because, among other things, its potential impact transcends any problems typically investigated by marketing scholars.

Distributor Sharing of Strategic Information with Suppliers

Gary L Frazier — 2009-06-11

Journal of Marketing 73(4): 31-43 Abstract Distributor sharing of strategic information with suppliers is an important but underresearched issue within the marketing discipline. The authors develop and test a conceptual framework based on exchange theory that focuses on the degree to which distributors share external and internal strategic information with associated suppliers. Relying on survey data collected from 479 distributors across three industries, the authors find that distributors share strategic information with suppliers according to factors that affect the perceived benefits, costs, and risks of such behavior. The sharing of internal strategic information has distinct determinants compared with those of external strategic information. The interrelationships between environmental uncertainty and the sharing of internal strategic information, including both main and interactive effects, are especially notable.

The Worth of Product Placement in Successful Films: An Event Study Analysis

Michael A Wiles — 2009-06-11

Journal of Marketing 73(4): 44-63 Abstract As a result of the diminishing effectiveness of broadcast advertising, firms are increasingly turning to product placements in films and television to promote their products. A growing stream of product placement research has conducted surveys of consumer and practitioner views on the practice and experiments to gauge product placement's impact on brand awareness, attitudes, and purchase intent. However, there is no evidence of whether firms' investments in film product placements are worthwhile. The event study of 126 product placements in successful films during 2002 reveals a mean cumulative abnormal return of .89% during the film's opening, indicating that product placement in a successful film is associated with positive movements in firm stock prices. Cross-sectional analysis of the returns offers new insight into how product, film, and execution factors influence the placement's worth. The authors find that placement abnormal returns are enhanced by tie-in advertising and brand equity but are inhibited by audience absorption, critical acclaim, and violent film content. Placement modality, character associations, and blatancy also significantly affect the placement's value.

Implementing the Marketing Concept at the Employee-Customer Interface: The Role of Customer Need Knowledge

Christian Homburg — 2009-06-11

Journal of Marketing 73(4): 64-81 Abstract Although the identification of customer needs constitutes a cornerstone of the marketing concept, the accuracy of frontline employees' perceptions of customer needs has never been examined in a systematic manner. Following research in social cognition, this article introduces the concept of customer need knowledge (CNK), which describes the extent to which a frontline employee can accurately identify a given customer's hierarchy of needs. The results of two large-scale, multilevel investigations involving data from three different levels (customers, employees, and managers) demonstrate the importance of CNK for the provision of customer satisfaction and customer value. In particular, CNK fully mediates the influence of employees' customer orientation and cognitive empathy on these customer outcomes. Moreover, whereas the length of the relationship between an employee and a particular customer enhances CNK, a large age discrepancy in relation to the customer decreases employees' level of CNK.

Are Women More Loyal Customers Than Men? Gender Differences in Loyalty to Firms and Individual Service Providers

Valentyna Melnyk — 2009-06-11

Journal of Marketing 73(4): 82-96 Abstract Prevailing wisdom assumes that female consumers are more loyal than male consumers. The authors report conditions under which the reverse is found, depending on the object of customer loyalty. For example, whereas female consumers tend to be more loyal than male consumers to individuals, such as individual service providers, this difference is reversed when the object of loyalty is a group of people. The authors find a similar crossover interaction effect for loyalty to individual employees versus loyalty to companies. This effect is mediated by self-construal in terms of relational versus collective interdependence. The authors discuss the managerial and theoretical implications of these gender differences.

Technology Convergence: When Do Consumers Prefer Converged Products to Dedicated Products?

Jin K Han — 2009-06-11

Journal of Marketing 73(4): 97-108 Abstract In today's marketplace, many of the newer-generation convergence products (e.g., camera phones, all-in-one personal digital assistants) offer consumers product performance that rivals dedicated versions. With the increased availability of options, consumers now face another dilemma in their purchase consideration: Which product form should they choose--converged, dedicated, or both? This study investigates the choice patterns for product forms along the technology trajectories. In a series of four studies, the authors find that at low levels of technological performance, consumers overwhelmingly select convergence products over the dedicated options, whereas the choice pattern is reversed at high levels of technological performance. Furthermore, the authors demonstrate that a preannouncement of future technology can affect consumer preferences for product forms. Finally, they address the managerial implications and suggest directions for further research.

Self-Benefit Versus Other-Benefit Marketing Appeals: Their Effectiveness in Generating Charitable Support

Katherine White — 2009-06-11

Journal of Marketing 73(4): 109-124 Abstract Despite the growing need, nonprofit organization marketers have not yet fully delineated the most effective ways to position charitable appeals. Across five experiments, the authors test the prediction that other-benefit (self-benefit) appeals generate more favorable donation support than self-benefit (other-benefit) appeals in situations that heighten (versus minimize) public self-image concerns. Public accountability, a manipulation of public self-awareness, and individual differences in public self-consciousness all moderate the effect of appeal type on donor support. In particular, self-benefit appeals are more effective when consumers' responses are private in nature; in contrast, other-benefit appeals are more effective when consumers are publicly accountable for their responses. This effect is moderated by norm salience and is related to a desire to manage impressions by behaving in a manner consistent with normative expectations. The results have important managerial implications, suggesting that rather than simply relying on one type of marketing appeal across situations, marketers should tailor their marketing message to the situation or differentially activate public self-image concerns to match the appeal type.

Auctioning Keywords in Online Search

Jianqing Chen — 2009-06-11

Journal of Marketing 73(4): 125-141 Abstract Keyword advertising, or sponsored links that appear alongside online search results or other online content, has grown into a multibillion-dollar market. Providers of keyword advertising, such as Google and Yahoo, profit by auctioning keywords to advertisers. An issue of increasing importance for advertising providers is the share structure problem--that is, of the total available resources for each keyword (in terms of exposure), how large a share should be set aside for the highest bidder, for the second-highest bidder, and so on. The authors study this problem under a general specification and characterize the optimal share structures that maximize advertising providers' revenues. They also derive results on how the optimal share structure should change with advertisers' price elasticity of demand for exposure, their valuation distribution, total resources, and minimum bids. The authors draw implications for keyword auctions and other applications.