Australasian Marketing Journal

This study addresses issues arising in the management of retail buyers. We consider the impact on supplier relationship management and organizational performance when retailers manage buyers based on an outcome-based control. To confirm the trends indicated in our proposed research model, this study conducts a survey of merchandising division heads at Japanese retail companies. The results from structural equation modeling analysis reveal that outcome-based control, through the central, mediating role of relationship continuity, encourages cooperation with suppliers, and this cooperation yields greater organizational performance for retailers. The findings raise questions as to the significance of forming a clan-like system when managing results-oriented buyers on an outcome basis.

One of the key issues for multinational corporations (MNCs) is whether to standardize their marketing approach across all countries or adapt their practices to fit each country. In order to make this decision, MNCs must determine if their marketing approach is cross-culturally appropriate and equivalent from country to country. Unfortunately, recent research indicates that the vast majority of academic studies do not adequately address the cross-cultural equivalence issue. The primary purpose of this article is to illustrate the problem of using a standardized, global, B2B research approach. The second goal is to show how cross-cultural equivalence can be identified and managed. The firm in this study is a Fortune 100 MNC that provides facilities management services in over 100 countries. This article compares the cross-cultural equivalence of customer satisfaction survey data from the US and from Japan. The results show that about half of the items typically used to measure dimensions of product and service quality as drivers of customer satisfaction lack cross-cultural equivalence. The implication is that the use of a fully standardized approach to global research must be questioned.

The marketplace has been defined by the interaction between consumers and brands, which has been recognized by the majority of marketing literatures with the exception of the measurement literature. Measurement researchers in marketing have been continuously working on improving the quality of measurement of marketing constructs by applying psychometric theories from the early Classical Test Theory to later generations such as Generalizability Theory and Item Response Theory. But only main effects (normally consumers, sometimes brands) have been focused on, and interactions between them are either ignored or treated as measurement error. This is surprising, given the voluminous literature in other areas of marketing (e.g., marketing segmentation, customer lifetime value, and customer relationship management) that build their entire frameworks on the interpretation and usage of this interaction. In the current research, we propose a new Many Faceted Item Response Theory model to fill this gap in measurement literature. Two sets of indexes describe consumers (and brands); individual main effects (and brand main effects) and brand-specific individual effects (or individual-specific brand effects). Soft drink brand equity data were used for the empirical examination.

As a value proposition connects firms and customers, it becomes one of the central marketing concepts. Currently it has remained de-contextualized. Drawing on service-dominant logic, practice theory and consumer culture theory, this study aims at contextualizing value propositions by investigating theoretically how consumers experience and evaluate value propositions in practices. It pinpoints what their essence is in customers’ lives; the ability of offerings to help customers to enact desirable cultural discourses into experience in practices. Hence the study constructs value propositions as firms’ proposals that integrate sign value (the meanings of value propositions addressing desirable cultural discourses), experience value (sign value materialized into experience in a practice), exchange value (financial and non-financial sacrifices), and resources needed to address and materialize sign value. In general this study extends understanding on the socio-cultural and situational character of value propositions, value creation and value co-creation.

This paper proposes and validates the negative binomial distribution (NBD) to predict the variation in repertoire size (the number of brands purchased by a consumer in a specific time period) within a category. From a managerial perspective, the variation is crucial for brand managers who would like to know the nature and intensity of competition that is facing their brands. Empirical findings across multiple datasets from UK consumer packaged goods demonstrate that the NBD model predicts variations in repertoire size very well in different time periods (1year, 18months and 3years), and different buyer groups (light and heavy category buyers). The paper then suggests a simple method to predict those who are brand exclusively loyal, those who are loyal to a few brands, and those who are diversified to buy multiple brands, based on very little information such as category and brand penetrations, using the parameters of the NBD model.

While word of mouth (WOM) is regarded as a key ingredient in product success, little is known about the content of WOM given. Using an online text-mining approach, we investigated the key themes within electronic WOM (eWOM) in two entertainment categories, television programs and movies. We identify seven key themes within eWOM conversations. These are (in order of prevalence): Product/Service Characteristic (26% of comments); Personal Opinion (17%); Distribution Characteristic (15%); Categorisation Comparison (14%); Description of Purchase/Consumption Activity (10%); Advertising/Promotion (9%) and In-Market Performance (4%). There are differences across categories, largely explicable by differences in the purchase/consumption process of movies versus television programs. However, there are only minor differences for new versus returning products. Our findings highlight the value of advertising during the initial stages of a product's launch to enable consumers to form opinions early on. Furthermore, marketing activities should provide information about how people can purchase/consume the product/service, as such details are often sought and passed on via eWOM. Given that eWOM often entails a comparison of a given product against another, providing signals on appropriate comparative offerings may help marketers control the context for consumers’ understanding of the new product.

The concept of consumer misbehaviour has become a subject of significant inquiry in recent years. A sample of 239 adults in South Korea provided insight regarding their judgment about the appropriateness of 12 questionable actions undertaken by consumers. The survey used multiple versions that allowed for the manipulation of the scenarios to reflect either a large or a small organisation as the victim of the consumers’ actions. The results indicate that South Korean consumers are open to some questionable behaviour, but opposed to others – thus reflecting the situational nature of ethics. The results also document the fact that the size of the victimized organisation is related to the perceived acceptability of the questionable act. The results in this regard were not as predictable as one might expect; however, plausible explanations for this apparent paradox are presented. Managerial implications and future research directions are provided.

Societal notions of masculinity have changed greatly in the last two decades and males appear more interested in improving or maintaining their appearance in ways traditionally reserved for women (such as the use of cosmetic grooming products). Where female body dissatisfaction and drivers of appearance-related image modification have been studied from a feminine perspective, little research has focused on the perspective of men in relation to these issues. The current study thus examines how males of different ages perceive their physical appearance and what motivates them to undertake activities related to changing or maintaining that appearance. The study does this by asking males to compare themselves to male body images as constructed in the media and by society more generally. An exploratory approach to research is undertaken, utilising focus groups and depth interviews with males in two age cohorts (18–25years and 33–45years). Results suggest that there is a difference in overall perceptions of body image between the two groups, with younger males striving for a lean and muscular body and older males focused on health and lifespan concerns. In contrast to research examining female body perceptions, this study indicates that the media and social comparison act as positive motivators rather than sources of body dissatisfaction.

This study investigates the application of consumer behaviour theory to young Australian adults’ voting decision-making. Previous decision-making studies identified constructs of subjective knowledge, involvement, information seeking, satisfaction, confidence, and stability as key factors in voting decision-making. This research tests the relationship that these factors have with the consumer behaviour concept of usage. A new concept, commitment to vote, is also considered for Australia's compulsory voting context. Data were gathered from a sample of 257 Australian citizens between the ages of 18 and 25. Exploratory factor analysis produced nine factors, and MANOVA and ANOVA were used to test the differences between three usage groups: voluntary users, involuntary users, and never trieds. The results illustrate that usage has a significant influence on information seeking, commitment to voting, satisfaction with voting choice, and stability in voting decision-making. Therefore, usage is a key element in voter decision-making and needs to be included in future studies.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between perceived market orientation, satisfaction, loyalty, and post-enrolment communication behaviour in the higher education context. 258 questionnaires were completed by undergraduate students of a particular university in Australia. Perceived market orientation (PMO) was found to be significantly related to satisfaction, loyalty, and post-enrolment communication behavior. Satisfaction was also found to perform significant mediating roles on the relationship between PMO, loyalty, and post-enrolment communication behaviour. The findings have generated relevant managerial implications as to how universities can enhance student satisfaction, loyalty, and positive word-of-mouth (WOM) through strong engagement in each dimension of market orientation.