Australasian Marketing Journal

Word-of-mouth (WOM) is a powerful communications tool which is often beyond the control of the marketer. This study used a survey to examine WOM as a source of information by consumers. The survey involved 896 respondents of 3 different age groupings and examined three distinct areas: the importance of WOM as an information source, perception of WOM versus other sources of information, and the importance of WOM in the selection of three product types.

Results obtained from the survey showed that WOM sources were generally considered to be reliable and influential. Differences in perceptions of WOM were observed among the subsamples when one-way ANOVA was applied; for example, in different situations, the various age groups placed different emphasis on WOM.

The Juster scale was used to estimate the price-demand relationship for two branded products, Coca-Cola in cans, and Campbell's Red and White Label soup. For each product predictions were obtained of the number of items that would be purchased, during the following four weeks, at each of two hypothetical prices, one above and one below the current retail price. Predictions were obtained using two variations on the Juster procedure: the multiple question method and the constant sum method. Actual numbers purchased were obtained in follow-up interviews. Actual purchases of Coca-Cola were almost exactly at the predicted level, but purchases of the soup brand were less than a third of those predicted. This is the first reported use of the Juster Scale to predict purchases of brands as opposed to products, or to estimate price-demand relationships.

Limited empirical studies have been published on the potential marketing of global products and fewer on cross-cultural comparisons of global product performance. The present study empirically tests consumer perception of a nondurable product in two markets: Israel and Australia. The study does not support all aspects of globalization theory, but does consider the possibility of a global product. The results indicate there can be pronounced differences in international consumer perceptions, which global marketers need to be aware of in considering a global marketing strategy.

An exploratory study of industrial buyers and sellers in Australia reveals some discrepancies between what buyers prefer salespeople to know and do and what salespeople believe buyers prefer. Individual, in-depth personal interviews were conducted with 53 buyers and 42 sales representatives. Three aspects of salespersons’ on-the-job behaviour were investigated: knowledge, behaviour and competence. Results are reported for three categories of industrial selling situations: selling to supermarkets, selling to the trade (excluding supermarkets), and new business and technical selling situations. The research suggests that salespeople may have some inaccurate beliefs about buyers’ preferences. Sales representatives who sell to in-store supermarket buyers seem especially to suffer from this problem. On the other hand, salespeople engaged in new business and technical selling seem to have correct beliefs about buyers’ preferences.