Editorial

Citation

Phau, I. (2016), "Editorial", Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 28 No. 5, pp. 762-764. https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-08-2016-0138

Welcome to the fifth and final issue of 2016. As we draw the year to a close, I would like to acknowledge, and extend my sincere thanks, for the support of our authors and reviewers. We have lined up a series of high quality papers that cover a diverse range of topics: consumer motivation and satisfaction, consumer values in consumption, country-of-origin branding, digital piracy, transport infrastructure, manufacturer-supplier relationships and firm management. In this issue’s Industry Spotlight section, we shed light on the higher education sector and the focus on development of marketing education curriculums for industry ready graduates.

We open this issue with three papers on consumer motivation and satisfaction. Marketers often rely on subtle, ambient cues like store atmospherics to influence consumer choice. Septianto’s paper explores the “Chopin effect” – examining the influence of musical tempo on consumer choice and satisfaction. Using Chopin’s musical preludes as auditory cues, Septianto examines how variations in the music tempo influence consumer choice and enjoyment of hot or cold tea. From the findings presented, Septianto suggests that marketers can leverage this to subtly influence consumer motivations in the marketing and advertising of various products. The exploratory nature of this study also provides room for researchers to further examine this phenomenon.

Next, Murshid, Mohaidin, Goh and Fernando move the focus over to the pharmaceutical industry in Yemen. Their research investigates the interactions between pharmaceutical companies and physicians, and identifies the factors affecting physicians’ perceived value of the companies’ drugs, and customer (physician) satisfaction. Surveying physicians in Yemen, they ascertain how aspects of the marketing mix help predict physician satisfaction with the company’s products. Their findings provide greater insight on how firms can leverage the marketing and positioning of pharmaceutical products to better engage physicians.

Shifting the focus to consumer values, is a paper by Kassim, Bogari, Salamah and Zain on how collective oriented values (religion, community and family) and materialism, affect consumer consumption of luxury products. Comparing Malaysian and Saudi Arabian consumers, they examine purchasing behaviour across a wide spectrum of consumer age groups. They find that while consumers from both countries use luxury products to signal status, the underlying motivations for materialism vary between each country. This suggests that for luxury brand managers, it is important to tailor the marketing communications to suit the variances in collectivistic values of each country.

Marketers today often leverage technology to improve their communications and engagement with consumers. Following this trend, Tercia and Teirchert examine the use of mobile-coupons – coupons distributed through mobile networks, as a motivational incentive for word-of-mouth (WOM). Through an online survey of German and Indonesian respondents, they investigate the effects of incentivised WOM between Eastern and Western cultures. Their findings shed light on the causal effects of incentivised WOM, and suggest strategies for the effective deployment of these strategies in both the East and West.

Pimenta and Piato then examine consumers’ personal values in the context of automobiles. Their study employs a qualitative approach to examine the cognitive relationship between personal values and the attributes of automobiles, and in turn ascertains some of the factors that influence consumer choice when buying automobiles. Interviewing consumers in São Paulo, Brazil, they developed hierarchical value maps to describe associations consumers make when purchasing automobiles, and identify common value orientations that consumers have when purchasing different types of automobiles. These findings would be useful for managers to position their vehicle offerings and marketing communications to better target specific value orientations of their customers.

Continuing with automobiles, and leaning towards the branding literature, Han presents a paper that investigates whether the pursuit of a global brand identity really results in perceptions of “globalness”. Using Japanese car brands as a context, and surveying Korean consumers, they reveal an interesting finding: that, contrary to expectations, the greater the perceived “globalness” of the brand, the greater the effects of country-of-origin. Their findings provide key insights for researchers and brand managers in those global brands are not free from country-of-origin effects, and companies should leverage this in the positioning and imaging of the brand.

As we shift over to branding, Tjiptono and Andrianombonana tackle brand origin recognition accuracy among Indonesian consumers. The laptop market is vast, with many different brands and origins. Consumers who are unclear of the origins of the various brands may wrongly associate the brand and their origins, resulting in potentially negative evaluations of the brand. This study has practical implications, finding that many consumers lack the awareness and understanding of the origins of Indonesia’s top laptop brands. This suggests that brand managers should highlight the country-of-origin of their brands and leverage this to establish a stronger position in the market.

Digital piracy is a constant issue in an ever changing digital landscape that permeates the media industry. Arli and Tjiptono explore this issue in the Indonesian market, where digital piracy is commonplace, and consumers often ignore the legal consequences. Their study develops a unified research framework for examining digital piracy. Applying this framework, they find that educating young Indonesian consumers on the ethical and moral implications of digital piracy may have a better effect than the simple threat of punishment. Further, their research framework may assist others with a method for identifying consumer motivations for digital piracy, and aid in the fight against this issue.

Moving onto logistics and supply-chain management, Assavavipapan and Opasanon study the performance of the transport infrastructure in Thailand. Using data retrieved from government agencies, they relate the performance of current infrastructure to the economic status of Thailand. Based on their analysis they propose a Transportation Infrastructure Performance Index that identifies various indicators. This could prove useful to researchers and policymakers to evaluate and identify areas for improvement within Thailand’s transport infrastructure.

Management of the manufacturer-supplier relationship is crucial for smooth business operations, and Kumar and Routroy note an increase in manufacturers moving towards maintaining preferred supplier status (PSS) with their supplier base. Their paper proposes an approach for manufacturing firms to measure and evaluate the PSS of their key suppliers. Working with an industry partner in India, they validate their PSS approach, and were able to assist in identifying strategies to improve the manufacturer-supplier relationship, and reduce performance gaps in the supply chain. This approach to measuring PSS could prove useful to firms looking to optimise their supply chain.

Taking a more macro view of business, Nguyen, Bruton and Nguyen present a paper on the dynamics of competitor concentration, networking and consumer acceptance in the context of small firms in Vietnam. As a transition economy, start-up businesses in Vietnam face unique challenges in gaining consumer acceptance. Through a series of interviews and surveys of small firms, they ascertain that firms stand to gain, both in terms of improved networks, but also greater consumer acceptance, if they are located in an area with higher competition. This is not with its caveats, and Nguyen, Bruton and Nguyen discuss the potential trade-offs that small firms face when navigating the Vietnamese transition economy.

The adage that firms can make more money by making their employees happy points to the notion that employee job satisfaction is intrinsically linked to their work performance. Valaei and Jiroudi, explore this relationship in the context of the Malaysian media industry. Surveying over 200 employees in the media industry, they identify various antecedents to employee satisfaction, and examine their impact on employee performance. Their findings help reveal key influences of employee performance, which can help guide managers in their organisation and leadership of their employees.

In this issue, the Industry Spotlight is on marketing curriculums in the higher education sector. Carter notes that, in Thailand, there is a gap in understanding of what higher education institutions should draw focus on in their education curriculums. This served as the impetus for the present research. Through a review of various journal publications and online articles on collegiate curriculum development, Carter identifies a range of factors and focus areas that would help enhance the marketing education curriculum at Thai colleges and universities. These identified areas of focus could help higher education institutions produce more prepared and industry ready marketing leaders for the future.

As we move into 2017, I thank you for your continued readership of the APJML, and I look forward to your continued support. I would like to acknowledge the reviewers and EAB for their timely reviews and contribution the APJML. I would also like to extend my thanks to the authors who have chosen the APJML as an outlet for their high calibre research. I hope this issue has provided interesting insights to stimulate future research.