Editorial

Citation

Phau, I. (2012), "Editorial", Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 24 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/apjml.2012.00824caa.001

Editorial

Article Type: Editorial From: Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Volume 24, Issue 3

We like to start off this issue with a quick update on our journal usage. Just within the first month of 2012, our journal has recorded close to 10,000 downloads and this is just reflecting the Emerald web site and not including other databases. We have achieved almost double the number of downloads of 2010 for the same period. It is with pleasure and pride that we thank all our contributors for their great papers. Also, a special thank you to the downloaders for their clicks! We hope that every compilation that follows will be able to stimulate great interest and spur research ideas.

This issue is a compilation of a myriad of international submissions on topical issues. The issue opens with Darawong and Igel exploring the phenomenon of acculturation in new product development teams in a multicultural working environment. Based on 24 in depth interviews with local middle-level managers (e.g. R&D, marketing managers) and expatriates working on NPD projects in MNC subsidiaries located in Thailand, it was found that regular contact with expatriates during the product development process allows the NPD team members to acculturate themselves to foreign work culture. Furthermore, the authors recommend cultural training programmes in order for the local employees to familiarize with foreign work culture. Paper two by Yu and Ramanathan investigates the ways of managing business relationships in retail operations in China. The authors found that good relationships with customers and suppliers could enable the retailers to become more efficient in developing quality and flexible strategies. Furthermore, the study adds value by examining business relationships on operations strategy and performance using the stakeholder theory. The third paper by Mohadi and Zarel examines the concept of country of brand (COB) and country of manufacture (COM) on brand equity formation. Data was collected in Iran using Iranian students and data was analysed using SEM in LISREL. Based on the results, the authors found that COB has direct and significant effects on brand loyalty and has positive influences towards perceived quality and brand awareness. Furthermore, the findings also revealed significant moderating effects of product involvement between COB and brand equity. The study contributes by examining the effects of brand equity from the perspective of young Iranian consumers.

The next set of papers examines various consumer purchase behaviour from the land “Down Under” – Australia. Tan and Cadeaux examines the entry probability and performance of private labels at an organic food retailer. Because of this unique and growing market sector, the authors investigates how competitive factors affect the attractiveness of a product category for a private label entry by an organic food retailer and the impact of manufacturer brand assortment of the retailer on private label share. The study is conducted using store level cross-category data from an independent organic retailer and field data on retail competition. It was found that the concentration of shares among manufacturer brands negatively affects the probability that the retailer will enter a category with a private label stock keeping unit (SKU). The fifth paper by D’Alessandro et al. investigates the impact of perceived risk and trust on online purchasing behaviour of expensive, complex high-risk and credence based products such as gemstones. Using partial least squares, the results showed that the type of online strategy and the firm’s security practices reduces the perceived risk of online transactions. However, buyers’ privacy concerns increases the risks of purchasing gemstones online. The authors suggest that multiple online channels can be explored to encourage online purchase. The next paper by Bruwer and Huang is an exploratory study to examine consumers’ involvement and BYOB behaviour in the on-premise market. Based on the data collected from South Australia, the findings revealed that high-involved wine consumers have higher tendency to BYOB than low-involved wine consumers. While no financial motivations for BYOB is observed between both groups of consumers, functional reasons is found to be the driver for BYOB in the high-involved wine consumer group. On the other hand, it is found that social and time reasons are the drivers for BYOB in the low-involved wine consumer group. The authors have noted that the study will have to be conducted on a larger scale to provide greater benefits to the restaurant and wine industry.

Then next set of papers in this issue focus on a country that has been in the research limelight and a fast booming economy – India. Satija et al. examines Indian consumers’ brand consciousness by exploring their brand knowledge, purchase behaviour and perception of foreign brands. The findings of the study revealed that brand purchase in India varies across product categories. The authors also commented that consumer knowledge and use of foreign brands are low. Furthermore, Indian consumers are price sensitive and at present, Indian consumers are experimenting with foreign brands. The next paper by Sett validate Higgins’ (2001) regulatory focus/goal orientation questionnaire in the Indian context by examining urbanized young Indians. The authors established scale validity and reliability of the scale in the Indian context. The authors propose that the questionnaire can be used to measure Indian consumers’ goal orientation and to design products and advertisements that cater to prevention focused consumers. The issue closes with a paper on logistics in India. Shah developed a scale to measure the benefits of third party logistics service providers for co-operative dairies in India. The purpose of this scale is to outsource logistic functions at operational levels in the context of co-operative diaries in India. Further studies need to be conducted to test for the scale’s generalizability to other countries or cultures.

I would like to extend special thanks to the EAB members and the reviewers for contributing their constructive feedback and assisting in the review process. The input has helped to improve the quality of manuscripts submitted and published. We also thank the researchers and authors who have chosen APJML as an outlet for their research. We hope to provide a platform for practitioners and researchers to share, inspire and publish research ideas.

Ian Phau