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1 – 10 of over 20000Larry S. Lowe and Kevin McCrohan
This paper examines the gray market for consumer products, with a particular emphasis on the reasons for gray market growth, the distinct channels of distribution for gray market…
Abstract
This paper examines the gray market for consumer products, with a particular emphasis on the reasons for gray market growth, the distinct channels of distribution for gray market products, and the means by which the gray markets may be terminated. Secondary emphasis is provided on the factors that lead to gray market emergence and on the impact of exchange rates on gray markets. A major conclusion of the analysis is that gray markets for consumer products will continue to grow as manufacturers benefit from gray markets. This growth will be associated with products manufactured and distributed within the national market rather than imported products which fueled the gray market growth of the previous five years.
Larry S. Lowe and Kevin F. McCrohan
While a company cannot control every channel of the distribution chain, there are some methods that can be used to prevent products from being pulled into the gray market.
Irvine Clarke and Margaret Owens
Parallel importation, the selling of trademarked products through unauthorized distribution channels, can erode trademark image, strain channel relationships and disrupt global…
Abstract
Parallel importation, the selling of trademarked products through unauthorized distribution channels, can erode trademark image, strain channel relationships and disrupt global planning efforts. With the recent changes in federal court precedent and the landmark 1998 L’Anza Supreme Court decision, the legal rights associated with trademarked products in gray markets have forever changed. Therefore, the authors review the current status of regulatory and judicial decisions affecting gray marketing activities to provide a practical framework for marketing managers. Legal and nonlegal suggestions, for the protection of trademarks in gray market competition, are offered.
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Fernando Gimeno-Arias and José Manuel Santos-Jaén
Within the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) supply chain, one of the problems facing the distribution channel strategy is the presence of the gray market. The article shows two…
Abstract
Purpose
Within the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) supply chain, one of the problems facing the distribution channel strategy is the presence of the gray market. The article shows two novel antecedents of the participation of official distributors in this gray channel: Negative impact on distributor performance and the relationship with their supplier. Knowledge of this background helps to preserve the strategy outlined for the official distribution channel.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 172 Spanish wholesale distributors and analyzed using PLS-SEM.
Findings
The authors found that the damage through negative affectation in the official distributor's performance and the cooperation provided by the manufacturer, have different effects. While affectation is shown to be a powerful antecedent of participation in the gray market, the effect of perceived manufacturer cooperation does not show strong results.
Practical implications
In business practice, these findings lead the manufacturer to keep transactions carried out in the gray market at low levels and provide cooperation to official distributors to guarantee the official channel strategy aimed at efficiency in the distribution of branded goods.
Originality/value
The background of the gray market discussed in the study has not been previously analyzed in the literature. In this way, the authors contribute to the knowledge of such a common problem as the presence of the gray market in the segmentation of distribution channels of high-demand products.
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The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of parallel importation on brand equity in high and low product involvement arrangements.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of parallel importation on brand equity in high and low product involvement arrangements.
Design/methodology/approach
A 2 × 2 (authorized goods/gray‐marketed goods)×(high involvement/low involvement) between‐subjects experimental design is utilized; consumer electronics and ballpoint pens are examined.
Findings
The results of this empirical study show that source channel (authorized goods versus gray goods) has a significant impact on brand equity; among the five brand equity dimensions, consumers are most concerned about the difference in “perceived quality” between gray goods and authorized goods; given the levels of stimuli, sourcing channel stimuli are found to have more powerful effects than product involvement on consumer evaluations of brand equity.
Practical implications
Marketing implications of the study are as follows. For authorized agents: they could emphasize the “perceived quality” of their products in order to prevent market “squatting” from gray marketers. For manufacturers: authorized goods have a stronger effect on brand equity than gray goods; therefore, manufacturers could adapt the contents and packaging of their products to match consumption behavior in each different country to achieve the purpose of market segmentation and to prevent the products from being diverted. For gray marketers: they should not only emphasize the lower prices of their products, but also highlight their brand knowledge and the brand recognition and provide a valid and sensitive reflection of the brand's standing to their customers.
Originality/value
The most notable finding from this study may be that given the levels of stimuli, sourcing channel stimuli were found to have more powerful effects than product involvement on consumer evaluations of brand equity.
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Jane Boyd Thomas and Cara Lee Okleshen Peters
A dynamic retailing format is emerging in metropolitan cities across the USA: the underground mall (UGM). The UGM is a place of trade where a cluster of socially networked buyers…
Abstract
Purpose
A dynamic retailing format is emerging in metropolitan cities across the USA: the underground mall (UGM). The UGM is a place of trade where a cluster of socially networked buyers (i.e. potential customers) and sellers (i.e. retailers) meet face‐to‐face in a private setting (i.e. in the seller's garage or in a neighborhood clubhouse) for the purpose of trade. This study seeks to detail how this unique retailing format operates and examines factors influencing consumption within this gray market.
Design/methodology/approach
Two theories were utilized in developing a framework for data collection: gray markets and market embeddedness. Data were collected via in‐depth interviews with 16 UGM shoppers. The data were analyzed and interpreted according to the protocol for phenomenology.
Findings
A combination of diverse retailing and socialization benefits drives the gray market of the UGM. Retailing benefits include a wide variety of vendors and products, unique items, convenience, a personalized shopping experience, and a comfortable shopping context. Socialization benefits include strengthening interpersonal relationships and building connections within one's community.
Research limitations/implications
This study makes an important contribution to the gray marketing literature. The findings illustrate that a combination of diverse retailing and socialization benefits, not price, drives this particular gray market.
Originality/value
This research is original to the gray market, market embeddedness, and retailing literatures within the field of marketing. The findings of this study suggest that consumer motives for shopping in the gray market of the UGM are more hedonic than utilitarian in nature.
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Jen‐Hung Huang, Bruce C.Y. Lee and Shu Hsun Ho
Gray market activities have become global, occurring not only in less developed or volatile markets, but also in many well‐developed markets. Although the gray market problem has…
Abstract
Gray market activities have become global, occurring not only in less developed or volatile markets, but also in many well‐developed markets. Although the gray market problem has been discussed in the literature, pertinent research from a demand perspective remains scarce. This study establishes a valid measure of consumer attitude toward gray market goods and investigates the relationships between consumer attitude toward gray market goods and their antecedents. Data analysis reveals that both price‐quality inference and risk averseness significantly and negatively affect consumer attitude toward gray market goods. Strategies for managers of international brands to address gray market problems are presented.
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Lynne Eagle, Philip J. Kitchen, Lawrence Rose and Brendan Moyle
Brand equity has received significant academic attention since the mid‐1990s. This has been driven partly by changes in international accounting standards as they relate to the…
Abstract
Brand equity has received significant academic attention since the mid‐1990s. This has been driven partly by changes in international accounting standards as they relate to the reporting of the financial value of intangible assets. A more prominent driver concerns the impact of marketing, and of marketing communication activity in particular, on brand performance. Much of the academic debate, however, has centered on conflicting definitions of brand equity and on seeking ways of measuring or quantifying the value of equity. Attention is now turning to examining the nature of equity and of factors that may threaten it. This paper examines the potential impact of parallel importing on brand equity and provides a substantive theoretical background. The paper then reports the findings from an exploratory study involving depth interviews with New Zealand brand managers whose brands have been affected by this activity.
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The paper aims to establish which formally and informally published sources of knowledge were mainly used by executives in the computer service industry to obtain knowledge of…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper aims to establish which formally and informally published sources of knowledge were mainly used by executives in the computer service industry to obtain knowledge of current developments in the field of marketing and to examine the purposes for which the knowledge gathered from these sources was employed.
Design/methodology/approach
Marketing managers in 141 large computer services businesses completed a questionnaire concerning the extents to which they used books, marketing magazines, academic journals, and grey literature (GL) for instrumental, conceptual, and symbolic purposes. Four “motivating factors” (e.g. occupational learning orientation) were examined plus three other influences (e.g. length of time in a marketing role). The possible consequences of the extensive use of various sources were explored.
Findings
Only 2 per cent of the sample read academic marketing journals, and just 3 per cent looked at marketing textbooks. However, 89 per cent of the sample accessed (mainly internet‐based) grey marketing literature and 62 per cent read marketing magazines. Nearly, one in six of the respondents stated that they had read practitioner “how to do” marketing books. Several hypothesised independent variables exerted positive and significant impacts on the degrees to which magazines; GL and practitioner books were employed to obtain marketing knowledge.
Research limitations/implications
It was not possible to examine exactly why a particular knowledge source was preferred for a specific purpose. Potential connections between past academic research outputs and the contents of contemporary grey marketing literature and articles in marketing magazines could not be investigated. The results imply that GL must be recognised as a vital source of marketing knowledge. Issues relating to the codification and wider distribution of GL, copyright, the shortage of specialised GL bibliographies in the marketing area, and the long‐term availability of materials in electronic form need to be addressed.
Originality/value
This was the first empirical study to connect the use of marketing knowledge sources to the purposes (instrumental, conceptual, symbolic) for which the knowledge contained within them was required.
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