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The key research issue addressed in this paper is whether individuals perceive advertisements featuring themes from their own religion more positively, and advertisements featuring religious themes from other religions less positively, than neutral ads. In the process, this paper aims to test whether the in-group bias theory (IGBT) and the polarized appraisal theory (PAT) apply in a religious context.

Respondents in a large Indian University were shown advertisements featuring Hindu and Muslim themes as well as a neutral advertisement in the context of pet adoption. Cognitive and affective response measures were used for evaluation.

Respondents did not evaluate advertisements with their own religion’s symbols any more positively than neutral advertisements but did evaluate advertisements with themes from other religions more negatively than neutral ads. In sum, religious advertisements did not have any positive effect on in-group respondents, but rather worked in antagonizing out-group respondents.

Both IGBT and PAT did not work as predicted when tested on in-group respondents but worked as expected on out-group respondents.

In the Indian market, using religious themes has largely negative consequences in terms of alienating out-group members, with no commensurate advantage on in-group members. Firms are better off not using religious advertising, and this decision would likely have a positive impact on a firm’s bottom line.

Though, the general topic of religious advertising has been much researched, but this paper deals with the role of religious symbols in advertising in the Indian context, which is done for the first time in a multi-religious context. Further, the applicability of IGBT and PAT is also tested for the first time in religious advertisement context.

In the past few years, organizations have spent millions of dollars adopting salesforce automation (SFA) systems, and this trend continues to grow. Despite its significance, very little academic research has been devoted to understanding the factors that can influence the adoption and implementation of SFA systems. Contends that SFA is a two‐stage process that involves adoption at: (a) the organizational level, and (b) the level of the individual salesperson ‐ with organizational adoption preceding individual salesperson adoption. Draws on diffusion theory and the existing SFA trade literature to discuss factors that can influence SFA adoption at both these levels and their implications for management.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the changing perceptions of an iconic American product, namely Levi Jeans, in a rapidly developing country, namely Costa Rica, over a 20‐year period from 1988 to 2008.

Changing perceptions were measured with regard to product attributes (e.g. relative advantage, compatibility, trialability, observability, and risk), and experience‐related attributes (e.g. product durability, fit, comfort, and price). Further, the changing influence of these variables on repurchase intentions was measured. Data collected in 1988 and again in 2008 at a large Costa Rican university were compared.

The results suggest that globalization, increased competition, and cultural individualization have reduced Levis' attribute advantages and thus brand equity. Implications for branding in other developing countries, especially India, are provided.

Modern Indian consumers are more picky, and are more concerned with lifestyle fit and observability issues. This combined with the growing affluent youth market in India leads to specific suggestions on how Levi can approach marketing strategy in the Indian market.

The paper is unique in that it is a longitudinal study of changing perceptions with data collected over a 20‐year time period. Further, it provides specific recommendations for apparel manufacturers aiming to enter the Indian and other rapidly developing markets.

Most existing product innovation‐decision models view decision making from a very cognitive perspective in that they presume that decision to adopt a new product is preceded by steps that parallel product information procurement and evaluation. Argues that such an approach is unnecessarily limiting given that a substantial proportion of individuals do not base their decisions on attribute processing, even for relatively complex products. Critically evaluates two of the most widely cited adoption models and based on this analysis proposes a more holistic model that incorporates real world decision factors, and presents its managerial implications.

This paper aims to document changes in values of young Indian consumers over a 10-year period from 2004 to 2014. Given increases in per-capita income and living standards and, particularly, the tremendous increase in exposure to global products and ideals via media advertising, and greater one-to-one interaction with Americans and other English-speaking people from individualistic cultures (India has over 250 million Internet users who communicate in the English language), it was proposed that young Indian consumers would adopt values associated with self-enhancement and individualism, forsaking self-transcendence-related ideals such as benevolence and universalism.

Data pertaining to the Rokeach value scale (RVS) were collected in New Delhi in 2004 and 2014 and tested using MANOVA.

The results strongly support the contentions, save a couple of surprises. Implications of this dramatic change in values in a relatively short period are discussed from a marketing perspective.

This is the first paper that empirically measures changing consumer values in India.

Starting from the premise that market definition is critical to developing effective and efficient market entry strategies, shows that current approaches to market definition are unable to meet these challenges, that their deficiency is compounded for multinational entry strategies, and that the crux of their weakness is reliance on a static interpretation of a dynamic construct – time. Next, advances the proposition that accounting for the time‐based effects can improve the strategic planning process, and then, following the percepts of diffusion theory, develops a framework that conceptualizes multinational markets in terms of their media availability and economic development, key variables that reflect an innovation's rate of adoption at distinct stages of the diffusion process. Finally, applies the framework to data that illustrate its ability to help marketing managers achieve greater effectiveness and efficiency from their global, market expansion strategies.

Extends the diffusion of innovations paradigm to today’s pluralistic marketplace by introducing the concept of multiple diffusion, whereby an innovation diffuses in multiple sub‐social systems, each with a distinct pattern of adoption, that together comprise the aggregate diffusion pattern for a given society. Identifies variables that affect the multiple diffusion process, presents propositions related to them, and discusses implications of this framework for marketing researchers and practitioners.

The primary purpose of this paper is to investigate how opportunity for control and firm capability interact to moderate the amount of risk that managers associate with various international entry‐mode strategies. A secondary goal is to investigate how managers perceive the need to retain control over three core functional areas (marketing, production, and R&D) when making entry‐mode decisions.

A field experiment design was implemented in a sample of US business owner/executives. Using an online data collection method, the study asked a sample of small‐business owners and managers to assess the amount of risk they associated with three modes of entering the Japanese market: non‐ownership (export), equal partnership (50/50 joint‐venture), and sole‐ownership. They were also asked how much control they needed to retain over R&D, production, and marketing for the venture to be successful.

Ownership‐provided control interacts with capability to influence managerial risk perceptions. Managers in lower‐capability firms see the least risk in the non‐ownership entry mode while those in higher‐capability firms see the least risk in the equal‐partnership entry mode. Managers believe that for a new venture in a foreign market to be successful, control should be retained over the R&D function, regardless of entry mode.

The findings appear to reconcile some of the conflicting predictions of the transaction cost and resource‐based theoretical perspectives, because it appears that international managers consider both control (internationalization theory) and capability (resource‐based theory) when judging the perceived risk of an entry strategy.

For firms that are incapable of managing in an international context, a low‐control no‐ownership entry mode is perceived as the least risky approach; for firms that have some capability for international management, then a partial‐ownership mode such as a 50/50 joint‐venture is perceived as having lower risk than no‐ownership. In non‐ownership and joint‐venture type entry modes, managers are more apt to outsource the marketing function to an agent/partner, but not R&D. In contrast, managers believe that marketing needs to be maintained in‐house when utilizing a sole‐ownership entry mode.

By illustrating the role of perceived risk in foreign‐market entry‐mode decisions and demonstrating how capabilities interact with ownership‐provided control to moderate these perceptions, the paper's findings suggest that managers' risk perceptions may mediate the effects of firm‐specific factors, and thus contributes significantly to both theory and practice.