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The purpose of this study was to ascertain the existence and strength of the relationship between proactive environmental policies and brand equity for the winery. Results of this study suggest that consumer perceptions about product quality, consumer trust, consumer perceptions about pricing, and positive expectations for the consequences of the winery's actions undertaking the pro‐environmental policies, all have strong, positive relationships with the winery's brand equity. Trust in the winery and brand equity for the winery increased significantly when the winery in this study adopted proactive environmental business policies.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a retrospection on the importance, origins and development of the research programs in the author’s career.

The study uses an autobiographical approach.

Most of the articles, research monographs and books that constitute this research and publishing efforts can be categorized into seven distinct, but related, research programs: channels of distribution; marketing theory; marketing’s philosophy debates; macromarketing and ethics; relationship marketing; resource-advantage theory; and marketing management and strategy. The value system that has guided these research programs has been shaped by specific events that took place in the author’s formative years. This essay chronicles these events and the origins and development of the seven research programs.

Chronicling the importance, origins and development of the seven research programs will hopefully motivate and assist other scholars in developing their own research programs.

The promise of a charitable contribution on behalf of respondents to mail surveys may prove effective in increasing response rates as well as offering cost and administration advantages. This study refines this type of incentive by investigating the effect of the amount of the charitable contribution and the placement of the incentive offer in the cover letter. The research population is drawn from the industrial sector, an important sector which has been studied far less than consumers.

American business enterprise is increasingly seeking export markets for products as a means of expansion, and in some instances to offset loss in domestic business due to declining markets or international competitors. This paper deals with market segmentation and its role in the successful positioning of products in foreign markets. More specifically, the focus here is how consumer political identifications and ideological values can be used as a basis for effectively segmenting markets. To U.S. firms, the potential benefit of gaining this insight is twofold. First, firms may thus have at their disposal a segmentation tool as yet unrecognized by competitors. Second, politics and political ideology have constructs which appear to be common to most election‐based governmental forms; thus the segmentation applications explored here would be transferable to foreign markets, whereas many other more conventional means of segmentation transfer poorly from the U.S. to other countries.

The main objective of this research was to measure the effects on sponsor recall¹ at the soccer African Nations Cup (ANC) in Tunisia in 2004. This quantitative investigation used a sample of 308 people who watched the event on television and/or in the stadium. The research demonstrates that there was indeed an effect by type of audience and other variables.

States that the level of consumer involvement in a product category is a major variable relevant to advertising strategy. Suggests product category is often segmented by the level of consumer involvement; however, consumers are rarely segmented. Points out that different involvement clusters have different responses to advertising effectiveness for the same product. Presents a case study segmenting a market using the consumer involvement degree, exploring the characteristics in order to determine the relationship between advertising effectiveness and the level of consumer involvement. Shows results suggesting that a high degree of consumer involvement directed a high advertising effect and is therefore an important indication for advertising strategy.

Consumer behavior, in the context of general insurance, is worth exploring to formulate growth strategies for insurance sector in India in light of the proposed structural changes. Indian consumers attract global players due to untapped potential and favorable policy measures initiated for higher foreign direct investments. The purpose of this paper is to understand the prevailing level of service quality as perceived by insurance customers in India in the presence of certain contextual antecedents and moderators.

Perceptions about constructs like customer risk dispositions, awareness, past experiences, customer involvement, choice overload, service quality and satisfaction of 256 customers were collected using a questionnaire survey. A variance-based structural equation modeling helped to identify significant linkages among the constructs.

In order to assess service quality levels, a 15-item scale having the infrastructure, employees, agents and product dimensions was found valid and reliable. Choice overload and customer involvement were found to moderate the influence of antecedents and service quality, respectively. The influence of choice overload on quality perceptions is insignificant. The study concludes that the existing risk beliefs are insufficient, and experiences have less predictive contribution to quality perceptions.

Theoretically, this study examined the process of satisfaction development from service quality perceptions. This study offers insights for developing theories to portray future consumer behavior where more dependence of self-service technologies is expected to dominate service delivery mechanisms in insurance. The study informs that general insurance customers in India prefer more diversified products, more customer-centric employees/agents and better technical quality.

The findings of this study contribute to the understanding of the prevailing insurance consumer behavior in the general insurance sector of India and help insurance service providers in streamlining their strategies for better insurance penetration and reduced lapse rate.

This study helps in understanding the emerging trends in general insurance buying behavior in India.

Considers the results of recent studies of celebrity endorsers in advertisements. Analyses the results of a particular study evaluating three product categories: bath towels, blue jeans, and VCRs; two endorsers: Madonna and Christie Brinkley; and the product when advertised by each celebrity. Concludes that the endorser tends to pass their own image onto the product, particularly if the product has an undefined image, so it is important that the endorser′s image is consistent with the desired product image.

Examines the use of celebrity endorsement in advertising. Reviews the results of a recent study looking at the effect of a celebrity′s attractiveness, trustworthiness and expertise on product purchase intentions, and of one examining the relevance of physical attractiveness and other symbolic attributes of the endorser in relation to product meaning. Considers implications for marketing managers and concludes that further research is necessary.

The main focus of marketing strategists is increasingly aimed toward coping with competition, despite continuing challenges in markets themselves. Competition is a key factor that marketing strategists face. Competitors' market moves demand timely and creative reaction. To get usable advance estimates of such probable moves, it is essential to have a system for careful monitoring of competitors. All proactive strategic actions should anticipate the market reactions that competitors are likely to make to them. Unfortunately, ways to cope with actual and potential competition, however, still receive only brief treatment in the pertinent literature. This article examines the competitive features of modern market environments and considers how marketing strategists attempt to cope with them.