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Purpose
This paper aims to study the mixed after-sales service which simultaneously offers return and replacement services. The authors develop a model to propose what kind of after-sales service the firm should choose and how to make the after-sales service policy to improve the profit. The study aims to extend the literature on the mixed after-sales service and give some support to the managers to make decisions.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, the authors use the optimization modeling method to describe the situations of a firm offering two exclusive after-sales service policies and a mixed after-sales service policy, respectively. They compare the results in different cases and analyze the impact of different parameters on the boundary values and other results. Finally, the authors include three numerical examples to illustrate the major results.
Findings
The authors find that the mixed after-sales service can successfully segment the market, meet various customers’ distinct needs and differentiate the service prices to improve the total profit. Moreover, the authors find the boundary values which indicate the optimal interval for each service. Then, for a certain situation, they can clearly tell which after-sales service dominates and provides the optimal selling price, order quantity and total profit. Besides, the authors show the impact of different parameters on the boundary values and other results.
Originality/value
This paper combines after-sales service into traditional models and provides a new mixed service to segment the market and improve total revenue. It provides some managerial implications for the decision-makers.
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John Cheese, Abby Day and Gordon Wills
An updated version of the original (1985) text, the book covers all aspects of marketing and selling bank services: the role of marketing; behaviour of customers; intelligence…
Abstract
An updated version of the original (1985) text, the book covers all aspects of marketing and selling bank services: the role of marketing; behaviour of customers; intelligence, planning and organisation; product decisions; promotion decisions; place decisions; price decisions; achieving sales. Application questions help to focus the readers' minds on key issues affecting practice.
Yong Liu, Xiaoying Wang and Wenwen Ren
This paper attempts to analyze the relationship between the complementarity degrees of imperfect complementary products and sales strategies and give appropriate sales strategies…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper attempts to analyze the relationship between the complementarity degrees of imperfect complementary products and sales strategies and give appropriate sales strategies for a two-stage supply chain.
Design/methodology/approach
With respect to two-stage supply chain consisting of two manufacturers who produce imperfect complementary products and one retailer who sells the products, aiming at bundling sales strategy, the authors define complementarity elasticity of products and use it to measure the degree of complementary between two products. Based on Stackelberg game and cooperation, the authors analyze the relationship between the complementarity degrees of imperfect complementary products and appropriate sales strategies.
Findings
As the impact of complementarity degree on sales strategy decision-making is better, the authors can pinpoint out which sales decision-making is optimal and which bundling sales strategy is the best for a two-stage supply chain. Considering that the degree of complementarity has a significant impact on the product sales strategy, the authors can point out which sales decision-making is optimal, that is, which bundled sales strategy is the optimal in the secondary supply chain of selling complementary products.
Practical implications
An innovative bundling can expand the sales of existing products and new products. It helps a retailer transcend and defeat competitors by reducing marketing expenses while increasing profits. Proper use of bundling can improve consumers utility and create an overall positive effect for both the enterprises and consumer.
Originality/value
The research can help some retailers to make many appropriate bundling sales strategies.
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The purpose of this paper is to examine the role that collaborations, both foreign and domestic, play on product innovation, sales mix, and sales revenue for Chinese firms. Both…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the role that collaborations, both foreign and domestic, play on product innovation, sales mix, and sales revenue for Chinese firms. Both statistical correlations and marginal (economic) effects of collaborations feature in the analysis.
Design/methodology/approach
This study includes 2,700 Chinese firms across 15 industry sectors and 25 cities from a World Bank survey conducted in 2012; the data are stratified by firm size. Given the different types of dependent variables to be estimated, several methodologies are employed: logistic regression, Poisson regression, and ordinary least squares. The marginal effects of key variables are then calculated to demonstrate their economic impact.
Findings
Regarding the likelihood of product innovation, collaboration with domestic (Chinese) companies is significant for Chinese micro, medium, and large enterprises. Being a foreign subsidiary is significant for the proportion of new products in the sales mix for small, medium, and large firms. Domestic collaboration can boost the sales of innovating small firms and innovating medium companies by nearly 113 and 140 percent, respectively.
Originality/value
This study builds on the current literature by examining the impact of foreign vs domestic collaboration on Chinese firms, whereas most research examines foreign players only. It offers a more nuanced analysis by stratifying estimates according to firm size, and it goes beyond statistical significance to quantify the real economic effect of collaborations on Chinese companies.
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Mehir Baidya, Bipasha Maity and Kamal Ghose
The purpose of this study is to estimate the relative contributions of individual marketing mix variables to sales as well as short‐term and long‐term effects of advertising in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to estimate the relative contributions of individual marketing mix variables to sales as well as short‐term and long‐term effects of advertising in India.
Design/methodology/approach
Time‐series data on sales and marketing mix variables have been collected for two brands. Two double‐log regression modes have been fitted on data to estimate the relative contribution of each effort as well as to isolate the amount of sales due to advertising only. In addition, a log‐linear partial‐adjustment model has been fitted on adjusted sales and advertising data to estimate both short‐term and long‐term effects of advertising.
Findings
Results reveal that all the marketing mix variables have significant relative contributions to sales in both the cases. It is also found that advertising does have significant short‐term and long‐term effects on adjusted sales for both the brands.
Practical implications
Findings provide a deep insight in dynamic perspective of advertising that make them eminently suitable in the process of allocation of budget to achieve both the short‐term and long‐term goals of advertising.
Originality/value
This research made a notable contribution to the literature due to lack of quantitative modeling works on marketing data reported in the field of advertising in India.
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ALMOST everybody who is in the position of employer or staff selector has received applications from graduates who are quite certain they have all the qualities necessary to fill…
Abstract
ALMOST everybody who is in the position of employer or staff selector has received applications from graduates who are quite certain they have all the qualities necessary to fill the post advertised or who, writing in on the off chance, imply that they possess everything required to warrant a position specifically manufactured for them to fill. The only snag is that when a close look at their diploma is taken, it reveals that they have received it for work done in a totally useless field. We have heard of a case of an applicant with a PhD that was granted for a thesis on a subject so remote from reality that it could be compared with that music‐hall joke of the one who obtained his doctorate for a thesis on the brain power shown by performing fleas.
Xiaogang Cao, Cuiwei Zhang, Jie Liu, Hui Wen and Bowei Cao
The purpose of this article is based on the unit patent license fee model in the closed-loop supply chain.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is based on the unit patent license fee model in the closed-loop supply chain.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper analyzes the impact of the bundling strategy of the retailer selling new products and remanufactured products on the closed-loop supply chain under the condition that the original manufacturer produces new products and the remanufacturer produces remanufacturing products.
Findings
The results show that alternative products can be bundled, and in many cases, the bundling of remanufactured products and new products is better than selling alone.
Originality/value
If the retailer chooses bundling, for the remanufacturer, when certain conditions are met, the benefits of bundling are greater than the separate sales at that time; for the original manufacturer, when the recycling price sensitivity coefficient is high, the bundling is better than separate sales.
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Jamil Razmak, Joseph William Pitzel, Charles Belanger and Wejdan Farhan
Determining the skills required for salespersons to maximize their effectiveness was the main driver for conducting the present study. In order to identify those necessary skills…
Abstract
Purpose
Determining the skills required for salespersons to maximize their effectiveness was the main driver for conducting the present study. In order to identify those necessary skills, this study aims to review various research techniques drawn from multiple disciplines and applied that knowledge to salespersons.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a mixed-method methodology. This study began by conducting a literature review and then interviewed experienced salespersons with varied backgrounds to develop a comprehensive list of sales skills and themes and categorize them into competency categories. This study then conducted a quantitative analysis to determine the respective importance of the skills and themes by surveying a sample of internal stakeholders of a multinational company. Finally, this study calculated the reliability and validity of the themes.
Findings
A total of 206 relevant skills (later reduced to 110) and 28 themes were identified and grouped into three competency categories: conceptual, human/interpersonal and technical. Survey respondents rated the skills and themes higher than the “somewhat important” score of 3 out of 5, with the overall mean importance for skills being in the “important” range (score of 4.27 out of 5). All identified skills were believed to be important to a salesperson’s success.
Originality/value
This study’s expanded list of sales skills will improve employability, reduce turnover among employees and build better groundwork for fostering learning through work, resulting in better performance. These skills represent a 2020 updated list that could be used for future academic research and training and research in the business world.
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The purpose of this mixed-methods explanatory sequential study was to assess the effects of an external wine education and certification program on trainee reactions, learning…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this mixed-methods explanatory sequential study was to assess the effects of an external wine education and certification program on trainee reactions, learning, transfer and financial results.
Design/methodology/approach
The quantitative phase was a mixed experimental design in which the training intervention was between-subjects and time was within-subjects. The sample comprises 91 employees (NTraining = 43; NControl = 48) from 12 units of a fine dining restaurant group. The qualitative phase, comprised of semi-structured interviews with training group participants (N = 12), was implemented after the experiment.
Findings
Training group participants reported high scores for attitude toward training content, instructional satisfaction and transfer motivation. Financial metrics, tracked up to 60 days post-training, demonstrated the wine education program was effective in increasing wine knowledge but not wine sales. Four themes emerged from the qualitative data: sense of accomplishment, enhanced guest interaction, tips and gratuities and defeat. Integrated findings revealed increased wine knowledge led to personal financial impact (increased tips) rather than organizational impact.
Originality/value
This research builds on existing training literature and human capital theory by examining external training programs. Further, the use of a mixed-methods design and integration of the quantitative and qualitative findings offers a previously unidentified explanation for why wine training, although effective in facilitating positive reactions and learning, fails to result in transfer behaviors which generate increased wine sales.
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Marcos Inácio Severo de Almeida, Rafael Barreiros Porto and Ricardo Limongi França Coelho
Evolution and stationarity are key time series empirical concepts which need theoretical assessment by extant research. This study presents a model to explain brand sales dynamics…
Abstract
Purpose
Evolution and stationarity are key time series empirical concepts which need theoretical assessment by extant research. This study presents a model to explain brand sales dynamics in emerging markets using two dimensions: sales behavior in time (stationary or evolution) and final position (negative, neutral or positive).
Design/methodology/approach
A three-step methodological approach was performed. First, individual brand sales series were classified (stationarity or evolution) after unit root tests. These series were then regressed against a time variable. These two steps enabled a qualitative classification of six proposed positions, ranging from the worst to the best scenario for marketing managers. A final multinomial model identified the marketing effect to these positions.
Findings
Descriptive statistics reveal an insignificant prevalence of stationary sales series and a small number of positive brand sales series (ascending or promising). The multinomial model shows that price is negatively associated to positive brand sales positions, the important effect of service strategies and how product decisions can lead to an avoidance of negative positions.
Research limitations/implications
The model is limited to short time series of a unique transactional dataset from a multinational energy company based in Brazil.
Practical implications
The research provides a rational empirical framework to managers involved with decisions regarding brand sales dynamics in emerging markets.
Originality/value
The approach advance into the development of models to uncover conditions for market evolution and stationarity in a context marked by the shortage of data.
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