Search results
21 – 30 of over 13000Lisa O’Malley and Caroline Tynan
Relationship marketing (RM) was conceived as an approach to industrial and service markets, and was considered inappropriate in other marketing contexts. Recently, however, the…
Abstract
Relationship marketing (RM) was conceived as an approach to industrial and service markets, and was considered inappropriate in other marketing contexts. Recently, however, the domain of RM has been extended to incorporate innovative applications in mass consumer markets. Much has changed in a few short years. Recent applications of RM in consumer markets have been facilitated by developments in direct and database marketing within an increasingly competitive and fragmented marketplace. This paper presents a critical review of the history of RM in consumer markets, and incorporates important conceptual, practical, empirical and popular contributions. A number of critical issues which remain unresolved are identified in the paper. These form the basis of ten research propositions which are crucial to justifying and advancing the domain extension into consumer markets.
Details
Keywords
Russell Abratt and Joy Russell
Deals with the success of relationship marketing in the private banking sector. A comprehensive literature review of relationship marketing was undertaken. A study was undertaken…
Abstract
Deals with the success of relationship marketing in the private banking sector. A comprehensive literature review of relationship marketing was undertaken. A study was undertaken among a sample of 118 high net worth individuals, 53 with personal bankers, and 65 without, to establish whether relationship marketing was working in this banking sector. The results show that relationships are an important criterion in the selection of a private bank. A comprehensive analysis of the various stages a client has in a relationship with a bank are discussed. Lastly, the implications for the private banking industry are dealt with in a comprehensive manner.
Details
Keywords
In this article the important contributions in marketing made by Nordic researchers and its applicability to studies of the marketing/entrepreneurship interface will be discussed…
Abstract
In this article the important contributions in marketing made by Nordic researchers and its applicability to studies of the marketing/entrepreneurship interface will be discussed. It is argued that much of the contemporary Nordic research in marketing, for example, networks, relationship marketing and recent phenomena such as strategic alliances and imaginary organisations, is important for the understanding of marketing behaviour in entrepreneurial.
Details
Keywords
Roger Palmer, Adam Lindgreen and Joëlle Vanhamme
The purpose of this article is to challenge the applicability of the traditional micro‐economic framework for analysing marketing situations and actions in the contemporary…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to challenge the applicability of the traditional micro‐economic framework for analysing marketing situations and actions in the contemporary marketing environment. To assess the validity and value of relationship marketing as an alternative paradigm. To identify fruitful directions for further research.
Design/methodology/approach
The literature of relationships and relationship marketing was systematically reviewed and thoroughly analysed, and a conceptual framework built from the findings.
Findings
Three key schools of thought are identified, examined and discussed, and their main components explained and examined. Various perspectives on exchange relationships are discussed. Two specific tools for implementation of relationship marketing are evaluated. With a clear conceptual frame of reference thus established, the second part proposes a number of fruitful directions for further research. These include a bibliometric study to assess whether or not a consistent theory of relationship marketing exists, and a rigorous identification of contextual factors determining different marketing styles.
Research limitations/implications
The second part of the paper explicitly discusses research directions to take the new paradigm forward, in theory and in practice.
Practical implications
The combination of a more rigorous conceptual framework and a clear research agenda holds the promise of significant progress in the practical implementation of a young sub‐discipline.
Originality/value
The paper presents a distinctively wide‐ranging and thorough overview of the subject of value to both academic researchers and marketing practitioners.
Details
Keywords
Smallholder farmers in Tanzania were investigated in this paper to determine the dimensions and influence of psychological contracts on smallholder farmers' decisions to…
Abstract
Purpose
Smallholder farmers in Tanzania were investigated in this paper to determine the dimensions and influence of psychological contracts on smallholder farmers' decisions to participate in the market.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected through structured questionnaires, of which a cross-sectional design was conducted in central Tanzania, the Dodoma region in which 467 smallholder farmers were surveyed. First, a preliminary Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted by involving psychological contracts and market participation items derived from previous studies. This was followed by the Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) to verify the items obtained in the EFA. The regression analysis was then performed to test the causal effects of psychological contracts on market participation among smallholder farmers.
Findings
The path analysis revealed that transactional, relational, and ideological contracts have a positive and statistically significant impact on the participation of smallholder farmers in the market. Therefore, smallholder farmers have own set of expectations for participating in the marketplace. As a result, smallholder farmers' relationships with market participation decisions can be strengthened.
Research limitations/implications
This study covered only smallholder farmers. However, future studies can include large-scale farmers, because psychological contracts and market participation difficulties also apply to them. This may increase the generalizability of the findings.
Originality/value
Past studies have not extensively covered the psychological contracts in smallholder farming, especially in market participation. Based on prior empirical and theoretical research from other disciplines, the findings of this study contribute to a better understanding of the psychological contract framework and the significance of multiple psychological obligations between smallholder farmers and market management.
Details
Keywords
David Gilbert and Fiona Sumner
The UK retail environment is highly complex and competitive and as such the context for marketing may require change. This research investigates current marketing practices used…
Abstract
The UK retail environment is highly complex and competitive and as such the context for marketing may require change. This research investigates current marketing practices used by retail companies in the UK and explores their correlation across four different retail sectors. Random samples of companies from the grocery and convenience, specialist audio‐photographic and IT, retail banking and financial services, and, the optical, health, hair and beauty services sectors were used. Across all sectors, respondents feel that their company's marketing practices are changing to become increasingly focussed on a relationship with the customer. No evidence was found of a difference between the marketing variables by industry sector, nor that certain marketing practices might be more prevalent in specific industry sectors. Correlation analysis also shows that a variety of marketing types are being practised simultaneously across all retail companies.
Details
Keywords
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the practical application of dynamic capabilities theory to improve investment decisions in customer relationship management (CRM).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the practical application of dynamic capabilities theory to improve investment decisions in customer relationship management (CRM).
Design/methodology/approach
Action research (AR) allows managers to raise the tacit knowledge of their dynamic capabilities to a level where they can be identified and developed. A framework and a process for managing dynamic capabilities in marketing are presented.
Findings
The findings relate to the nature of dynamic capabilities in marketing and how they are managed.
Practical implications
Marketing managers can improve the return on investments in CRM.
Originality/value
The paper presents a method for applying dynamic capabilities drawn from the resource‐based view (RBV) to practical marketing problems.
Details
Keywords
Jane Hemsley‐Brown and Izhar Oplatka
The purpose of this systematic review was to explore the nature of the marketing of higher education (HE) and universities in an international context. The objectives of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this systematic review was to explore the nature of the marketing of higher education (HE) and universities in an international context. The objectives of the review were to: systematically collect, document, scrutinise and critically analyse the current research literature on supply‐side higher education marketing; establish the scope of higher education marketing; identify gaps in the research literature; and make recommendations for further research in this field.
Design/methodology/approach
The approach for this study entailed extensive searches of relevant business management and education databases. The intention was to ensure that, as far as possible, all literature in the field was identified – while keeping the focus on literature of greatest pertinence to the research questions.
Findings
The paper finds that potential benefits of applying marketing theories and concepts that have been effective in the business world are gradually being recognised by researchers in the field of HE marketing. However, the literature on HE marketing is incoherent, even inchoate, and lacks theoretical models that reflect upon the particular context of HE and the nature of their services.
Research limitations/implications
The research field of HE marketing is still at a relatively pioneer stage with much research still to be carried out both from a problem identification and strategic perspective.
Originality/value
Despite the substantial literature on the marketisation of HE and consumer behaviour, scholarship to provide evidence of the marketing strategies that have been implemented by HE institutions on the supply‐side remains limited, and this is relatively uncharted territory. This paper reviews the literature in the field, focusing on marketing strategies in the rapidly developing HE international market.
Details
Keywords
Jaqueline Pels, Kristian Möller and Michael Saren
A large number of researchers and marketing textbooks see business marketing dominantly from the relationship marketing perspective. One can even talk about a “matrimony” of these…
Abstract
Purpose
A large number of researchers and marketing textbooks see business marketing dominantly from the relationship marketing perspective. One can even talk about a “matrimony” of these domains; “RM=BM”. The Contemporary Marketing Practices studies, however, provide clear evidence of the coexistence of various marketing practices but offer no supporting theoretical rationale for these findings. The purpose of this paper is to answer the question whether business marketing and relationship marketing, when broadly defined to include all relational‐interactional perspectives, are necessarily wedded to each other.
Design/methodology/approach
A metatheoretical analysis was conducted to identify the contributions and limitations of the current research approaches to business marketing and a configurational approach for marketing (CAM) was developed, providing theoretical explanation for the empirical findings versus relationship dominance dilemma.
Findings
The metatheoretical analysis showed that research into business marketing relationships is not monolithic; that each tradition is useful for specific purposes, domains and activities; and that none helps understand why there are multiple ways in which firms relate to their markets. A conceptual CAM framework was developed that allows one to identify possible configurational marketing profiles (i.e. identifying different equivalently valid ways of relating to a business environment).
Research limitations/implications
It is contended that the configuration approach for marketing permits other configurations to co‐exist beyond the RM‐BM matrimony. CAM provides a conceptual framework that can host the “puzzling” empirical results of the contemporary marketing practices studies.
Practical implications
The CAM frame suggests that managers should carefully examine the internal logic of their marketing‐related configuration. Performance should be enhanced if the three elements – managerial frame of reference, organization/environment relationship, marketing mode – are coherent.
Originality/value
The configurational approach for marketing helps one to understand why firms relate to the business marketing environment with a multiplicity of marketing modes, showing that the BM‐RM matrimony is but one possible configuration.
Details
Keywords
Joyce Koe Hwee Nga and Soo Wai Mun
The direct selling industry is experiencing phenomenal growth in Malaysia. The Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry projects that there will be a 20 percent…
Abstract
Purpose
The direct selling industry is experiencing phenomenal growth in Malaysia. The Domestic Trade, Cooperatives and Consumerism Ministry projects that there will be a 20 percent increase in volume of direct sales growth to RM5.5 billion in 2010, RM6.2 billion in 2011 and RM7 billion in 2012. The Direct Selling Act 1993 has been reinforced to accord protection to potential consumers. With the real wages in Malaysia decreasing and increasing unemployment especially among fresh graduates there may be a greater incentive to explore multilevel marketing (MLM) to supplement their income and maintain their desired modern lifestyle. However, the perception of MLM has in the past been tainted by unscrupulous pyramid and Ponzi schemes which aims at quick profits and are not sustainable. This paper aims to investigate the influence of perception of MLM companies and agent attributes on the willingness to undertake MLM as a career among youth.
Design/methodology/approach
The sample of this study comprised 218 students pursuing business and management degrees at a private higher education institution in Klang Valley, Malaysia. Methodologically, this study developed statistically valid and reliable scales for all the constructs of this study namely perception of attributes of MLM companies (general, schemes and service) an agents (general and trust) as well as willingness to undertake MLM as a career option.
Findings
The findings indicate that all MLM company and agent attributes have a significant influence on the willingness to undertake MLM as a career option except MLM schemes. General agent attributes displayed a significant negative influence.
Practical implications
MLM companies need to make their schemes more understandable and transparent to solidify the legitimacy and sustainability as the employer of choice.
Originality/value
The paper shows that MLM remains a viable career option for youth and they need to be equipped with adequate training in personal selling, entrepreneurship and soft skills. MLM companies can tap and nurture this pool of young talent to meet their human resource needs for future growth of this industry in Malaysia.
Details