Multilevel analyses in marketing research:differentiating analytical outcomes

Marketing scholars are increasingly recognizing the importance of investigating phenomena at multiple levels. However, the analyses methods that are currently dominant within marketing may not be appropriate to dealing with multilevel or nested data structures. We identify the state of contemporary multilevel marketing research, finding that typical empirical approaches within marketing research may be less effective at explicitly taking account of multilevel data structures than those in other organizational disciplines. A Monte Carlo simulation, based on results from a previously published marketing study, demonstrates that different approaches to analysis of the same data can result in very different results (both in terms of power and effect size). The implication is that marketing scholars should be cautious when analyzing multilevel or other grouped data, and we provide a discussion and introduction to the use of hierarchical linear modeling for this purpose.

Strategic marketing and e-business

The dramatic growth in e-business is manifest in phenomena such as the surge in internet retailing, the boom in social media based marketing communications, and the centrality of e-commerce to many organizations’ core strategies. Despite this the precise implications of e-business for marketing strategy remain little-understood. In order to guide theory development and practice in the marketing strategy domain, it is of fundamental importance to take stock of the impact that e-business has had upon strategic marketing. Therefore, this chapter develops a conceptual framework in order to explicate the implications of e-business for strategic marketing theory and practice. We find that the impact of e-business on strategic marketing is far-reaching; influencing not only isolated departments, but the organization as a whole. Finally, we conclude that whilst organizations should be alert to the dynamic opportunities and threats posed by e-business, the guiding principle of value creation should not be forgotten.

A model of service performance enhancement:the role of transactional and transformational leadership

This paper is concerned with the ways in which transactional and transformational leadership styles can improve the service performance of front-line staff. Past literature on services marketing has indicated the importance of leadership but has largely ignored the parallel literature in which leadership styles have been conceptualized and operationalized (e.g., sales management, organizational psychology). This paper seeks to build upon existing services marketing theory by introducing the role of leadership styles in enhancing service performance. Consequently, a conceptual framework of the effect of transactional and transformational leadership styles on service performance, anchored in a crossdisciplinary literature review, is developed. Managerial implications and future research directions are also discussed.

Stakeholder relationships in an international retailing context:an investment bank perspective

Purpose - In the stakeholder marketing literature, there have been calls by several researchers to expand the stakeholder domain to incorporate a broader array of stakeholders. In developing this argument in this paper the authors aim to explore a set of stakeholder relationships in an international retailing context, notably those which exist between retail firms and investment banks. Design/methodology/approach - Theoretical ideas are subject to empirical scrutiny from 34 in-depth interviews with investment banks and senior retail executives from two retail multinationals. Findings - Exploratory findings suggest that US investment banks' ideals were at odds with European retail firms - and both occupied "different thought worlds". It is concluded that the relationships between financial stakeholders and the retail firm cannot be explained simply by reference to stylised economic interactions, but must also be examined in the light of the cultural contexts and different forms of market system within which different firms emerge, operate and interact. Originality/value - New strategies such as internationalisation stretch resources and capabilities to a point where retailers invariably will be exposed to different stakeholder issues and stresses. Towards this end, this paper contends that the significant international re-orientation under way in retailing must be understood within the wider context of stakeholder theory. The paper argues that the full potential of applying stakeholder marketing theory to the internationalisation process of retailers has yet to be realised. From this exploratory research, five research propositions are put forward that might serve as a guide to future research in this area. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Internal market orientation:construct, measurement and consequences

This thesis contributes to the paucity of marketing research into the area of internal marketing. Drawing from knowledge developed in a diverse range of marketing and management literatures, the domaill of internal marketing is clarified Gild a new concept, internal market orientation is developed. A new instrument, measuring the internal market orientation, is developed and subjected to standard scale development procedures. Six dimensions of the construct are confirmed; collegial interaction, group interaction, jorlllal interaction, external envirollment, wage flexibility and job flexibility. A sample of 766 UK retail store managers are surveyed to identify levels of internal market orientation and external market orientation in large UK multi-product, multi-site retailers and the structural relationships between internal market orientation, extemal market orientation alld company performance are examined. The external market orientation construct is applied to the local retail market and established measurement instruments adapted to this pwpose. Three measures of performance are employed ill this study. The structural relationships between the six dimensions of internal market orientation and the three dimensions of external market orientation are examined employing structural equations methodology, using LISREL 8.3. alld the impact of internal market orientation Oil external market orientation and company performance is measured. The study finds no direct link between internal market orientation and financial performance but does identify the moderated role of internal market orientation on financial performance. Significant relationships between three of the six dimensions of internal market orientation and the three dimensions of external market orientation are identified and the impact of internal market orientation on the retention of employees and their behaviour is also identified. The research findings contribute to marketing theory by providing empirical evidence to support the long held assumption that internal marketing has an impact on marketing success and offers an explanation of the mechanism by which this influence operates. For marketing practitioners, the research findings offer additional information on which services marketing strategies may be formulated.

Utilising online shopping environment attributes holistically to create competitive advantage

As more consumers shop online, it becomes crucial for marketers to know how online shopping environments (OSEs) can be used to gain competitive advantage. This dissertation aims to explain theoretically how OSE attributes work together holistically to produce desirable consumer responses, applying and extending a theory from the environmental psychology literature to the online context. Firstly, the study conceptualises OSEs as virtual environments which may be perceived and experienced both cognitively and affectively through a technology-mediated interaction with a computer screen. A multi-disciplinary approach identifies key characteristics of OSEs: they involve consumers; they are more complex than their offline counterparts; they are likely first apprehended holistically; and they can elicit high levels of emotions and cognition. Secondly, the research uses a gestalt approach and extends Kaplan and Kalan’s (1982) Preference Framework, taking account of the specific characteristics of OSEs, which one visits specifically to obtain product information. The results support the proposition that OSEs are perceived in terms of their Sense-making and Exploratory attributes. Thirdly, the research explains how OSE attributes work together to produce desirable consumer responses. As hypothesised, Exploratory potential produces both Hedonic and Utilitarian value, and both kinds of value contribute to Site commitment. An unexpected result is that Sense-making potential does not produce Utilitarian value directly, but only through the mediation of Exploratory potential. The research contributes to marketing theory by: (1) identifying ways the internet has changed the nature of the shopping experience; (2) extending Kaplan and Kaplan’s Preference Framework to explain how consumers perceive OSEs holistically; (3) identifying the distinction between page-level and site-level perceptions, and (4) distinguishing between different sources of information (marketer vs. non-marketer). Managerially, the research provides a model for marketers to conceive and design retail websites whose attributes work together to create competitive advantage.

Modelling markets

Decision makers in marketing are often faced with rather complicated situations in which decisions have to be made. Let us consider the problem of determining the appropriate advertising budget. A brand manager is asked to determine the optimal budget. He knows that increases in advertising may lead to increased sales, but also lead to increased costs. The advertising expenditures in period t, say 1994, may not only lead to increases in sales in t, but also to increases in t + 1 (1995) and possibly may contribute to the value of the brand for a long time period.2 Increases in sales will result in changes in profit. The decision maker is allowed to spend more advertising money if there is more profit and more sales, thus advertising spending depends on past sales and profit performance. In order to account for these and possibly other relationships it is necessary to formalise these relations. This means that the decision maker has to specify which variables influence which other variables and what the directions of causality between these variables are. To this end a model has to be formalised, data have to be collected and the formalised model has to be calibrated.

The primacy of theory

Purpose – The purpose of this editorial is to provide indicative guidance to prospective EJM contributors of the importance of theoretical development to the success of submissions. Design/methodology/approach – The authors use a combination of conceptual thinking and theoretical literature to present key concepts of theory and its relevance to a manuscript's contribution to knowledge. Findings – The authors propose some guidelines for researchers who wish to publish the results of their work in EJM, and these also have relevance to other top academic journals. Research limitations/implications – The topic of theoretical conceptualisation and development is a complex one. Because of space constraints, the coverage of many issues is necessarily brief in this article. Practical implications – Scholars should find the thoughts contained in this article to be of significant benefit to their publication efforts in EJM and other top journals. Originality/value – While other top marketing journals have in the past provided similar guideline-style pieces, this is one of the few to be written from an inclusive perspective, with the explicit focus on the theoretical development stage.

An application of strategic group theory to the UK pharmaceuticals industry

Conducts a strategic group mapping exercise by analysing R&D investment, sales/marketing cost and leadership information pertaining to the pharmaceuticals industry. Explains that strategic group mapping assists companies in identifying their principal competitors, and hence supports strategic decision-making, and shows that, in the pharmaceutical industry, R&D spending, the cost of sales and marketing, i.e. detailing, and technological leadership are mobility barriers to companies moving between sectors. Illustrates, in bubble-chart format, strategic groups in the pharmaceutical industry, plotting detailing-costs against the scale of activity in therapeutic areas. Places companies into 12 groups, and profiles the strategy and market-position similarities of the companies in each group. Concludes with three questions for companies to ask when evaluating their own, and their competitors, strategies and returns, and suggests that strategy mapping can be carried out in other industries, provided mobility barriers are identified.

Marketing strategy : making sense of industry dynamics:is there still value in strategic group research?

This paper looks selectively at strategic group theory and seeks to explore the benefits and limitations of modern strategic group analysis within the context of practical strategy making in the pharmaceutical industry. The rise and fall of strategic group research is reviewed and suggestions advanced as to the reasons why strategic group research suffered criticism and frequently produced conflicting results. The paper concludes that strategic group research offers a valuable way to classify firms by their strategy and provides some suggestions as to how industry strategists may benefit from strategic group analysis and avoid the pitfalls exposed by previous research.

The evolution of "classical mythology" within marketing measure development

Purpose - This paper provides a deeper examination of the fundamentals of commonly-used techniques - such as coefficient alpha and factor analysis - in order to more strongly link the techniques used by marketing and social researchers to their underlying psychometric and statistical rationale. Design/methodology approach - A wide-ranging review and synthesis of psychometric and other measurement literature both within and outside the marketing field is used to illuminate and reconsider a number of misconceptions which seem to have evolved in marketing research. Findings - The research finds that marketing scholars have generally concentrated on reporting what are essentially arbitrary figures such as coefficient alpha, without fully understanding what these figures imply. It is argued that, if the link between theory and technique is not clearly understood, use of psychometric measure development tools actually runs the risk of detracting from the validity of the measures rather than enhancing it. Research limitations/implications - The focus on one stage of a particular form of measure development could be seen as rather specialised. The paper also runs the risk of increasing the amount of dogma surrounding measurement, which runs contrary to the spirit of this paper. Practical implications - This paper shows that researchers may need to spend more time interpreting measurement results. Rather than simply referring to precedence, one needs to understand the link between measurement theory and actual technique. Originality/value - This paper presents psychometric measurement and item analysis theory in easily understandable format, and offers an important set of conceptual tools for researchers in many fields. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.