A qualitative study of multi-channel marketing performance measurement issues

The aim of this study was to provide quantitative research propositions for future researchers studying multi-channel marketing performance. The literature suggests that multi-channel marketing is becoming more prevalent and offers many opportunities to organisations. Multi-channel marketing is, however, more complex to implement and measure than 'traditional' single or dual-channel marketing. Thirty-one senior marketing executives from a diverse range of industries were asked to provide a 'single key challenge' in the area of multi-channel marketing. The findings suggest that the main areas of multi-channel marketing measurement problems are: (a) understanding return on channel investment, (b) understanding customer channel preference and (c) isolating individual channel impact. The paper concludes by using both the qualitative findings and implementation theory to provide propositions for future research as well as tentative management Guidelines.

An integrative marketing channel performance measurement framework

This paper proposes a number of channel performance measurement research propositions. The paper reviews the strategy implementation, strategic control, marketing metrics, marketing channels and performance measurement literature to develop a conceptual model and research propositions. Current channel performance measurement guidelines are too generic for marketing managers and too reliant on financial measures. The introduction of contextual variables such as strategy, culture and manager's personality may provide measures more useful for an individual company's context and requirements. The alignment of channel measures with business strategy should result in more effective and efficient use of channel resources.

Integrated marketing communications measurement and evaluation

Marketing communications have historically been measured on a medium-by-medium basis. The new electronic communications systems are in danger of falling into the same trap. Yet consumers seem to use all these communications systems concurrently, simultaneously and one would assume, synergistically. If this is true, what are the challenges in measuring the impact and effect of these integrated communications systems? How should synergy between communications forms be considered and measured? For it is ultimately consumers, not managers, who integrate (marketing) communications. In response to these and other challenges, this article identifies five areas of integrated marketing communications (IMC) measurement worthy of future research. It then goes on to expand on each of the areas, noting some of the foundational work that has already taken place and signalling possible avenues for future research. In conclusion, it considers the theoretical implications of the research agenda and postulates how a broader view of theory could in fact assist scholars in tackling the research challenges as they currently stand.

Intra-organisational marketing culture and market orientation: a case study of the implementation of the marketing concept in a public library

The measurement of both marketing culture and behaviour provides the opportunity to gain more insight into the overall market focus of organisations. This article seeks to determine the market orientation and marketing culture of all staff within organisations, to ascertain to what extent other members of an organisation support or create barriers to the successful implementation of the marketing concept. This paper will provide a brief overview of the existing literature in the field of market orientation and marketing culture. After detailing the research design and methodology, a summary developed from 11 focus group sessions - consisting of all staff in one public library service in Victoria, Australia - is presented. The findings indicate that while all areas within this organisation are committed to marketing, there are various interpretations of marketing and how it should be implemented. In addition, the research finds a number of factors that could be instrumental in the successful implementation of the marketing concept in public libraries.

The relationship between channel metrics, strategy and marketing performance

The role of marketing channels is to implement marketing strategy. The difficulty of channel strategy is compounded by the emergence of e-channels and the need to integrate e-channels into traditional or “bricks and mortar” channels (Rowley 2002). As a result, managing performance across a greater number of channels with diverse characteristics is more difficult.

Organization and marketing performance is to some degree a function of the quality of channel implementation and particularly channel performance measurement. The channels literature suggests a “channel performance metric paradox”. Approaches to channel performance metrics have been mutually orthogonal or even negatively correlated. (Jeuland & Shugan 1983; Lewis & Lambert 1991; Larson & Lusch 1992). This paradox implies that it is impossible for all channel performance metrics to be maximized simultaneously and tradeoffs exist.

This paper proposes a research model and propositions which extend previous research and attempts to reconcile this “channel performance metric paradox”. The model assumes that testing the relationship between the Miles and Snow strategy types and a comprehensive range of channel performance metrics may explain this paradox. Previous implementation performance research has focused more on the Porter strategies rather than the Miles and Snow strategy types.

Measuring marketing performance: a critique of empirical literature

This paper reviews 46 empirical studies which have assessed performance measurement in marketing. The paper reports on two highly relevant topics in regard to performance measurement: (1) subjective and objective measurement; and (2) financial and non-financial performance measures. Furthermore, the paper provides a tabulated summary of a comprehensive literature review of the types of performance measures utilised in recent literature. Firstly, it was found that there seems to be agreement about the use of a subjective measurement perspective as an acceptable means of measuring performance, and that this is the preferred means of measuring performance by researchers. Secondly, the literature review identified that businesses are no longer defining performance only in terms of the traditional financial measures – they are adopting new frameworks and methodologies. However, this change is not as prominent as might be thought, as financial measures still predominate in research results. Furthermore, this review of performance measures also identified that current measurement selection by researchers is somewhat arbitrary rather than scientific, which is not assisting in the development of a “general performance measure”.

Issues in measuring the return of marketing investment in sporting club brands

This paper examines approaches to the measurement of brand value, and discusses their applicability to the various parties and branded products relevant to professional football clubs. It is concluded that the applicability of many of these measures of performance to sporting club brands is questionable. In order to provide an appropriate measure of the return on investment in brand loyalty to both the sporting club brand and sponsor-related products, the use of nonfinancial performance measures is critical. This paper suggests future research directions to enable greater consistency of the measurement of the return on marketing investment for sporting club brands.

Measuring marketing performance: comparing the literature with the perspective of business executives

This paper investigated performance measurement from both an academic and an Australian practitioner perspective. The current consensus in the literature is that performance is a multi-faceted construct, incorporating both financial and non-financial aspects, and that a sole focus on financial performance measures is less appropriate to deal with the issues that confront organisations today. However, the findings ofthis research indicate that researchers and practitioners alike are driven by financial performance measures. The results indicate that sales/growth and Return-on-Investment (ROI) are the most frequently utilised financial performance measures, whilst satisfaction is the most frequently utilised non-financial measure.

A conceptual model of the role of marketing employees in marketing performance

In general, there is a gap in research in marketing in relation to understanding the role of marketing employees in organisational marketing performance. An exception to this is the performance of salespeople as a subset of all marketing employees. Broader human resource management research into the people-performance link is also severely limited The proposed model argues that marketing employees are one of an organisation's strategic assets and are essential to the superior performance of the firm. Based on the People and Performance model (Purcell et al. 2003), the current model conceptualises marketing employee competencies as a precursor to performance outcomes and is, specifically, concerned with identifying and understanding the nature of the marketing employee performance relationship. Of note, where current performance research, in the main, adopts intermediate measures of labour turnover and labour productivity, this model proposes a three-tiered approach to performance measurement.

Efficiency measurement of Australian dairy farms: national and regional performance

In this paper we use Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) to estimate technical efficiency for a sample of 1742 Australian dairy farms. Bearing in mind data limitations we find that average technical efficiency is 59 per cent, but there are significant regional differences. These results reflect differences in State level milk marketing arrangements in place before dairy deregulation in July 2000 providing an ex post explanation for the changing composition of dairy farms in Australia. We also examine two important technical aspects of DEA implementation. First, how changes in model input specification alter the relative performance of farms. Second, we employ a simple bootstrap procedure to show how changes in sample size affects estimates of technical efficiency. These results have simple but important implications for the use of DEA as an industry-benchmarking tool.

e-marketing positioning your law practice

Legal practices should measure aspects of their corporate reputation including image, reputation attributes and outcomes to be able to implement a successful marketing communication campaign - audience measurement allows information to be gathered about reach and frequency - building corporate websites which reach your target audience will increase revenue and earnings.

The measurement of the number, uniqueness, and valence of brand associations across three product categories

The research reported in this paper investigated the measurement of brand associations across three product categories. Brand associations had not been tested previously across all three categories of fast-moving consumer good, service, and durable in the one study. A free association method was used to generate brand associations for a fast-moving consumer good (shampoo), a service (banks) and a durable good (cars). The findings indicate that the first brand a respondent recalled has the greatest number of positive, unique and total brand associations. In addition, the findings indicated that durable goods have the highest number of associations, and the greatest number of unique and favourable brand associations. Further, banks and financial services had the fewest positive associations, which may have reflected attitudes to banks at the time of the research. These findings have implications for the manner in which respondents use information to recall brands, and how they process brand information when faced with a cue. Respondents use a depth and breadth of brand associations to generate brand information.

Developing and validating an overall international marketing performance scale

The purpose of this chapter is to develop and validate a scale of the overall international marketing performance. Based on a review of the existing literature, the scale constructed to measure international marketing performance used in this study included three factors; namely, finance, strategic and brand performance.

A total of 315 Australian firms involved in international marketing were surveyed. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were undertaken to validate the scale.

Findings support the conceptualization that the overall international marketing construct consists of three factors.

The present study contributes to the understanding of the measurement of the overall international marketing performance by empirically testing the dimensionality of this construct.

The mediating role of innovation in strategic international marketing

© 2014 by IGI Global. All rights reserved. The purpose of this chapter is to empirically examine the mediating role of innovation in strategic international marketing. The theoretical model consists of four variables: firm commitment, innovation, promotion strategy, and firm performance. It is conceptualized that firm commitment influences innovation that mediates the promotion variable, which in turn affects firm performance. A mail-out survey to Australian firms involved in international marketing gathered 315 useable responses. The whole theoretical model was tested using the structural equation modelling, partial disaggregation method. The findings confirm significant relationships among the variables in the theoretical model. All major fit indices from structural equation modelling analysis show satisfactory results for both the measurement model and the structural model. The findings shed light on the deployment of resources and capabilities such as human and financial resources, innovation, and promotion strategy to enhance firm performance. The major contributions of this chapter are the establishment of the mediating role of innovation on promotion strategy and the variables from the resources and capabilities perspective affecting firm performance.

Exploring the integration of social media within integrated marketing communication frameworks: perspectives of services marketers

Purpose – At present no frameworks exist for services marketers to incorporate social media (SM) within marketing communications planning. The majority of integrated marketing communications (IMC) frameworks were developed prior to the development of the widespread use of digital and SM for information seeking, sales and service. The purpose of this paper is to investigate this issue for services marketers specifically as they differ from FMCG, industrial and durable marketers in terms of marketing messages, branding, media and channels. Furthermore, as they are less reliant on outsourced sale channels they have more potential than other industries to integrate social and digital media to build awareness, brands and sales.

Design/methodology/approach – Depth interviews were conducted with eight senior services marketing executives to identify the impact of SM on marketing communications planning, implementation and measurement.

Findings – The findings revealed that the unique characteristics of SM (such as interactivity and individualisation, integration of communication and distribution channels, immediacy and information collection) impact traditional marketing communications frameworks. These impacts manifested in 12 modifications specific to services and SM to traditional generic IMC frameworks encompassed by the themes of reach, service channel, word-of-mouth advocacy, consumer generated messages, listening and behavioural measurement.

Practical implications – The rapidly evolving nature of SM means senior services marketers need to educate organisational stakeholders regarding implementation issues, which may be a barrier to effective integration of SM within marketing communications.

Originality/value – With digital marketing communications budgets reaching 30 per cent within some organisations, it is timely to put forward a marketing communication decision-making framework that first incorporates SM and second is suitable for services marketers.