Marketing readiness of websites and organisational performance in Australia and New Zealand: a discussion of pre-test findings

The Web played a role in the burst of economic activity that occurred in the late 1990s that saw company values dramatically rise and fall, business and government processes reshaped, traditional marketing media challenged, and much written concerning the benefits to customers from the adoption of what was initially termed e-commerce. Initial empirical studies of Australian and New Zealand business and government use of the Web found that while the Web was used for marketing communication, it was not as favoured as trade press reports suggested as a marketing transaction channel, nor for relationship management. This paper, which reports the findings of a pre-test of the self-administered online questionnaire stage of a three-phase study, suggests that little has changed in organisational use of the Web in Australia and New Zealand since the late 1990s, even among high network traffic organisations. The pre-test findings reported do not present a clear picture concerning the influence of strategic use of traditional and online marketing mix elements on organisational performance. Analysis employing a Marketing Readiness of Website Indicator (MRWI) content analysis tool is shown not to predict organisational performance as hypothesised.

Exploratory study into the use of the web as a marketing tool by arts organisations in Vietnam

This paper presents exploratory findings into the use of the web as a marketing tool by arts organisations in Vietnam. The websites of seventeen Vietnamese arts organisations were evaluated to determine current levels of marketing functionality. The findings were analysed from the perspective of the four elements of the marketing mix (price, place, product and promotion). The study found that arts organisations in Vietnam are less sophisticated in using the web as a marketing tool compared with Western counterparts, and that organisation's websites contained basic information catalogues and contact details but limited multimedia functionality. The implications to audience development will be explored through a survey with stakeholders of the seventeen arts organisations in Vietnam as a future research stream.

NB: The terms 'web' and 'Internet' are used interchangeably in this paper.

Firm survival through a crisis : the influence of market orientation, marketing innovation and business strategy

As an outcome of the economic crisis, the global manufacturing sector is collapsing. Focusing on Chinese manufacturing small and medium enterprises (SMEs), this study investigates whether marketing innovation, defined as improvements in the marketing mix, can assist in withstanding the challenges of operating under the current economic conditions. A conceptual model linking market orientation, marketing innovation, competitive advantage and firm survival is tested using structural equation modelling. Three key findings are derived. First, the examined Chinese manufacturing SMEs had a greater perceived likelihood of survival had they developed and sustained a competitive advantage. Second, marketing innovation assisted in developing and sustaining competitive advantages based on differentiation and cost leadership strategies. Third, marketing innovation capabilities improved when the examined manufacturing SMEs were competitor oriented and had good inter-functional capabilities.

The use of the web as a marketing tool by selected arts organisations in Vietnam : a preliminary investigation

This paper presents exploratory findings into the use of the web as a marketing tool by arts organisations in Vietnam. The uniform resource locators (URLs) of Vietnamese arts organisations listed in the cultural profiles category of the directory of Vietnamese Cultural Organisations/Departments created by Visiting Arts (UK) for the Ministry of Culture, Sport and Tourism, Vietnam (MCST) (formerly Ministry of Culture and Information – MOCI) were accessed. 17 of these websites were ‘live’ at the time of the study and were evaluated to determine current levels of marketing functionality utilised within the sites. The findings of the evaluation were analysed from the perspective of the four elements of marketing mix (price, place, product and promotion). The study found that all 17 Vietnamese arts organisations analysed were less sophisticated in the usage of the web as a marketing tool compared with their Western counterparts, and that such organisations’ websites contained basic information catalogues and contact details but had limited multimedia functionality. The implications to audience development will be explored further through a survey with stakeholders of the 17 arts organisations in Vietnam as a future research stream.

Innovation in medical tourism service marketing: A case of India

© 2015, IGI Global. The aim of this chapter is to critically examine the latest development of medical tourism as an innovation in India. The existing theories and concepts in medical tourism are reviewed and synthesised in order to lay down a foundation for marketing managers to deploy marketing mix strategies to deliver values to the medical tourists. A secondary research method is adapted to gather relevant literature. This chapter not only provides a background introduction to the growing importance of the medical tourism industry to the Indian economy, but also makes major contributions: firstly, that global healthcare service marketing is quite different from marketing of other services and goods. Secondly, it proposes to examine the application of 8Ps of tourism marketing-mix along with another 6Ps, such as personalisation of healthcare, publication for patient, patient packaging, patient education, patient privacy, and patient medical and cultural sensitivities for effective marketing of the popular Indian wellness and medical tourism destinations, super-speciality hospitals, and complex diagnostic tests and surgeries to the world.

Green marketing strategies

This chapter presents the fundamentals of “green” marketing by drawing on traditional marketing theory as well as researchfocused on green marketing context. It discusses five critical areas in green marketing. The first critical area stems from green marketingtheory and practice that examines the logic for reducing the environmental impact of value creation and exchange. The second criticalarea highlights green marketing strategy that focuses on achieving organizational goals in ways that can reduce or eliminate negativeimpacts on the natural environment. The third critical area examines the green marketing mix that accounts for green products, greendistribution, green pricing, and green promotion. By using traditional marketing concepts, the chapter identifies how the entiremarketing mix elements should consistently provide a complete green product offering. Green products and processes need to beresearched, designed, and manufactured to include environmentally safe ingredients and components. Products need to be strategicallypriced to reflect their green values, distributed in the green chain channels and displayed effectively to highlight their status, and accuratelycommunicated to consumers and stakeholders. The fourth critical area illustrates governance and control. It shows how theholistic transformation toward greening the organization requires organizational culture change to gain support within and outside thefirm to ensure environmental issues are appropriately considered. These can be assessed by using existing management mechanisms,such as environmental management systems and/or triple bottom line management, which ensure best practice and continuousimprovements to occur. Lastly, the chapter discusses the future of green marketing and the direction that businesses need to take if theyseek to be sustainable.

Enviropreneurial marketing in greening corporate activities: Evidence from four Chinese green firms

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the enviropreneurial marketing approach used by firms in China and its impact on the success of green marketing actions, with the aim of drawing useful lessons from the literature and successful green firms. Design/methodology/approach: This study follows the inductive case study approach, and the qualitative data come from a study of four firms engaging in enviropreneurial marketing activities. Interview data were triangulated with qualitative data from other sources. Findings: The evidence from this study indicates that enviropreneurial marketing plays a central role in developing innovative product or services, adopting an innovative and pragmatic green marketing mix that differentiates and creates changes within industry and markets. Research limitations/implications: The main limitation of this study is that data samples are from successful firms labelled as “green” by the Chinese authorities, based on winning “official” awards. These do not necessarily represent the opinions of a cross section of firms within China with respect to enviropreneurial marketing. Future studies should include a mixed population of firms. Practical implications: Policy makers and marketing practitioners need to consider drivers to ensure that Chinese firms integrate enviropreneurial marketing activities, which need to complement the delivery of functional value. Social implications: Green initiatives/changes within the firm seem to be partly driven by the environmental orientation of these firms’ founders, thus, developing an environmental orientation in managers may be important to drive enviropreneurial marketing activities. Originality/value: This study contributes by confirming the current literature on green marketing and examining the positive impact of enviropreneurial marketing on firms’ performance in the context of marketing in emerging markets.

The contextual nature of the market orientation and organisational performance relationship: an Australian and New Zealand study

As part of a broader study of the relationship between traditional and online marketing mix elements and organisational performance, the study reported in this paper utilised structural equation modelling to examine the relationship between market orientation and organisational performance. The study found that there was an insignificant relationship between market orientation and organisational performance, thereby lending support to studies conducted in the UK, Ghana, and the US (since the studies in the US by Narver and Slater (1990)), which found that there may be a contextual nature to the relationship between the two constructs. The study, therefore, does not support Pulendran et al. (2000).

Sport sponsorship

OBJECTIVES
By the end of this chapter, readers will be able to:
• describe the nature and role of sponsorship as part of a company's marketing mix;
• be familiar with terminology relating to sponsorship and integrated sponsorship marketing;
• discuss the background and growth of sponsorship as a marketing discipline globally and in New Zealand;
• understand corporate methodology for measuring sponsorship effectiveness;
• identify models for sponsorship selection, planning, management and evaluation;
• understand the role of research in sponsorship;
• describe techniques for developing a sponsorship proposal;
• be familiar with global and local trends in sponsorship;
• understand legal implications, including contracts/agreements, ambush marketing and cause-related sponsorship.

The influence of cultural values on brand loyalty

It is well documented that culture can influence consumer attitudes and behavior. While there have been numerous studies on how culture influences the four Ps of the marketing mix, few researchers have examined its effect on customer loyalty. More specifically, how consumers who identify more with certain cultural traits are likely to be more brand loyal. Using Hofstede’s cultural dimensions, this study empirically examines cultural effects on consumer-reported “proneness” to brand loyalty and finds that those who scored highly in individualism and uncertainty avoidance have greater affinity for exhibiting loyalty to a brand.

A conceptual framework for the implementation of enterprise information portals in large organizations

Addressing the diversity in information requirements across the enterprise is a central challenge in enterprise content management. Enterprise information portals (EIPs) hold promise in this regard, offering each user a gateway to customized and personalized content. However, in large organizations EIP implementers face the complexity of tailoring portals for potentially thousands of users. A conceptual framework based on marketing fundamentals is developed to inform EIP implementation in this respect. It is argued that EIP implementers should view their user community as a number of distinct segments in order to address divergent needs more specifically (as opposed to a ‘one size fits all’ approach). For each identified segment, a ‘mix’ of content (product), distribution (place), promotion and price (cost) should be considered. The framework is applied to two cases of EIP implementation in large organizations. It is proposed that segmentation enables better planning of the overall EIP implementation effort. Considerations such as the number of user segments, customization, and personalization of content, and the funding of EIP development in large organizations are also discussed. The concepts elaborated here also hold theoretical relevance for other IS implementation contexts that involve very large usercommunities with diverse information

Research designs and scientific identity in marketing journals: review and evaluation

Purpose - This research is based upon the assumption that the empirical research designs and the scientific identity of a journal are related. The objective is to review and evaluate the empirical research design of papers to determine the scientific identity of a selection of academic marketing journals. Design/methodology/approach – The journal sample consists of the Australasian Marketing Journal (AMJ), the European Journal of Marketing (EJM) and the Journal of Marketing (JM). The review and evaluation considers a six-year period, namely 2000-2005. The content analysis consisted of 811 papers. Findings – The scientific identity of JM may be seen as built upon quantitative research designs and the North American paradigm of research values. The scientific identity of AMJ is based upon a mix of empirical research designs and the Australian paradigm of research values. The scientific identity of EJM is also based upon a mix of empirical research designs, but a multi-continental paradigm of research values. Research limitations/implications – The leading continental journals in marketing maintain a scientific identity based upon the continental paradigm of research values. If it is driven to the extremes, a paradigmatic myopia and inertia of research designs may evolve that limit the scientific identity to be dogmatic and narrow-focused rather than variable and broad-focused. Originality/value – A cross-continental eview and evaluation of research designs and scientific identity of academic marketing journals is presented.

A strategic approach to target marketing-choosing the preferred generic customer : a model of shareholder value performance

In recent years the contribution of the marketing function has changed and interest now centres on its contribution to a firm’s financial performance. The Marketing Science Institute in the USA has stated that it is the number one marketing issue facing corporate America. The Australian Marketing Institute is promoting a set of marketing metrics that will help Australian firms measure the function’s contribution to shareholder value creation. Much of the literature relates notions such as customer satisfaction and other marketing activities with a firm’s profit. A missing link appears to be the choice firms make in terms of which customer groups to target and the resultant impact on shareholder value performance. The generic customer groups comprise: existing customers, former customers and prospects. A review of the literature reveals that marketing costs and benefits vary across these groups. The challenge for management is to determine which group represents the best target and to allocate scarce marketing resources accordingly. The task is made even more challenging because the economic value of members within each group also varies and some product lines may be unprofitable and therefore, may not be worth pursuing. To generate superior shareholder value it may not simply be the case of acquiring the maximum number of new customers from any source but to find the appropriate mix of the generic customer groups and manage the individual customer relationships accordingly. This paper seeks to firstly summarise and review the recent literature on marketing and its relationship to shareholder value and secondly to propose a model for allocating marketing resources across generic customer groups in order to generate improved shareholder value performance. Importantly, the model not only covers increasing business with customers but also shedding customers or shedding the extent of business conducted with customers as means of generating shareholder value.

Sport marketing

OBJECTIVES
By the end of this chapter, readers will be able to:
• appreciate that sport marketing follows basic marketing principles but with a change of emphasis to suit particular sporting contexts;
• recount how marketing's role can be applied to sport and sport organisations with special emphasis on marketing's '4 Ps';
• evaluate the application of marketing strategies and tactics to chosen sport codes;
• identify different groups of sport fans;
• understand the role marketing planning and marketing management play in staging a sport event.