Factors affecting the adoption of new products by the sales force

DUE TO COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS ONLY AVAILABLE FOR CONSULTATION AT ASTON UNIVERSITY LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES WITH PRIOR ARRANGEMENT

The relationship between personality and social factors and success as a sales representative, both of a petrol company and an animal food company

DUE TO COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS ONLY AVAILABLE FOR CONSULTATION AT ASTON UNIVERSITY LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SERVICES WITH PRIOR ARRANGEMENT

Chain-store pricing and the structure of retail markets

This paper examines competition between chain-stores and independent retailers in the UK retail opticians' market. We demonstrate that the pricing policy adopted by chain-stores can determine the impact their entry has on independent retailers. Crucially, in this market the chain-store retailers set an identical national price across all local markets. Our results suggest that this pricing strategy lessens the detrimental effect competition from chain-stores has on independent retailers. © 2014 Springer Science+Business Media New York.

Brand orientation and brand values in retail banking

This exploratory study seeks to provide an appreciation of brand orientation in retail banking. Through in-depth interviews at head office and branch level, we explore managers' brand mind-set. We also surface managers' views about the relationship between market and brand orientation. Further, we examine managers' perceptions about the role of brand values as resources in creating a brand orientation. In a large-scale study of front-line employees, we examine the level of agreement with brand values, and describe differences in brand buy-in across employee clusters. © 2013 Copyright Westburn Publishers Ltd.

Examining the role of advertising and sales promotions in brand equity creation

This study explores the relationships between two central elements of marketing communication programs - advertising and sales promotions - and their impact on brand equity creation. In particular, the research focuses on advertising spend and individuals' attitudes toward the advertisements. The study also investigates the effects of two kinds of sales promotions, monetary and non-monetary promotions. Based on a survey of 302 UK consumers, findings show that the individuals' attitudes toward the advertisements play a key role influencing brand equity dimensions, whereas advertising spend for the brands under investigation improves brand awareness but is insufficient to positively influence brand associations and perceived quality. The paper also finds distinctive effects of monetary and non-monetary promotions on brand equity. In addition, the results show that companies can optimize the brand equity management process by considering the relationships existing between the different dimensions of brand equity. © 2011 Elsevier Inc.

Performance management in the United States and France:four case studies in the retail and airline industries

The profusion of performance measurement models suggested by Management Accounting literature in the 1990’s is one illustration of the substantial changes in Management Accounting teaching materials since the publication of “Relevance Lost” in 1987. At the same time, in the general context of increasing competition and globalisation it is widely thought that national cultural differences are tending to disappear, meaning that management techniques used in large companies, including performance measurement and management instruments (PMS), tend to be the same, irrespective of the company nationality or location. North American management practice is traditionally described as a contractually based model, mainly focused on financial performance information and measures (FPMs), more shareholder-focused than French companies. Within France, literature historically defined performance as being broadly multidimensional, driven by the idea that there are no universal rules of management and that efficient management takes into account local culture and traditions. As opposed to their North American brethren, French companies are pressured more by the financial institutions that fund them rather than by capital markets. Therefore, they pay greater attention to the long-term because they are not subject to quarterly capital market objectives. Hence, management in France should rely more on long-term qualitative information, less financial, and more multidimensional data to assess performance than their North American counterparts. The objective of this research is to investigate whether large French and US companies’ practices have changed in the way the textbooks have changed with regards to performance measurement and management, or whether cultural differences are still driving differences in performance measurement and management between them. The research findings support the idea that large US and French companies share the same PMS features, influenced by ‘universal’ PM models.

Interactive data and retail investor decision-making:an experimental study

The results of an experimental study of retail investors' use of eXtensible Business Reporting Language tagged (interactive) data and PDF format for making investment decisions are reported. The main finding is that data format made no difference to participants' ability to locate and integrate information from statement footnotes to improve investment decisions. Interactive data were perceived by participants as quick and 'accurate', but it failed to facilitate the identification of the adjustment needed to make the ratios accurate for comparison. An important implication is that regulators and software designers should work to reduce user reliance on the comparability of ratios generated automatically using interactive data.

Creating research collaboration among the global community of sales scholars:key takeaways from the 2013 AMA faculty consortium

Within the contemporary business milieu, the discipline of selling and sales management has taken on a more prominent role in recent years. Myriad factors have contributed to the rise of interest in sales including globalization, technology, more sophisticated analytical approaches and new opportunities for co-creation of value between organizations and their customers. Over the past three decades, seven faculty consortia in sales have served as milestones to document the progress 2of the field, particularly the evolution of academic research. This article provides key takeaways from the most recent American Marketing Association (AMA) Faculty Consortium in Selling and Sales Management, which had the overarching goal of fostering new opportunities for building intercontinental research teams to effectively address the substantive issues for the future of the field. © 2014 Pi Sigma Epsilon National Educational Foundation.

Singapore's online retail deviants:analyzing the rise of blogshops' power

Geography, retailing, and power are institutionally bound up together. Within these, the authors situate their research in Clegg's work on power. Online shopping offers a growing challenge to the apparent hegemony of traditional physical retail stores' format. While novel e-formats appear regularly, blogshops in Singapore are enjoying astonishing success that has taken the large retailers by surprise. Even though there are well-developed theoretical frameworks for understanding the role of institutional entrepreneurs and other major stakeholders in bringing about change and innovation, much less attention has been paid to the role of unorganized, nonstrategic actors-such as blogshops-in catalyzing retail change. The authors explore how blogshops are perceived by consumers and how they challenge the power of other shopping formats. They use Principal Components Analysis to analyze results from a survey of 349 blogshops users. While the results show that blogshops stay true to traditional online shopping attributes, deviations occur on the concept of value. Furthermore, consumer power is counter intuitively found to be strongly present in the areas related to cultural ties, excitement, and search for individualist novelty (as opposed to mass-production), thereby encouraging researchers to think critically about emerging power behavior in media practices.

Consumer trial, continuous use, and economic benefits of a retail service innovation:the case of the personal shopping assistant

Service innovations in retailing have the potential to benefit consumers as well as retailers. This research models key factors associated with the trial and continuous use of a specific self-service technology (SST), the personal shopping assistant (PSA), and estimates retailer benefits from implementing that innovation. Based on theoretical insights from prior SST studies, diffusion of innovation literature, and the technology acceptance model (TAM), this study develops specific hypotheses and tests them on a sample of 104 actual users of the PSA and 345 nonusers who shopped at the retail store offering the PSA device. Results indicate that factors affecting initial trial are different from those affecting continuous use. More specifically, consumers' trust toward the retailer, novelty seeking, and market mavenism are positively related to trial, while technology anxiety hinders the likelihood of trying the PSA. Perceived ease of use of the device positively impacts continuous use while consumers' need for interaction in shopping environments reduces the likelihood of continuous use. Importantly, there is evidence on retailer benefits from introducing the innovation since consumers using the PSA tend to spend more during each shopping trip. However, given the high costs of technology, the payback period for recovery of investments in innovation depends largely upon continued use of the innovation by consumers. Important implications are provided for retailers considering investments in new in-store service innovations. Incorporation of technology within physical stores affords opportunities for the retailer to reduce costs, while enhancing service provided to consumers. Therefore, service innovations in retailing have the potential to benefit consumers as well as retailers. This research models key factors associated with the trial and continuous use of a specific SST in the retail context, the PSA, and estimates retailer benefits from implementing that innovation. In so doing, the study contributes to the nascent area of research on SSTs in the retail sector. Based on theoretical insights from prior SST studies, diffusion of innovation literature, and the TAM, this study develops specific hypotheses regarding the (1) antecedent effects of technological anxiety, novelty seeking, market mavenism, and trust in the retailer on trial of the service innovation; (2) the effects of ease of use, perceived waiting time, and need for interaction on continuous use of the innovation; and (3) the effect of use of innovation on consumer spending at the store. The hypotheses were tested on a sample of 104 actual users of the PSA and 345 nonusers who shopped at the retail store offering the PSA device, one of the early adopters of PSA in Germany. Data were analyzed using logistic regression (antecedents of trial), multiple regression (antecedents of continuous use), and propensity score matching (assessing retailer benefits). Results indicate that factors affecting initial trial are different from those affecting continuous use. More specifically, consumers' trust toward the retailer, novelty seeking, and market mavenism are positively related to trial, while technology anxiety hinders the likelihood of trying the PSA. Perceived ease of use of the device positively impacts continuous use, while consumers' need for interaction in shopping environments reduces the likelihood of continuous use. Importantly, there is evidence on retailer benefits from introducing the innovation since consumers using the PSA tend to spend more during each shopping trip. However, given the high costs of technology, the payback period for recovery of investments in innovation depends largely upon continued use of the innovation by consumers. Important implications are provided for retailers considering investments in new in-store service innovations. The study contributes to the literature through its (1) simultaneous examination of antecedents of trial and continuous usage of a specific SST, (2) the demonstration of economic benefits of SST introduction for the retailer, and (3) contribution to the stream of research on service innovation, as against product innovation.

Social media and related technology:drivers of change in managing the contemporary sales force

The selling environment has undergone tremendous transformation over the past 2 decades. Perhaps the greatest change has centered on changes and advancements in technology. The latest dramatic change has been the rapidly increasing use of social media and other related technologies in the business-to-business realm. The sales world began the use of technology through the use of Web 1.0, which was primarily webpage oriented; now we see the world of social media as the paradigm of how firms should implement technology. Although there has been some recent emphasis on how marketing might implement social media into their strategies and how the individual salesperson might implement social media into his or her daily selling routine, no substantive discussion on how social media is affecting the role of the sales manager has appeared in the literature. This article systematically examines how social media is impacting the sales management function and, in fact, may be dramatically revolutionizing the position. To help the marketing and sales organization better understand the changing sales world, we present eight lessons that every sales manager needs to embrace.

The impact of general sales agents on the air cargo industry

A General Sales Agent (GSA) is an airline's outsourcing counter part that markets and manages cargo services. An empirical investigation is undertaken to ascertain whether GSAs contribute economically to the air cargo industry using three 'litmus test' indicators:1) contribution to the airline's sales and profitability by expanding o perating networks; 2) viability as a marketing option for emerging or struggling airlines to help cut operating costs to reduce prices; 3) cost-effective GSAs were found to establish an airline's market presence through wide network coverage and good local knowledge, leading to an expansion of airline's operating networks and generating greater sales revenue. Copyright © 2012 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.

Performance measurement with multiple interrelated variables and threshold target levels:evidence from retail firms in the US

In this study, we developed a DEA-based performance measurement methodology that is consistent with performance assessment frameworks such as the Balanced Scorecard. The methodology developed in this paper takes into account the direct or inverse relationships that may exist among the dimensions of performance to construct appropriate production frontiers. The production frontiers we obtained are deemed appropriate as they consist solely of firms with desirable levels for all dimensions of performance. These levels should be at least equal to the critical values set by decision makers. The properties and advantages of our methodology against competing methodologies are presented through an application to a real-world case study from retail firms operating in the US. A comparative analysis between the new methodology and existing methodologies explains the failure of the existing approaches to define appropriate production frontiers when directly or inversely related dimensions of performance are present and to express the interrelationships between the dimensions of performance.

Within-role, extra-role and anti-role behaviours in retail banking

Purpose: This paper aims to explore front line employee performance in retail banking and presents distinct components of employee performance, including extra-role and sabotage behaviours. Design/methodology/approach: Data was collected from Irish bank employees. Usable responses were received from 404 respondents and subjected to exploratory factor analysis. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was used to undertake a confirmatory factor analysis of the emergent five-factor model. Findings: Results indicate front line employee performance is multi-faceted and comprised of civility, assurance and reliability, customer orientation, as well as extra-role behaviour and anti-role behaviour, or sabotage. Research limitations/implications: This exploratory study focuses on the Irish banking sector. To explore the generalisabilty of results, replication studies among other samples of branch banking employees in other countries are in order. Moreover, our survey is limited to the views of branch employees. We advocate research among bank managers and customers to triangulate potentially divergent views about performance. Practical implications: Findings have implications for recruitment, training and rewards. To ensure new hires are service minded, managers must consider their potential for extra-role or sabotage behaviour. Employees who demonstrate extra-role behaviours must be rewarded to encourage the adoption of such behaviours. Managers must also seek to minimise job stress in order to curtail anti-role behaviours. Originality/value: This paper offers insights into employees' views about their own performance at the front line. It extends the conceptualisation of service quality, by considering extra-role behaviour and sabotage as components of employee performance. © Emerald Group Publishing Limited.