Theoretically grounded and empirically testable conceptualizations that offer alternative explanations regarding sales force performance and turnover can: (a) enhance understanding regarding these pivotal outcomes, and (b) augment an organization's capability to increase sales and decrease turnover. The study advances one such explanation by conceptualizing and testing a perceptual model that links a salesperson's psychological climate dimensions to organizational commitment, performance, and turnover. The framework the study proposes respecifies the leadership and work group dimensions of psychological climate into four distinct perceptions (i.e., a salesperson's perceptions regarding the behaviors of work group, sales manager, senior management, and non sales employees in the organization). These climate dimensions are posited to influence positively a salesperson's organizational commitment which consequently influences positively the salesperson's effort and intention to stay with the organization. The proposed outcomes of organizational commitment result in increased performance and decreased turnover. Success beliefs and perceived behavioral control are posited to moderate the relationship between the salesperson's organizational commitment and effort. The study tests the hypothesized relationships on a sample of salespersons belonging to a telecommunications organization utilizing path and hierarchical regression analyses.
A firm can deploy a variety of arrangements (entry modes) like wholly owned subsidiaries, joint ventures, contracts, and export modes to implement its product market strategies in foreign countries. Each of these arrangements entails decisions about the location of production facilities and/or marketing operations, and the type of ownership of these operations. The choice of an entry mode is of strategic importance to a firm because it can involve investment of substantial amount of resources and has a strong bearing on the firm's marketing mix. Due to its strategic importance, the entry mode choice phenomenon has been extensively researched. In the past, seven major theories have been proposed but none is able to explain the choice from the complete set of entry modes. Thus, there exists a gap between the theory and practice of entry mode choice. This study provides breakthrough on two fronts. First, it develops a new theory of entry mode choice grounded in the resource-based perspective of the firm. The theory posits that the decision to locate its production and/or marketing operations in a country is related to the actualizability of the firm's competitive advantage in that country. However, the ownership decision is related to the sustainability of that advantage. Second, based on this theory, a model is developed which explains entry mode choices from the complete set of entry modes. Mail survey responses of Presidents/CEOs of 163 American firms with international operations support the model. The proposed framework is an effort to fill the gap between theory and practice of entry mode choice. It is expected to make a substantial contribution toward developing a sound theory of international operations of the firm. The framework is broader in scope than the extant theories because it transcends across industries and nationalities of firms.
An exploratory field study was conducted to examine internal and external factors that influence adolescents' consumer behavior when serving as the family purchasing agents. Demographic, lifestyle, and marketing activities were examined to determine the influences that affect whether the adolescent will purchase the preferred family brands or other brands. Participating adolescents were sent by their parents to the grocery store on two separate occasions to purchase four preselected grocery items. The brands purchased were recorded and compared to the preferred brand names provided by the parents. While no statistical significance was found, occasional trends were observed. The analysis indicated that adolescents who experience a pluralistic family communication style will purchase products other than the preferred household brands. Adolescents who are exposed to television and radio tend to deviate more from the preferred family brands more often than do adolescents with less media exposure. Adolescents who work are more likely to go to the grocery store more often for their families than do nonworking adolescents. Also, adolescents seem to possess a price sensitivity to both high and low-involvement grocery items.
The role of marketing and marketing communication in hospitals has grown in the last decade. The need for hospitals to make careful decisions about their marketing communication efforts is mandated, given the changes taking place in the hospital industry. The purpose of this dissertation was to conduct empirical research to determine whether for-profit and non-profit hospitals perceive and utilize promotion as a marketing strategy element. The two steps taken included: identifying important factors considered by hospital administrators and marketing staff in the development of communication messages designed for patients, hospital staff and medical staff; and testing the factors developed and studying the attitudes of hospital personnel toward promotion using a national sample of hospitals. In phase 1, focus group interviews were conducted in a surrogate for-profit hospital and a surrogate non-profit hospital. In phase 2, an original mail questionnaire was used to collect data from a sample of 80 hospitals. A total of 38 hospitals participated, providing 114 usable responses. Test statistics included content analysis, Chi-Square, Pearson correlation coefficient and Analysis of Variance. The results of the focus group study indicated the practice of marketing in hospitals is in its early growth stages and marketing is viewed as nothing more than advertising and public relations. The results of the mail survey indicated that respondents in small for-profit hospitals with 20 to 30 years of experience as professionals, with key decision making authority, are favorably disposed to marketing and marketing communication. It was also found that respondents in large non-profit hospitals are very positive towards marketing. In contrast, respondents in medium and large for-profit hospitals, who are not directly involved in decision making, tend to be less positive towards marketing. The study serves as a basis for future research which may involve, (1) a larger sample frame, (2) hospitals in inner-city …
Female teenagers have been found to be the most affluent teens according to the Rand Youth Poll's nationwide survey. The survey finds the average weekly income from female teens age 16 to 19 to be $82, with $50 from earnings and the balance from their allowances. Other findings from the survey indicate that adolescent girls receive more than adolescent males in allowance from parents, as mothers understand the need for the female teen to have the income necessary to purchase clothing and cosmetics. Past research studies have attempted to measure the influence sources on teenagers when purchasing clothing by asking teens to rank different influence sources or by asking the teens who accompany them when shopping. The current research study develops a structural equation model that allows for the comparison of the three predominant influence sources identified in the consumer socialization literature, i.e., parental influence, peer influence, and promotional communications sought out by the teen. To test the model, 206 randomly selected female teenagers completed a mail questionnaire regarding the influences on clothing interest. The female teens were all members of a non-denominational youth group, age 13 to 19, living in the North Texas region. The model derived is only the third model in the marketing literature to examine the consumer socialization process, and the first in fifteen years. Examining the three main influence sources identified from consumer socialization literature, peer, parent, and media sources, the results differ from past models. The female teens perceive parental influence as a negative influence on clothing interest, contrary to past findings. Peers and media are perceived as positive influences on teen clothing interest as in past models. The results signify the need for marketing researchers to continue to investigate the dynamic nature of consumer socialization.
Numerous researchers, employing theories from either psychology or economics, have investigated the circumstances under which firms are likely to adopt salary-based versus commission-based compensation plans. This study integrates the most common theoretical bases of salesperson compensation literature into a broad framework labeled the Eclectic Paradigm of Salesperson Compensation (EPSC). The EPSC proposes that there is a positive association between a firm's salary orientation and resource commitment, and a firm's salary orientation and firm control. There should be a negative association between salary orientation and dissemination risk, and salary orientation and salesperson motivation/performance. Twenty-three hypotheses originating from the EPSC were tested using a pretest sample of 48 real estate salespersons and a test sample of 311 real estate salespersons. The data were analyzed using common factor analysis, logistic regression, multivariate analysis of variance, and median tests. Of the 23 hypotheses, 10 were supported, 7 were partially supported, and 6 were not supported. The results suggest that the eclectic paradigm of salesperson compensation is a promising initial step toward developing a comprehensive model for understanding the determinants of salary versus commission.
An emerging paradigm shift in the marketing discipline has prompted renewed research interest in the nature and scope of exchange. A common theme in the research to date is a departure from the traditional transactional orientation to a relational perspective of exchange. The relational emphasis is particularly germane to contractual Vertical Marketing Systems (VMS) where the emphasis is on long-term, mutually beneficial interaction between various channel members. The franchisor-franchisee relationship, a type of contractual VMS, is governed by norms that impact system efficiency and effectiveness. Despite the unprecedented growth of international franchising systems in the marketplace, a paucity of empirical attention has focused on cross-national franchisor-franchisee relationships. With many U.S.-based business format franchisors penetrating foreign markets, the primary purpose of the dissertation is to provide insights into tools which franchisors, and franchisees can use during the evolution of the exchange relationship. To identify differences across geographic boundaries, the dissertation simultaneously studies domestic and cross-border franchisor-franchisee relationships.
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