Looks at consumer research in Greater China including Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Maps out the contributions within this area and guides future research. Examines the state of the art over the 1979-97 period, with particular emphasis on the topics that have been researched, the extent of the theory development in the field and the methodologies used in conducting research. Uses content analysis to review 75 relevant articles. Suggests that, while a considerable breadth of topics have been researched, there remains much to be done, there is further room for theoretical development in Chinese consumer behaviour studies; and the methodologies used need improvement and further refinement.
Private label growth in Australia has not kept pace with the growth in private labels elsewhere. This research paper establishes that the odds of a consumer being highly pleased with a store label product when they are supportive of the quality of private labels, is more than the odds of the consumer being highly satisfied when purchasing private label products simply because they are priced significantly lower than manufacturer brands. It would therefore be useful for Australian retailers to increase investment in private label programs including changing their customers' attitudes to the quality of private labels if they are to stay competitive.
In this article a proposal of a non-traditional methodology in achieving optimal flexibility with minimal inventory risk will be applied. The non-traditional methodology will be able to achieve different levels of the production schedule changes with maximum flexibility and minimal inventory risk. The basic principle, implementation methodology as well as its effectiveness and benefits will be discussed. In order to overcome the risk of achieving flexible manufacturing or enhancing supply chain management, this article will address issues on methods to accommodate production sequence changes which include total production quantity change in a short lead time. The study uses the Family Ordering System methodology which has proven capable in solving manufacturing flexibility issues by reducing the total manufacturing lead time. Family Ordering System provides the flexibility of model changes and reduces production line stoppage as a result of part shortage by carrying extra inventory of unique parts.
For many small firms, buying technology through licensing has long been regarded as a major route to successful new product development. However, little research aimed at comparing the attitudes of small firms towards buying technology through licensing has been conducted. Using both univariate and multivariate analysis, this article reports an empirical study comparing the characteristics and perceptions of 81 Australian licensee and 107 nonlicensee small firms towards buying technology from international nonaffliated firms. Surprisingly, small nonlicensee firms are found to scan international technology developments more than their licensee counterparts. In addition, whereas nonlicensee firms have higher perceptions of the costs of technology licensing than licensees, paradoxically they also appear to have higher perceived benefits than licensees. Based of this inconsistency between attitude and behavior four types of firms are proposed — active/satisfied licensees, passive/dissatisfied licensees, potential licensees and nonlicensee firms. Theoretical and managerial implications of the results are discussed.
The notion that consumers might have similar acquisition patterns for consumer durable goods has been an enduring one during the past 25 years, with a considerable research effort being undertaken “to establish, within tolerable limits, a unique order in which a particular set of durables tends to be acquired by all members of the population or particular subgroups”. Such information, it has been suggested, is interesting in its own right and also can be used as an aid to forecasting and in identifying those consumers who might be purchasers of a particular consumer durable.
This study empirically explores one of the important channel issues – the relationship between various channel support given to channel partners and the perceived (by managers) goal-orientation of a firm. Results from an emerging market, India, indicate that perceived orientation towards both profitability and market share is not associated with any of the channel support considered. Growth orientation however is strongly associated with most of the channel support activities – both business (e.g., business advice, pricing and ordering assistance, and personnel training) as well as marketing (advertising support, sales promotional material, and inventory management assistance) oriented activities. In contrast, perceived sales volume orientation is only associated with advertising support and business advice, however, the relationship is negative. These findings have interesting implications for channel management and channel motivation.
Over the past ten years, export activity has become a central plank in growth strategies across the Pacific region. Hawaii is in the unique position of being an American State with an indigenous Polynesian culture. This article investigates export activities and prospects for Hawaiian firms, explaining America's Hawaii as a gateway to the Pacific. Hence, it is written from an American perspective.
Much of the hype associated with the impact of electronic business is associated with the business to business (B2B) model. Analysts believe that enormous cost savings and efficiencies can be achieved through the utilisation of e-procurement, a component of theB2Bmodel. The role of procurement and the emerging use of large information systems to conduct e-procurement is analysed and presented with the results of a survey of 38 major Australian organisations. The current direct and indirect procurement practices of the sample organisations will be analysed together with an analysis of the eprocurement drivers and barriers. The main results show that direct procurement is heavily dependant upon traditional practices whilst indirect procurement is more likely to use “e” practices. Small-medium organisations are more nimble at adopting e-procurement practices. Technical issues dominate e-procurement barriers, with cost factors dominating e-procurement drivers.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contribute to research on the cognitive capacity theory. The paper aims to examine the effects of advertising recipients' positive and negative associations, that is their memories and fantasies evoked by the advertising stimulus, on brand attitude for advertisements that require little effort to process; focusing on positively framed advertisements.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper suggests a model on the effects of positive and negative association on brand attitude and tests it using partial least square. Advertisements that are easy to process were selected in a pre‐test.
Findings
It is shown that if advertisements are easy to process, the effects of consumers' associations depend on their favourableness: positive associations have a positive effect and negative associations have a negative effect on brand attitude. These findings are an extension of knowledge on the effects of associations, because for informational advertisements previous research has demonstrated that associations generally have a negative effect on brand attitude.
Practical implications
Results of this study suggest that evoking positive memories and fantasies in the target group enhances the effectiveness of advertisements that require little effort to process.
Originality/value
Effects of associations on brand attitude have not been studied for advertisements that require little effort to process. Previous studies have not distinguished positive and negative associations; this study analyses their effects separately.
Although culture appears to be an important element in consumer behaviour, few have researched its direct impact on the adoption of innovation. In an exploratory study, research was conducted with migrants from Vietnam and Poland to examine the impact of culture on the adoption of high technology products. Specifically, data were examined for differences in adoption of these products between Vietnamese and Polish migrants to Australia; and the effect of cultural factors of “traditions,” “religion” and “fatality” (beliefs about man's inability to control nature), on adoption. This research was a preliminary study, but the results indicate that culture has an important role in the adoption process of high technology products.
Uses Resnik and Stern’s content analysis criteria to examine audio and visual information of in-cinema slide advertisements within one regional market in Australia to determine whether two types of cues are compatible or reinforce one another. Suggests that there was extensive information framing for a narrow set of information cues. States that there were also significant differences in the types of audio and visual cues, which might result in conflicting information being communicated or information overload.
Examines the recent research on advertising in mainland China over the 1979-1998 period. Suggests that findings show a sustained effort in academic research/publications on advertising in China is in the early stage of its development and whilst many areas have been researched, there are many more yet to be touched. Concludes that the research is seldom based on established theoretical or conceptual framework and the research methods and types of analysis used have not been very advanced when compared to general advertising research.
Examines the issue of how variations in language used in advertising affect advertising preference with a sample of bilingual, Korean Americans. Uses past literature to hypothesise that the level of acculturation would moderate ethnic consumers’ preference for advertisements in English versus their native language. Extends previous research in the field of ethnic advertising by considering whether findings from studies conducted with Hispanic American consumers are applicable to Asian Americans. Shows that no significant differences were detected in bilingual Korean American preferences for advertisements in which the message was presented in English as compared with those that used Humgul (Korean language) to communicate with the audience. Concludes with suggestions for further research.
This study seeks to determine if body image disturbance and eating disorders that have plagued Western women are now becoming more common in Asia as well. Additionally, it attempts to examine perceptions of the impact of models in advertising in both cultures. The third person effect which states that people believe the media impacts others more than themselves is tested to determine if this contributes to behaviors related to body image. A comparison of responses from young women inHong Kong and the US indicate that both cultures are similar in the degree of body dissatisfaction and dieting behavior exhibited. However, Western women spend significantly more time exercising and are more willing to have plastic surgery to improve their appearance. The third person effect appears robust across cultures, but generally does not contribute significantly to explaining body image related attitudes and behaviors. The results have important implications for both third person effect and cross cultural consumer behavior.
Field survey studies undertaken in Nigeria, Korea, China and India explored the way inner-age satisfaction is experienced in those culturally diverse societies. Chronologically 20 to 59 year old respondents’ inner-age satisfaction was gauged as the average difference between feel, look, do, and interest cognitive (self-perceived) and desired (ideal) inner-age dimensions. Analyses of covariance (with chronological age factored out) across the four nations showed Nigeria to differ significantly in terms of inner-age satisfaction from each Asian population, contrary to the Asian societies where no differences were found across samples (except between Korea and India where inner-age satisfaction differed at a p .05). High levels of satisfaction with inner-age (coming about when cognitive and desired ages are equal) commonly transpired: 31.4 per cent of Indian, 36.9 per cent of Nigerian, 44.3 per cent of Chinese, and 44.9 per cent of Korean respondents. Age dissatisfaction in an elder direction (ideal age older than self-perceived age) was atypical and happened most often among Nigerian (23.4 per cent) and least among Korean subjects (10.7 per cent). In contrast, wishing for a younger innerage was a commonplace phenomenon in India (50.6 per cent of the sample), as well as in China where it occurred the least (36.6 per cent). The study’s findings imply the universal nature of the way human beings (irrespective of culture) perceive and feel about inner-age, as well as the potential of an inner-age satisfaction psychographic as a relevant consumer behavior segmentation trait for marketing planners of age-sensitive products and services who seek to standardize their global branding and distribution.
Presents an exploratory study on travel agents’ attitudes towards automation. Surveys 167 travel agents from both Canada and New Zealand. Shows that there are four distinct groups of agents whose attitudes towards automation differ quite substantially and that these attitudes are related not so much to current use of technology but more to perceived future usage.
Commercial rumour can have a very negative impact on companies and products. As soon as a negative rumour begins to spread, sales often fall drastically. The major battle is not only to recover sales but how to recover consumer confidence before buyers eliminate the company’s brands from their evoked set. The literature on commercial rumour implicitly assumes that consumers will react to commercial rumours in a homogenous manner. However, most marketing scholars involved in studying cultural effects suggest that the culture of the buyer will influence their reaction specifically through their acceptance/rejection of the source attempting to refute the rumour. Therefore, any attempt to address commercial rumour without regard to the buyers’ cultural backgrounds may not be effective. An experiment was developed to test the effect of cultural background on choice of spokesperson to refute commercial rumours. The results of this experiment show that consumers from Eastern and Western cultural backgrounds respond in a different manner to spokespersons addressing commercial rumours. Their cultural backgrounds and values appear to influence their belief about the veracity of the source responding to the commercial rumours and their message. It is recommended that marketing personnel consider consumers’ and buyers’ core values when developing strategies for and selecting sources for controlling commercial rumours.
Purpose
It is not uncommon for sports fans to follow multiple sports teams across different sports and even several teams across different leagues of the same sport. Whereas this might be considered a competitive situation, the purpose of this paper is to examine how interest in overseas football (soccer) leagues played a symbiotic role in the successful development of an Australian national soccer league.
Design/methodology/approach
Results of survey data are presented from two clubs in Australia's newly formed A‐League. Three surveys were conducted over a two year period with over 3,700 season ticket holders. Specific attention is paid to fans' previous interest and exposure to football, which is then related to attitudes and behaviour associated with the new clubs.
Findings
Interest in overseas clubs and leagues is found to be a major antecedent of interest in the Australian league. Those who follow teams in overseas leagues are more likely to be heavy consumers of the new local league than those who follow local leagues or had no prior experience. They also exhibit stronger attitudinal and behavioural loyalty, such as higher attendance and renewal rates of season tickets.
Practical implications
Recognising fan interest in multiple teams/leagues as positive involves a shift in management thinking away from a competitive to a collaborative stance. In this case, rapid adoption of new teams is encouraged by capitalising on strong interest in overseas leagues. This requires careful structuring and branding of the competition that mimicks familiar foreign leagues, while minimising unfavourable comparisons in areas like quality of play.
Originality/value
This study capitalises on the rare opportunity to examine foundation teams in a new national league. The findings highlight the importance and value of taking a “global” perspective to the marketing of sports, and of carefully leveraging the interest in other elite competitions to build interest in new leagues.
Looks at the problems of logistics in military operations and today’s commercial businesses. Traces the development of logistics management from a subordinate activity within a product producing entity to its performance by a separate entity which specializes in this area and requires a strategic alliance. Looks at this issue from the perspective of the outsourcing company and the logistical company. Considers what happens when this process is reversed and provides implications for the future.
States that although Japan's pharmaceutical industry has succeeded in steadily advancing its total sales revenues in recent years, its market share of worldwide volume has actually retreated slightly. Its major competitor continues to be the USA, while its three top European rivals: Germany, France and Italy - in combination - have consistently outperformed Japan. Significantly, Japan remains the single largest recipient of US pharmaceutical exports with a surplus over imports of more than $500 billion. Discusses various findings based on survey results within Japan's market structure. Posits that the US experience shows that successfully operating on the Japanese market requires considerable preparation, especially in the areas of distribution and promotion. Owing to the technical segmentation and endemic distribution system of the Japanese pharmaceutical industry, concludes that it is unlikely that the pharmaceutical industry in Japan will rise to dominate this industrial sector on a global basis as they have prevailed in others.
Presents the results of an empirical investigation into American executives’ perceptions of business climates in India and China. Addresses six distinct issues cocnerning economy, management, marketing, government, labour and finance. Attempts to establish the homogeneity of internal consistency of the shortened version of Buntzman’s 31 item scale used in the study. Surveyed 110 US businessmen working in these countries. Suggests that findings show India to possess a more favourable business climate but perceive China’s economy to be better.
The Thirty-six Chinese Classical Strategies is a renowned ancient book of warfare circulated among Chinese army commanders for a long time. Apart from its focus on warfare, this ancient treatise also holds valuable lessons for international marketing in the construction industry. This paper presents the general principles espoused in the Thirty-six Chinese Classical Strategies and how these principles have been applied for strategic planning and marketing in the international construction arena. Using anecdotal evident, it provides an insight into strategic planning and intelligence gathering in the international construction market.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of 51 sponsorship announcements upon the stock prices of firms sponsoring in Australia. The research examines the broader question of whether sponsorship has the potential to transcend cultural boundaries and contribute to financial performance in regional markets.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology is based on the event study technique which is applied to the estimation of excess returns that arise in response to announcements of corporate sponsorship made by leading industrial stocks trading on the Australian Stock Exchange. Regressions examine whether the cost and duration of sponsorship signal information of importance to investors regarding the financial prospects of sponsoring firms.
Findings
A small, fleeting positive increase in wealth effects is observed indicating that economically, sponsorship expenditure in Australia is more or less value neutral. While investors appear indifferent to sponsorship cost, they value short‐term sponsorships of less than two years in particular.
Research limitations/implications
Future research needs to examine the role of associated variables such as contract size and length, and the type and level of sponsorship investment.
Originality/value
For firms, the study indicates that sponsorship in smaller regional markets should be valued by investors especially when firms keep the duration of the sponsorship as short. As stock prices tend to rise briefly following sponsorship announcements, marketers should leverage sponsorships immediately to gain the attention of investors. For a regional market, short and sharp sponsorships appear to be the optimal approach.
Data from 295 salespersons of a life insurance company in Hong Kong were used to test the relationships among organizational variables, role stress variables, job satisfaction, and propensity to leave. Based on previous conceptual and empirical work on role stress, an integrative method was estimated and analyzed by using a confirmatory methodology. Findings showed the data fitted the proposed model well. The results suggest that an awareness of the antecedents and consequences of role stress among life insurance salespersons can be of value to both marketing academicians and professionals.
