Michael Baker

• BA (Dunelm), BSc (Econ)(London),DBA (Harvard)
• Professor Emeritus at University of Strathclyde

Purpose: To argue that useful research into business-to-business marketing must have practical relevance and that this may call for alternative methodologies to the positivistic “scientific” model favored by leading marketing journals; to suggest that citation by academic peers as measured by impact factors is only one of several criteria relevant...

Economic growth is promoted as the solution to enhance the standard of living of the third of the world’s population living below the poverty line. Such growth, as measured by Gross Domestic Product (GDP), is unsustainable and predicated on increased production/consumption without sufficient consideration of what is consumed by whom. In essence thi...

An invitation to contribute a chapter to an edited collection is always welcome as an opportunity to promote one’s own perspective and inter. ests. However, in doing so, it is important that one does not stray too far from the Editors’ intention and the theme that they wish to address and illuminate. In common with many other ideas that enjoy wides...

In the aftermath of the massive, global recession precipitated by the financial collapse of 2008 many people have identified this with the practice of capitalism and called for its replacement by an alternative business model. Essentially, the objective of this alternative model would be to ensure the more equitable distribution of wealth among the...

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to explore the ongoing and continuing debate regarding the role of marketing in an organisation – profit or not‐for‐profit, public or private – in a climate where the disciplines’ contribution is seen as decreasing in importance. Design/methodology/approach – An eclectic but well‐informed summary of some of th...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to summarize highlights of a career as a marketing practitioner/academic extending for a period of more than 50 years. Design/methodology/approach – The paper takes an autobiographical approach. Findings – In common with other professional disciplines, the practice of marketing calls for the understanding of...

In our previous editorial (Autumn 2011) reference was made to the 4Es approach proposed in 'Securing the Future', the UK Sustainable Development Strategy developed by Defra in 2005. This argued that for successful and sustainable government intervention a balanced approach would be required. This was to be accomplished by encouraging through the pr...

In the last editorial attention was focused on the role played by capitalism as the basis for economic organisation and, ultimately, the well-being of society. Emphasis was given to 2 major themes - the nature of self interest and the importance of a short versus long-term perspectives. It was argued that it was important to distinguish between enl...

Purpose The purpose of this study is to analyse the factors influencing wine consumption in Turkey. Since a wine consumption culture is a recent development in Turkey, there is a need to examine consumer factors that affect wine consumption to better understand consumers’ buying processes. Design/methodology/approach This study presents the findin...

A recurring theme in the debate about social business is the role played by capitalism. At one extreme most if not all of society's ills are laid at its door while, at the other extreme, capitalistic principles are seen as essential to the solution of the same ills. As with most things the truth or otherwise of these arguments depends very much upo...

The aim and aspiration of Social Business is to provide a medium through which means of improving well being and the quality of life by 'business' may be publicised and promoted. In this editorial we seek to spell out what social business is and why it is important. As will become clear, there is no single definition of social business and there ar...

While formal qualifications are an essential requirement for employment in a professional capacity, increased access to further and higher education has resulted in many "qualified" applicants for most appointments. In other words, a qualification is a necessary but not sufficient requirement for the career which you wish to follow. Nowadays, emplo...

As a consequence of globalisation, the marketing of places has grown in importance as countries, regions and individual destinations compete with one another to attract investment and visitors. In order to compete effectively, it is essential to identify the critical success factors (CSFs) and ensure these are incorporated into one's strategic plan...

As a result of developments in information technology (IT), major changes are taking place in the way in which we communicate with one another and the quantity of information available. The publication of the results of academic research has not escaped these changes and moves to publication online and open access have significant implications for...

Purpose To examine the lessons that may be learned by both academics and practitioners from a dispassionate review of the history of the marketing profession. Design/methodology/approach One of the founding fathers of marketing as a subject for academic study in the UK thinks aloud about what he has observed during more than 30 years in a leading...

Internationalization drives and export orientation are prominent in the organizational strategies of a number of leading Indian firms and multinationals located in India. This is a significant indicator of the growing competitiveness of firms, industries, and the nation. This paper examines the sources of competitive advantage in a few selected sec...

The theme of this paper is that in seeking to develop strategies for the future, we should not neglect or overlook hard-won lessons from the past. Learning through direct experience is almost invariably a process of experimentation or trial and error. It is uncertain, time-consuming, inefficient, and often risky. Accordingly, if we encounter a prob...

Ask a silly question and you'll get a silly answer. Trite but true. In a previous paper (TMR 3.1) we looked carefully at the means of selecting respondents from a population in order to ensure that they were representative of that population. One thing was particularly obvious – it takes time, effort and money to select an unbiased sample; yet all...

Building on earlier papers in this series 'Research Methods' looks at observation, including ethnography and grounded theory, experimentation and survey methods is more detail.

In the late 1970s it was predicted that Prestel, the world`s first public viewdata system, would prove an enormous commercial success as a popular press medium available in every home. Clearly this has not happened. What went wrong?

In the preceding chapter we reviewed the basic methodologies available to the marketing researcher and classified these as observation, experimentation and survey. All three methodologies are concerned with the systematic gathering and analysis of data with a view to informing the decision-maker and enabling him to make a better decision than would...

In an increasingly competitive global market it is becoming more and more difficult to establish a sustainable competitive advantage (SCA). In this context it is surprising that the emphasis is upon competing in export markets as opposed to defending domestic markets from such global competition, particularly when offensive strategies are generally...

This article reports findings from a mail survey and field experiment that manipulated four follow-up techniques. Three hundred and twenty-eight non-respondents of a mail survey were systematically assigned (every fourth one) to four follow-up techniques: Original Replacement Follow-up (ORF); Photocopy Replacement Follow-up (PRF); Postcard Follow-u...

This article reports findings from a mail survey and field experiment that manipulated four follow-up techniques. Three hundred and twenty-eight non-respondents of a mail survey were systematically assigned (every fourth one) to four follow-up techniques: Original Replacement Follow-up (ORF); Photocopy Replacement Follow-up (PRF); Postcard Follow-u...

Traditionally, buyer behaviour has been studied from two quite distinct perspectives - mass consumer markets (consumer behaviour) and industrial markets (organisational buyer behaviour). Developments in both fields have led to a convergence of thinking in terms of networks and relationships which suggest that there are more similarities than differ...

Although it is frequently said that "The pen is mightier than the sword" the spoken word is much more commonplace. It is also more likely to have an immediate impact on more people than written communication. Indeed in societies with low levels of literacy spoken communication may be the only effective means of mass communication. Further, with the...

Although a number of scholars have investigated effective celebrity endorser characteristics with consumer samples using experimental methods, there is only one study by Miciak and Shanklin (1994) that explored the point of view of practitioners who are responsible for the selection of celebrities. This paper investigates British advertising agency...

Discusses the perceived gap between theory and practice in the discipline of marketing. Asserts that the gap between the worlds of academia and practice is increasing and this is due to marketing academics not really being interested in its practice. Considers that many view marketing as a means of undertaking research in areas of their own theoret...

While the title of this paper and its positioning as the fourth in a sequence of articles in The Marketing Review might suggest that "writing up" is something to be addressed at the conclusion of a piece of research, it is something that began the moment one put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard) in developing a research proposal. Of course "Gett...

This paper presents the findings of a survey of UK marketing academics undertaken in 1998/1999. In part it is a follow-up to a survey undertaken by Diamantopoulos, Schlegelmilch and Neate-Stidson (1992) and, in part, a replication of a survey of members of the Academy of Marketing Science details of which are reported elsewhere in this Journal. Whi...

Having identified a research issue or question one must select a research strategy and appropriate methodology for collecting information that will illuminate the problem. In this paper we look first at the research strategy and the scientific approach to problem solving. The primary research methods of Observation, Experimentation and Survey are d...

The reviewing of existing literature relating to a topic is an essential first step and foundation when undertaking a research project. In this paper we examine the purposes and scope of a literature review; the selection of sources; citation and referencing; taking notes, organizing material and writing up.

While a great deal has been written about the conduct and execution of research comparatively little attention has been given to the essential first step – writing a research proposal. This article seeks to redress this imbalance by providing practical advice on the identification and selection of a suitable topic. Idea generation, screening, choic...

Use of celebrity endorsers has become a widely employed marketing communication strategy. One of the key issues of this strategy is to decide which celebrity to employ. Even though scholars, mostly US-based, have written about the celebrity endorsement strategy and effective endorser characteristics, so far no studies have explored how advertising...

In recent times there has been a call for a revision of the paradigm that underpins the marketing process, from a transaction marketing (TM) to a new relationship marketing (RM) model. This paper argues that it is more productive to consider RM to be a third dimension of the existing TM model than to develop a separate paradigm. The two-dimensional...

A questionnaire was distributed to 324 consumers to determine the effect of country of origin (COO) on their perceptions and selections of Gulf versus Non-Gulf airline carriers. Results indicated that country of origin significantly affects consumers intentions to fly with a foreign or a domestic carrier.

This paper provides a comprehensive review of the literature regarding the effect of country of origin on consumer perceptions of products and services. Results reveal that consumer perceptions differ significantly on the basis of product/service and country of origin. The country of origin may be an important element in the perceptions consumers h...

A recent article in the Observer Magazine1 opened with an expression of pessimism that has become increasingly commonplace in recent years — especially in journals and media popular with the better educated professional and managerial classes. It ran as follows: We and our children are approaching a world of mounting confusion and horror. The next...

A considerable body of literature now exists on the marketing of services. Most of this literature focused on the five unique characteristics that distinguish services from physical goods, namely intangibility, inseparability, heterogeneity, perishability and ownership. This paper discuss this argument in detail The review opens with some definitio...

Describes the initiation and development of a corporate identity/visual identity programme, using a major UK university as a case study. Concludes that assessing a visual identity can be useful in identifying organizational weaknesses. However, whereas a weak visual identity may be a symptom of corporate malaise, a new visual identity, although pow...

This study examines pioneering as a strategic option when entering new geographic markets.Based on an extensive literature review of pioneering advantages and brand strategies it became clear that the concept of pioneering was not well defined and covered several different phenomena. Existing research did not differentiate between being a pioneer i...

Compares and contrasts the Australian and international literature which has examined the determinants of export performance with a view to developing a model which will assist in improving what is generally considered to be low levels of achievement by Australian exporters. Based on a subjective evaluation of the international literature classifie...

Since the early 1980s ‘globalisation’ has been a recurrent theme in textbooks, reports and articles dealing with international competition. Indeed, often without any clear understanding or agreement as to what globalisation involves, the word and its attendants ‘global strategy/marketing’ have come to be seen as a sine qua non for competitive succe...

The purpose of this chapter is to establish why it is considered essential that the study and practice of marketing should be founded upon a sound theoretical base.

As we saw earlier, a natural consequence of the marketing concept, with its emphasis upon the determination of consumer wants and the deployment of resources to match these wants, is that the marketing function places particular stress upon new-product development. In this chapter we will attempt to demonstrate that the problems associated with int...

The third edition of Michael Baker's popular text again starts from the premise that the development of marketing depends on the integration of theory and practice and that if marketing is to achieve the transition from art to applied science, it must establish a sound theoretical foundation in its own right. The book has been thoroughly updated to...

A recent focus of attention in the new product development literature has been the need to quicken the process of development in order to decrease “time-to-market”. Various amendments to the traditional activity-stage models have been proposed, but few deal directly with the key aspect of speedier time to market, namely cross-functional information...

Widespread dissatisfaction with the services provided by commercial banks suggests that they have been less than successful in adopting the marketing concept. This article examines the nature of the marketing concept, its transferability to the domain of banking and its adoption by the AIB Group. However, this bank's experience appears to be atypic...

The Gulf States (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman Bahrain and Qatar) represent a major global market accounting for 26 per cent of European exports, 22 per cent of Japanese exports, 27 per cent of South East Asian exports, and 14 per cent of US exports. Despite this importance comparatively little interest has been shown in buyer be...

Recently many EC countries have expressed an increasing interest in the development of strong trading companies (TCs) which will assist in the growth of national exports. However, a lack of clear direction for the envisaged TCs′ development has been observed. Attempts to identify the mechanisms by which TCs change their structure and strategies. A...

The success of the Japanese and Korean General Trading Companies (GTCs) led many countries to promote the development of GTCs based on the Japanese model. In particular many EC countries compelled by the need to reduce their trade deficits promoted the development of GTC-like trading companies. This paper examines the factors that prevent the devel...

In the preceding chapter we explored the ways in which secondary or desk research could be used to help solve marketing problems. Given the nature of secondary data, namely that it was collected at some time in the past to help clarify and/or solve someone else’s information need, it would be surprising if it exactly satisfied the requirements of a...

A recurring theme of this book has been that research for marketing should be a continuous process designed to inform the decision-maker of what has happened, what is happening and what is likely to happen in the marketing domain relevant to the firm’s survival and prosperity. The tangible output of this process is the MIS or marketing information...

In Chapter 5 we reviewed the issues involved in selecting an appropriate research design and classified these into three categories — observation, experimentation and survey. In this chapter we are concerned primarily with the latter category and the collection of data using questionnaires, of the kind discussed in the preceding chapter, through th...

'Look before you Leap' - Problem Recognition and Specification - What Do We Know? - What Do We Need to Know? - Developing a Research Design - Sampling - Data Collection - Data Collection Methods - Data Interpretation - Report Presentation - Syndicated Market Research Services - Information Technology and Marketing Research - Marketing Information S...

The findings of a survey of design strategy and practice in Scottish companies showed that companies tended to group into two design categories: those whose corporate use of design is channelled into an aggressive search for new opportunities (the proactors) and those who use design in a passive, reactive way (the reactors). Further, design-based d...