Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science

Kerin, Roger; Harvey, Michael

doi: 10.1007/bf02729451pmid: N/A

The number and rate of development of new consumer legislation necessitates the evaluation of existing legislation. This paper summarizes and categorizes, in detail, the impact of select pieces of consumer legislation on consumer decision making. It is an implied objective of the paper to provide a perspective for future public policy formulation. The pieces of legislation evaluated in the paper are: (1) unit pricing; (2) product labeling; and (3) disclosure of interest rate provisions for consumer credit. The impact of these pieces of legislation have been minimal, indicating the need for an educational program for consumers.

Assael, Henry

doi: 10.1007/bf02729448pmid: N/A

Product classifications have been used as a normative framework to generalize product characteristics and market responses. To be more useful in guiding marketing strategy, classification schemes should incorporate the characteristics of the consumer's decision process. This article attempts to establish the link between product classification and consumer decision theory by demonstrating a direct association between Copeland's well-known convenience-shopping goods typology and the Howard-Sheth model of consumer decision-making.

Simonetti, Jack L.

doi: 10.1007/BF02729457pmid: N/A

Abstract In the past decade, several organization theorists have begun to examine the organization—environmental interface in the functioning of complex organizations and have argued that an organization's internal structural arrangement is contingent upon the demands of the external environment. The purpose of this article is to further examine the validity of the findings of these theorists with reference to firms operating in Italy. The variables studied consisted of: a) Market conditions—which was divided into the two categories of high and low competition. b) Decentralization of decision-making, and c) Organization effectiveness. To investigate the impact of decentralization on the organization effectiveness of firms under differing market conditions the statistical techniques of a Mann-Whitney U Test and Kendall's Tau Measure of Correlation were used to compute the scores. The resulting computations provide some support for the contingency theory of organization, but also indicates areas of disagreement.

Wheeler, David R.

doi: 10.1007/BF02729459pmid: N/A

Abstract Consumer loyalties for particular brands of products appear to be an established fact. Brand loyalty is an important aid to firms that have recognized brands. What has been lacking in theoretical models of consumer brand loyalty has been a consistent and widely acceptable definition. A number of specific hypotheses have been advanced to explain why some consumers switch from one brand to another. There is usually empirical evidence of some kind for any one of the theoretical positions. Qualitative models present a view of consumer purchasing as being caused by something as opposed to quantitative models which show purchasing as being a function of random processes. Qualitative models can be categorized as being behavioral descriptions of internal psychological states which explain the behavior under study. A unified definition of brand loyalty is needed. Brand loyalty must be a reflection of consistent purchasing behavior and favorable attitudes.

Hannaford, William J.

doi: 10.1007/bf02729450pmid: N/A

Increasingly competitive pressures during the past decade have caused both industrial buyers and suppliers to search for new economies and means for achieving greater profitability. Industrial wholesaler-distributors have responded with a variety of contractually based “systems” that are designed to simplify customers' purchase of supplies while ensuring distributor profits. The two main varieties of such Systems are popularly called “Blanket Orders” and ”Systems Contracts,” but the latter are more comprehensive extensions of the former. Specifically, Systems Contracts imply a total commitment by a distributor toward solving his customers' supplies problems. Such agreements typically involve a shifting of the supplies warehousing function back to the vendor, where items are then automatically reordered by plant-level users as opposed to purchasing agents. Rounding out the System is an extensive array of vendor-supplied services: 24-hour item delivery, computer-processed item usage reports, a control feature, and vendor consultation and problem solving. The Contract effectively links buyer and supplier together in a harmonious, profitable relationship.

Newman, Joseph W.; Werbel, Richard A.

doi: 10.1007/bf02729452pmid: N/A

A new measure of brand loyalty was constructed which reflected the amount of brand deliberation as well as whether the old brand was repurchased. The new measure was found to be superior to brand repurchase information alone in multivariate analyses of brand loyalty for automobiles. The findings emphasized that brand loyalty is a matter of degree and that the majority of car buyers are open to inducements to change brands. Brand loyalty was found to vary with occupation, optimism about future business conditions, the number of cars bought in the last 10 years, education and satisfaction with the old car.

Wheeler, David R.

doi: 10.1007/bf02729459pmid: N/A

Consumer loyalties for particular brands of products appear to be an established fact. Brand loyalty is an important aid to firms that have recognized brands. What has been lacking in theoretical models of consumer brand loyalty has been a consistent and widely acceptable definition. A number of specific hypotheses have been advanced to explain why some consumers switch from one brand to another. There is usually empirical evidence of some kind for any one of the theoretical positions. Qualitative models present a view of consumer purchasing as being caused by something as opposed to quantitative models which show purchasing as being a function of random processes. Qualitative models can be categorized as being behavioral descriptions of internal psychological states which explain the behavior under study. A unified definition of brand loyalty is needed. Brand loyalty must be a reflection of consistent purchasing behavior and favorable attitudes.

Nielsen, Richard P.; McQueen, Charles; Nielsen, Angela B.

doi: 10.1007/bf02729453pmid: N/A

This article reports audience segmentation results of an extensive performing arts audience research study conducted in central Illinois. The audience segmentation results are discussed as well as the reasons why arts audience segmentation analysis is important. Some needed directions in arts audience segmentation research are suggested.

Pruden, Henry O.; Shuptrine, F. Kelly; Longman, Douglas S.

doi: 10.1007/bf02729454pmid: N/A

For the purpose of equipping researchers in marketing with a more sophisticated method to measure alienation in a marketing context, the authors have constructed and initially tested an alienation from the marketplace index. Alienation is defined in terms of Melvin Seeman's (1959) five basic variants of alienation: powerlessness, meaninglessness, normlessness, social isolation, and self-estrangement. After pretesting, two questions per variant of alienation remained as the operational measures of alienation from the marketplace. These questions focused specifically on marketing phenomenon. Test-retest reliability was tested with 35 paired observations. Validity was checked with survey data from 140 households. In terms of face or content validity, the questions met the criterion of “looking as if” they should indicate the corresponding dimensions of alienation. Correlations between the marketplace alienation items and a measure of general alienation established concurrent validity.The authors propose that the use of the marketplace alienation index in studies involving those who are affected by our country's business climate may prove useful. For example, one would hypothesize that increasing alienation from the marketplace would be associated with support of consumerist goals, or even of additional government legislation to control problems that the individual feels is uncontrollable by him because of the bigness and indifference of modern day enterprise.

Tesar, George; Udell, Gerald G.; Naidu, G. M.

doi: 10.1007/bf02729458pmid: N/A

The energy and environmental crises are important problems facing the United States today. With less than 6% of the world's population, the U.S. accounts for 47% of the world's automobiles and nearly 35% of the total energy demand. Automobiles consume nearly 14.5% of the total energy demand and are the major source of air pollution. Whiel there are many potential solutions for the energy and environmental crises, this paper specifically focuses on how the electric car can be a partial answer to the complex problem of personal transportation. The paper specifically discusses the role of marketing in bridging the gap between technology and the consumer. On the basis of an extensive exploratory study, the authors contend that there is sufficient interest among consumers for an economical, pollution-free, electric car. Understanding the consumer's need and developing a product that is feasible, considering existing technology, is the role that marketing must play.