Albena Pergelova

Assessing Advertising Efficiency

This research focuses on a major concern for marketers addressing the claims of inefficiency of spending on advertising. We examine whether the Internet can help increase overall advertising efficiency. Using a sample from the Spanish automobile industry, we combine a nonparametric method—Data Envelopment Analysis—with recent important insights from statistics and econometrics studies, and find that online advertising improves the efficiency levels and that this effect is more pronounced in the long-term temporal framework.

A market segmentation approach for higher education based on rational and emotional factors

Market segmentation is an important topic for higher education administrators and researchers. For segmenting the higher education market, we have to understand what factors are important for high school students in selecting a university. Extant literature has probed the importance of rational factors such as teaching staff, campus facilities, and quality of education. Less attention has been devoted to the relevance of emotional factors such as personal values. The aim of this paper is to suggest a segmentation approach based on integrating rational and emotional factors that prospective students value when selecting a university. We gather information from 21 focus groups and develop a survey applied to a sample of high school students. We find six segments characterized by distinct rational and emotional underlying factors that lead to a particular composition for each segment. The factors discussed in this research can be used as a guide for higher education managers to develop segmentation and communication plans.

Gender and international entry mode

This article examines whether male- and female-led small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) adopt different strategic directions when internationalising. We build on the notion of gendered socialisation and the resource-based view examining gender differences in international entry modes. We also analyse several contingencies in the relationship between gender and internationalisation. Findings indicate that female-led SMEs are more likely to internationalise via export than foreign direct investment (FDI). The results challenge conventional wisdom on the role of resources and capabilities accumulated with manager age in the process of internationalisation; younger female chief executive officers are more likely to internationalise via FDI. The results offer novel insights to the literature on internationalisation of SMEs calling for more attention towards the interplay of social norms and gendered structural arrangements, on the one hand, and entrepreneurial agency, on the other, for a better understanding of the internationalisation of female-led SMEs.

Comparing advertising effectiveness in South-American and North-American contexts: testing Hofstede's and Inglehart's cultural dimensions in the higher education sector

ABSTRACT This research compares the effectiveness of advertising and relational marketing in two countries characterized by varying levels of both Hofstedes and Ingleharts cultural dimensions – Peru (high-power distance, high collectivism, survival and traditional values) and Canada (low-power distance, high individualism, self-expression and secular-rational values). Survey data from a high credence service sector (higher education) in both countries is used for the analysis. The results indicate that advertising and relational marketing have direct effects on choice in Peru, but do not have significant direct effects on choice in Canada. Advertising does, however, affect positively perceptual outcome measures (perceived marketing effectiveness) in Canada. Additionally, we find that advertising and relational marketing have an indirect impact on choice and perceived marketing effectiveness through the mediation of perceived informativeness and influencers in both countries. These results point to the need to account for mechanisms and mediating variables when building theoretical frameworks in cross-country studies.

The Relevance of Marketing Activities for Higher Education Institutions

This chapter compares the effectiveness of marketing activities on student choice of higher education (HE) across three developed countries: Canada, France, and Sweden. Specifically, this study analyzes the impact of traditional advertising, internet advertising, and relational marketing on student choice. Data are collected from student samples in these three countries. The effectiveness of marketing activities is tested in three separate models (baseline, choice, and full choice) using ordinary least squares (OLS) regression analysis. In the model including all three countries, results reveal that student choice is significantly influenced by relational marketing such as open houses and face-to-face meetings. Another important influence on choice is competitive reputation of the university. This is a variable that consistently remains significant for all countries under analysis, along with quality of learning. In the country-specific models, relational marketing was more important in France, while perceived marketing effectiveness had a highly significant impact on choice in Canada; practical considerations such as location and speed of application process had a significant negative effect in France and Sweden.