Alexis M. Allen

How Deviations from Performance Norms Impact Charitable Donations

Although the actions of others can influence a consumers behavior, these actions are often at odds with performance norms. For example, charities can experience relatively low rates of support (resulting in a negative deviation from a performance norm) or relatively high rates of support (resulting in a positive deviation from a performance norm). Previous research provides evidence of the equivocal effects of these deviations, with both positive and negative deviations motivating prosocial behaviors. The current research reconciles these competing findings by introducing construal as a moderator. Across four studies, the authors find that positive deviations from performance norms motivate prosocial behavior for independent donors, whereas negative deviations from performance norms motivate prosocial behavior for interdependent donors. They further show that these effects are driven by a prevention focus associated with interdependent consumers and a promotion focus associated with independent consumers. The article concludes with implications for the marketing of charities and prosocial behaviors.

A New Perspective on Value Creation and Marketing’s Dominant Logic: An Abstract

Few would argue that the success of any firm is tied to its ability to create value. Yet the concepts of value and value creation remain poorly understood. Debates regarding the nature of value have been raging on many fronts – in philosophy, economics, and marketing. However, like the quest for “The Theory of Everything” in the physical sciences, marketing scholars have yet to develop a comprehensive theory of value that incorporates the multidimensional nature of value and explains how value is created. This void is problematic for practitioners, scholars, and stakeholders. How can marketers create what is not understood? How can scholars study what is not clearly defined? Moreover, how can stakeholders measure what is not properly articulated? When faced with the task of creating value, uncertainty about what value “is” leads to unclear managerial priorities and muddled metrics, resulting in suboptimal outcomes.

The Case for Adopting Blockmodeling in Human Resource Management Research: Examples in Analyzing Social Networks and HRM Systems

Abstract Blockmodeling is viewed often as a data reduction method. However, this is a simplistic view of the class of methods designed to uncover social structures, identify subgroups, and reveal emergent roles. Worse, this view misses the richness of the method as a tool for uncovering novel human resource management (HRM) insights. Here, we provide a brief overview of some essentials of blockmodeling and discuss research questions that can be addressed using this approach in applied HRM settings. Finally, we offer an empirical example to illustrate blockmodeling and the types of information that can be gleaned from its implementation.