Charles S. Madden

Conducting Marketing Science: The Role of Replication in the Research Process

Abstract The role of replication in marketing research has been a tenuous one, at best. On the one hand the prevalent perceived bias against replication research has deployed more research effort into the process of theory generation. On the other hand, theory development and refinement have suffered from the lack of an explicit replication tradition in research. At various times through the history of social science, reminders have appeared in the literature for an increased emphasis on replication. In principle, most researchers agree that replication is a necessary ingredient for knowledge advancement in a discipline, but, in reality, few strict replication studies have been published. Many factors account for the apparent lack of interest toward conducting replication research, including a perceived lack of importance or creativity in such studies and a perception of editor and reviewer bias against such studies. We maintain that much of this bias may be rooted in a misunderstanding of the role of replication in the research process. The belief that replication can be extricated from the research process, let alone be optional, is a sign of misunderstanding both the nature and process of science. Thus, the purpose of the present study is threefold. First, we discuss replication research and its relation- ship to the advancement of knowledge. Next, we discover the replication process in the context of publishing. Finally, a prescription for the conduct of replication research is provided that attempts to explicate the con- ditions necessary to promote a replication tradition in marketing research.

Analysis of Information Content in U.S. and Japanese Magazine Advertising

Abstract The content of Japanese versus U.S. magazine advertisements is assessed to determine relative levels of information content based on the type of magazine, the kind of information, the product represented in the advertisement and the size of the advertisement. It was found that Japanese magazine advertisements were generally more informative than U.S. ads, although the emphasis on specific content varies cross-culturally.

Replications and Extensions in Marketing and Management Research

This special issue of the Journal of Business Research is by Macdonald and Sharp. In this study (which replicates and extends Hoyer and Brown [1990]), additional support was the first of any major business journal, to our knowledge, that devotes an entire issue to the subject of found for the original study using an alternate product category as the experimental stimulus. replications and extensions in marketing and management research. Although most scholars who adhere to the scientific In an interesting twist on replication research, Shimp and Moody discuss the shortcomings of uncritical acceptance method acknowledge the importance of replications and extensions in the advancement of science, it would seem that (read: citation) of unsubstantiated research findings in the extant literature in a given area. Their research investigates there has been some implicit hesitancy on the part of editors and reviewers to publish replication research. Arch Woodside, Feinberg’s “credit card” effect—the purported increase in value attributed to goods and services in the presence of a credit card the editor of JBR is to be commended for his initiative in instigating this special issue, and we thank him for the honor stimulus. Nonfindings from this study support the practice of replication as an on-going process in the study of marketing of editing it. Given the paucity of explicit channels for the dissemination phenomena. The impact of retrenchment on performance is the focal of replication-affiliated research, it should come as no surprise that the Call for Papers for this special issue produced a subpoint of the research conducted by Castrogiovanni and Bruton. Their findings lend support to a boundary condition on the stantial number of submissions for consideration. Seventyfive manuscripts were submitted, with the pool demonstrating results of the original research by Robbins and Pearce (1992). In a study that simultaneously investigates the power of a high degree of eclecticism—a previously assumed characteristic but, nonetheless, one that caused much consternation to three organizational growth determinants (industry, strategy, and top management attributes), Weinzimmer replicates sevboth the editors and reviewers! The special issue editors tried, in all cases, to match, as closely as possible, reviewer(s) to eral of the extant studies in the growth literature. In addition to finding main effects for each of the three, an interaction manuscripts. Our goal was to obtain three reviews for each manuscript, although this was not always possible. This neceswas found between industry/strategy and strategy/top management determinants. sitated the compilation of an extensive listing of reviewers for the special issue—83, to be exact—a number that we are Internationalization is the focus of the study of Palich, Carini, and Seaman. Specifically, these authors look at the impact of certain far surpasses the number of ad hoc reviewers for most internationalization on the diversification–performance relaspecial issues. tionship. Using a sample of Fortune 500 firms, they found The 10 papers in this special issue have, as a common support for the international impediments theory. thread, the topic of replication. The papers are coarsely divided In 1991, Sawyer and Howard found that involvement was between the marketing and management disciplines, although a significant predictor of the efficacy of open-ended advertisethere is overlap between the two, as is commonly the case. ments. Ahearn, Gruen, and Saxton replicate and then extend In the first paper, the influence of brand awareness on these findings with the use of a more complex product than the consumer choice is the subject of a 2 3 2 3 2 experiment original stimulus and find a boundary condition on product complexity. Address correspondence to Dr. R. W. Easley, Baylor University, Department of Marketing, P.O. Box 98007, Waco, TX 76798-8007, USA. Petty and Cacioppo’s well-known Elaboration Likelihood

The Use of Videotaped Cases in the Teaching of Marketing

This article discusses an alternative to the traditional use of business cases in marketing courses. The skills required of a student in dealing with written case materials are quite different from skills later needed on the job: listening, taking notes, and formulating responses to problems communicated verbally. The author has developed several variations of audiovisually based cases. Advantages and disadvantages of these pedagogical alternatives are discussed.

Solar Heating Systems: Differentiation Between Stages in the Innovation-Decision Process

Data, collected from a random sample of Nebraska residents and identified solar homeowners, were analyzed using discriminant analyses to identify attributes and dimensions of attributes of solar heating systems that differentiate among stages in the innovation-decision process. The findings indicate that different attributes and dimensions of attributes are important in differentiating among the stages, and thereby suggest that informational content presented by “change agents” should vary depending on the likely stage of adoption of their audience.