Daniel D. Butler

The effects of demographics on determinants of perceived health-care service quality. The case of users and observers.

Notes that previous research suggests the components of perceived service quality are industry specific, and that calls have been made for academics to integrate their theory into practice. Investigates the effects of demographic factors on users and observers of perceived hospital quality. Reports results suggesting perceived quality is industry specific, users and observers differ in their perceptions of hospital quality and demographic factors do make a difference in perceived hospital quality.

Promoting customer contact people: a key difference in service and product advertising

Employs content analysis of advertisements for both products and services in 13 major newspapers. Seeks to understand how advertising information on service providers is integrated into service advertising strategy. Suggests that service advertising is far more likely than product advertising to contain information about contact people. Offers ways of improving the advertising strategy of service marketers.

Consumer Information Needs for Attorney and Accountant Yellow Pages Advertising

Suggests that an important source of attorney and accounting services information is the Yellow Pages phone book. Examines the information consumers want from Yellow Pages advertisements to help them select these services. Specifically, consumers want factual information regarding the type of law/accounting practiced, type of service offered, and contact information. Compares results of a consumer survey with the literature on the information that attorneys and accountants traditionally provide in other types of media. Provides suggestions on improving the Yellow Pages advertising of these service professionals.

Student Attitudes toward Marketing Mix Activities in the Large Class Environment

Three marketing mix activities found useful in large introductory marketing classes are presented. These activities help create a better learning environment, tend to help students better understand marketing, and lead to better attitudes toward the instructor.

Export to Win: A Useful International Marketing Simulation:

Currently, a dearth of simulations for use in international marketing courses exists. Those few simulations that are available have been designed exclusively for international business courses concentrating on the nonmarketing managerial and financial aspects of a multinational corporation. These simulations have limited use in the international marketing domain. This article provides an overview of a computer-generated export simulation found to be very useful for students of international marketing.

Take a Professional to Lunch: A Process to Establish a Professional Network.

A review of the marketing literature suggests that students develop personal marketing or sales plans to find their first job and subsequent career. Publishers are providing students access to online resources linked to career information. However, the person who knows most about a given career is the person who is working at that job on a daily basis (i.e., the fully employed professional). This paper builds on previous studies by providing a selling process students have used successfully to develop professional networks.

Scaled Case Grading Forms: A Method to Improve the Assessment of Student Case Performance

Though case assignments are valuable learning tools in marketing instruction, grading written cases is often a difficult and time-consuming task. The authors introduce scaled case grading forms as one method that several marketing educators have found useful. Scaled case grading forms directly indicate the instructor’s goals and areas of strong and weak student performance and clearly demonstrate to students how the overall case grade is determined. The authors provide examples of scaled case grading forms for general marketing cases, cases aimed at specific marketing mix elements, and cases emphasizing how to use marketing tools.

Planning Your Own Funeral: A Helpful Pedagogical Tool

This paper highlights an experiential class activity wherein students must plan their own funeral. The instructor uses the funeral industry as the context in which to apply consumer and marketing management concepts. Morbid you may say. Valuable and highly recommended say students who have gone through the activity. Students demonstrate their understanding of consumer decision models, services marketing management, applied regulatory, budgeting, and cultural issues. Instructors benefit from an on going project on which to base discussion in and out of class for a highly relevant topic, yet one rarely discussed academically or at home.

Graduate Teaching Assistants: Are Business Schools Focusing on Increasing Teaching Excellence?

Recently major universities and business schools have been criticized for their lack of attention to teaching undergraduates. A significant part of this teaching is being carried out by graduate teaching assistants (GTAs). Several calls have been made for changes in the pedagogical and policy instruction provided to GTAs. The authors performed a content analysis on the information used in this instruction at major American business schools. Results indicate that the majority of these schools are trying to improve the quality and effectiveness of their teachers. This improvement is being sought through seminars and classes focusing on pedagogical and policy information useful to GTAs. The authors conclude with a suggested instructional program for GTAs.

Accountant yellow pages advertising: Current practice and consumer desires

ABSTRACT Over 2,900 accountant yellow page advertisements in three major cities were examined to determine the yellow page advertising strategies used by these service professionals. Display ads were also examined for the copy strategy employed. The literature on information consumers want from accountant advertising was contrasted with actual professional practice in order to provide insight into ways to improve accountant yellow page advertising.