Deborah F. Spake

Gender differences in ethical perceptions of business practices: A social role theory perspective.

This study presents a meta-analysis of research on gender differences in perceptions of ethical decision making. Data from more than 20,000 respondents in 66 samples show that women are more likely than men to perceive specific hypothetical business practices as unethical. As suggested by social role theory (A. H. Eagly, 1987), the gender difference observed in precareer (student) samples declines as the work experience of samples increases. Social role theory also accounts for greater gender differences in nonmonetary issues than in monetary issues. T. M. Joness (1991) issue-contingent model of moral intensity helps explain why gender differences vary across types of behavior. Contrary to expectations, differences are not influenced by the sex of the actor or the target of the behavior and do not depend on whether the behavior involves personal relationships or action vs. inaction.

Consumer Comfort in Service Relationships Measurement and Importance

The importance of building relationships with customers is well documented, yet the role of consumer comfort in service relationships has not been fully explored. The authors report their efforts to measure and ascertain the importance of this construct in service relationships. Their findings provide evidence that consumer comfort has a significant and incremental impact on satisfaction, trust, commitment, and active voice with service providers. Furthermore, this variable appears to provide incremental understanding of the traditional satisfaction-trust-commitment paradigm. A scale of consumer comfort is developed that exhibits validity and reliability across two provider types.

Advertising Agency Compensation: An Agency Theory Explanation

Abstract Advertising agency compensation may change dramatically in coming years as advertisers put pressure on agencies to reduce commissions and tie compensation to performance resulting from advertising campaigns. Drawing on agency theory from the economics discipline, the authors develop and test several hypotheses to address the advertising agency compensation decision. Their study provides the first comprehensive look at the prevalence of outcome-based compensation tied to performance and other compensation systems currently used among U.S. advertisers.

Institutional and Individual Research Productivity: A Comparison of Alternative Approaches

Given the interest in productivity and rankings of institutions and individuals in the marketing discipline, the importance of the method used for determining these rankings has been underemphasized. This article provides an overview of individual and institutional research productivity using four methods and reveals the impact of each method on relative rankings. Individual and institutional publication productivity in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research and Marketing Science from 1987 through 1996 are assessed. Publication productivity is reported by institution, author and positional rank.

Consumer sociability and service provider expertise influence on service relationship success

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of consumer sociability and service provider perceived expertise on service relationship success.Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 281 consumers in the USA, randomly selected with the assistance of a commercial list service, completed the survey. Structural equations modeling, was used to test the proposed model.Findings – The findings show that customer sociability and service provider expertise are important to relationship success. In addition, the duration of the relationship was found to be a consequence of satisfaction and a driver of social benefits, which strengthens customer commitment.Research limitations/implications – Personality traits have been previously examined in a low involvement retail setting and not found to be a significant influence on commitment. This study finds that sociability does have a significant impact on service relationship success; thus, providing support for the importance of customer traits in relati...

Consumer opinion and effectiveness of direct‐to‐consumer advertising

Purpose – The purpose of the paper is to look at the relationship between attitudes toward direct‐to‐consumer (DTC) advertising and its impact on consumer requests for a particular drug.Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 154 consumers completed the survey on‐site at a pharmacy while waiting for their prescription(s) to be filled. Based on exploratory research (focus groups), survey items were developed to capture opinions of pharmaceutical advertising as well as the influence of DTC advertising on consumer behavior.Findings – The findings show that consumers are skeptical of DTC advertising and believe that not enough information is provided about these products. Despite the high level of exposure and the opinions that these ads were effective and informative, few respondents believed that the ads motivated them to request these drugs or put them on a more equal footing with their physician.Practical implications – The results provide useful information to policy makers, drug companies and research...

Consumer attitudes toward pharmaceutical direct‐to‐consumer advertising: An empirical study and the role of income

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine consumer attitudes toward direct‐to‐consumer (DTC) advertising and whether consumer attitudes regarding these types of advertisements differ based on income.Design/methodology/approach – A sample of 168 consumers completed the survey on‐site at a pharmacy while waiting for their prescription(s) to be filled.Findings – The findings indicated that low‐income consumers were more likely than higher income customers to: report being persuaded by DTC advertising to ask for an advertised drug; go to the doctor based on symptoms described in DTC advertising; and to prefer branded medication over generic alternatives.Practical implications – The results provide useful information to policy makers and drug companies. The finding that these advertisements appear to impact lower income consumers to a greater extent than their higher‐income counterparts has both positive and negative implications. On the positive side, these ads appear to influence unhealthy, low‐incom...

Distance Education: a Bibliographic Review for Educational Planners and Policymakers 1992-2002

Distance education is a growing area of interest in the academic literature. An explosion of articles has appeared in recent years documenting this trend at postsecondary institutions. The topics addressed in the literature include the demand for distance education, its acceptance by students and instructors, the quality of distance learning, the methods of delivery, the economic impact of providing distance education, and the technological requirements necessary for the delivery of online courses. This bibliography focuses on the academic literature of the last decade and provides an overview for planners and policymakers in their attempt to develop quality distance education programs.

The Impact of Perceived Peer Behavior, Probable Detection and Punishment Severity on Student Cheating Behavior

A study was conducted among marketing students to assess perceptions of their own and others’ plagiarism, likelihood of being caught, and appropriate sanctions for cheating. Students admitted to having plagiarized, though overwhelmingly they believed these activities were more common among classmates. Perceptions of peer behavior was positively related to cheating, while likelihood of being caught and punishment had a negative impact on cheating behavior involving paper writing; however, likelihood of being caught did not have an impact on cheating related to tests and homework. Prescriptions for marketing educators are provided addressing preventative policies/procedure, a culture of academic integrity, teaching techniques to reduce cheating, and sanctions that motivate students to be honest.

A model of sporting event tourism as economic development

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a moderated model of sport tourism as an economic development generator from a destination marketing perspective. The model takes into account the differing roles of sport tourism segments on the relationship between motivators of sport tourism and destinations outcomes.Design/methodology/approach – This conceptual paper presents a framework for explaining the differential impact of factors that influence sport tourism based on the tourist segment attracted to the destination.Findings – The proposed model, supported by extant literature, presents sport tourist types as moderating a variety of influencing factors that determine sport tourists’ interest in visiting a destination and the resulting economic impact on a destination.Practical implications – Practical implications are discussed for managing and marketing destination‐specific factors to appeal to different segments of the sport tourism market in order to maximize the economic impact of sport touri...