Dennis A. Pitta

Understanding brand equity for successful brand extension

The turbulent 1990s typified by increased product development and marketing costs as well as increasing international competition, focussed marketing managers on cost‐saving tactics to increase competitiveness. One of the most important effects was to make brand extensions more compelling and frequent. While leveraging the brand equity of a successful brand promises to make introduction of a new entry less costly, success depends on the underlying brand knowledge and image among consumers. Explores the consumer dimensions of brand equity, the benefits and dangers of brand extension, and culminates in a series of implications and recommendations for successful brand extensions.

Internet community forums: an untapped resource for consumer marketers

Purpose – To explore an emerging area in internet practice that has implication for consumer marketers.Design/methodology/approach – The paper integrates concepts including a range of recently published (1993‐2004) theoretical works and ongoing case developments in internet practice.Findings – Provides information and action approaches to consumer marketers that may increase the success, providing want‐satisfying market offerings. Outlines the market research benefits of monitoring and participating in internet community forums and offers practical suggestions for maximizing their value in the marketing and marketing research. It also provides a series of tactics that consumer marketers may use to maximize the value of internet community forums for their firms.Research limitations/implications – The theoretical concepts that form the foundation of the paper appear to have a significant application to consumer marketing, but have not been tested empirically.Practical implications – Uncovers a previously un...

Online consumer communities and their value to new product developers

Purpose – To explore an emerging area in internet practice that has implications for new product developers.Design/methodology/approach – The paper integrates concepts including a range of recently published (1993‐2004) theoretical works and ongoing case developments in internet practice.Findings – Provides information and action approaches to new product developers that may increase the success and accuracy of resulting new products. Outlines the benefits of monitoring and participating in online consumer communities and offers practical suggestions for maximizing their value in the product development process.Research limitations/implications – The theoretical concepts that form the foundation of the paper appear to have a significant application to the product development process but have not been tested empirically.Practical implications – Uncovers a previously unrecognized source of direct consumer input and cooperation in the design and valuation of new products.Originality/value – This paper descri...

A strategic approach to building online customer loyalty: integrating customer profitability tiers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a strategic framework to managing online loyalty.Design/methodology/approach – The paper integrates concepts including a range of recently published (1993‐2006) theoretical works in consumer loyalty and ongoing case developments in internet practice.Findings – Provides information and action approaches to consumer marketers that may increase the success providing want satisfying market offerings. Outlines the costs and benefits of some online customer loyalty building practices. By integrating the literature supporting lifetime customer value with the literature concerned with generating online customer relationships, it provides a pathway to profitable relationships. It also exposes the unintended problems that some online customer loyalty initiatives may create.Research limitations/implications – The theoretical concepts that form the foundation of the paper appear to have a significant application to consumer marketing but have not been tested empirical...

Social media's emerging importance in market research

Purpose – The purpose of the study is to investigate the use of social media as a new investigative tool in marketing research.Design/methodology/approach – The papers approach is an analysis of the existing social marketing literature and industry practice in marketing analysis.Findings – The market research profession has been affected by developments in social media. First, some of the traditional research methods suffer from changes in consumer communication patterns. As social media supplant communication methods such as telephony and even email, researchers have diminished capacity to reach consumer subjects. As a result, the social media have spawned a number of research techniques that overcome the problems that have started to affect the old techniques.Research limitations/implications – The article reviews the state of market research and its efforts to remain effective. The major new social media based market research techniques are described as well as their strengths and weaknesses. One limi...

Ethical issues across cultures: managing the differing perspectives of China and the USA

US marketers know the US standard of ethics. However, that standard can lead to ethical conflict when Americans encounter the emerging market giant, China. As smaller US companies enter China, the potential for ethical conflict increases. Reducing that potential requires knowledge. Knowing the nature and history of the two cultures can lead to an understanding of the foundation of their ethical systems. Ethics and the expectations within cultures affect all business transactions. It is vital for Western marketers to understand the expectations of their counterparts around the world. Understanding the cultural bases for ethical behavior in both the USA and China can arm a marketer with knowledge needed to succeed in cross‐cultural business. Implementing that knowledge with a clear series of managerial guidelines can actualize the value of that understanding.

Successful marketing by multinational firms to the bottom of the pyramid: connecting share of heart, global “umbrella brands”, and responsible marketing

Purpose – This paper aims to contend that four significant ideas must be comprehended, and their connection and interaction understood if successful marketing to the 4 to 5 billion undeserved bottom of the pyramid (BOP) people in the world, by multinational firms is to be realized. These ideas are: the bottom of the pyramid (BOP) market itself; share of the heart versus consumer animosity; the nature and influence of global “umbrella” brands and responsible marketing as a guiding principle for all firms including those focusing on the BOP. Each of these ideas, in and of itself, represents an important dimension in todays global business environment, but taken together they offer a clearer understanding of how companies, particularly multinational companies, can do well (profit) and do good (improve humanity).Design/methodology/approach – The paper briefly overviews the BOP literature, highlighting those parts most relevant to this work; expands upon the notion of “share of heart” and its twin components ...

Marketing one‐to‐one and its dependence on knowledge discovery in databases

One‐to‐one marketing has received increased attention by academics and practitioners. In essence, one‐to‐one marketing reconfigures the familiar four Ps into one element: the relationship. It represents the ultimate expression of target marketing ‐ a market of one ‐ or at least one at a time. It is safe to say that the concept has been refined and its potential has been highlighted. Still unresolved is the means by which organizations can implement one‐to‐one marketing. A promising solution is the application of the information technology data mining technique. Data mining allows organizations to find patterns within their internal customer data. As a result, data mining is often called Knowledge Discovery in Databases (KDD). Whatever patterns are uncovered can lead to identification of likely target segments. Armed with such information, organizations can refine their targets and develop their technology to achieve true one‐to‐one marketing. While a promising technique, data mining must be developed and applied intelligently by managers. In addition, managers must realize that marketing 1:1 requires the combined skills of a multi‐disciplinary team.

Boundary spanning product development in consumer markets: learning organization insights

Reviews recent marketing literature which cites the troubling success rates of newly introduced consumer products and recommends integrating consumer input as early as possible, arguing that, specifically, consumers and other external information sources should be part of idea generation and should provide input throughout the rest of the product development process. Discusses several problems which interfere with achieving that integration. Looks at the relevant learning organization literature and relates it to the new product development process. Explores the successful lead‐user technique used in industrial marketing, and describes its important components. Proposes a potentially useful analog for consumer products, and boundary spanning consumer product development teams, which are composed of internal cross‐functional members and external members selected from suppliers, retailers and consumers.

Online relationships and the consumer’s right to privacy

With the astounding growth of the Internet, the potential threats to consumer privacy have grown exponentially. Much of the threat lies hidden beneath the view of the average consumer. Information technology makes collecting potentially sensitive information automatic and unseen. Indeed, it is the job of marketers to collect salient information to ensure refining products and services to foster consumer satisfaction. The paper explores the issues surrounding the protection of consumer privacy and delineates a means by which the interests of both consumers and the organizations that serve them can be enhanced while protecting consumer privacy.