Dennis B. Arnett

The Identity Salience Model of Relationship Marketing Success: The Case of Nonprofit Marketing

Researchers suggest that developing long-term relationships with key stakeholders is an important strategy in todays intensely competitive business environment. Many organizations have embraced this concept, which is referred to as relationship marketing. Much of the research on relationship marketing success has examined relationships that (1) are primarily economic in nature, (2) involve business-to-business marketing, and (3) involve for-profit firms. However, the authors argue that relationship marketing is a viable strategy in such contexts as those involving high levels of social exchange, business-to-consumer marketing, and nonprofit marketing. In these contexts, relationship marketing success may require different relationship characteristics from those identified in previous research. The authors develop “the identity salience model of relationship marketing success,” which they posit is useful for explaining relationship marketing success in exchange relationships that (1) involve individuals and (2) are based primarily on social exchange. The authors further develop and test the model in the context of nonprofit higher education marketing. The results provide support for the model.

Factors Affecting Fan Attendance: The Influence of Identity Salience and Satisfaction

The study combines disparate streams of research in order to develop a model of devoted fan behavior. The theoretical foundations for this study are based on literature examining social identity theory, involvement, attachment and satisfaction. A model of the factors that influence fan identity salience and attendance is developed and tested. First, the factors that influence fan identity salience and sporting event attendance are discussed and an integrated model is developed. Second, the proposed model is tested using a sample of college students. Third, the implications of the findings are discussed. The findings suggest that identity salience is an important factor in explaining fan-related behavior.

The explanatory foundations of relationship marketing theory

Purpose – Drawing on resource‐advantage theory and a diverse literature base, this article seeks to further the development of the explanatory foundations of relationship marketing theory by proposing, and then providing, tentative answers to three “why?” questions in relationship marketing: why is relationship marketing so prominent now? Why do firms and consumers enter into relationships with other firms and consumers? Why are some efforts at relationship marketing more successful than others?Design/methodology/approach – Before addressing the three questions, the paper begins by discussing the different forms of relationship marketing.Findings – Although relationship marketing is a relatively young field of inquiry, relationship marketing theory is an extremely rich area of research. Relationship marketing can take many forms and, as a result, relationship marketing theory has the potential to increase ones understanding of many aspects of business strategy.Research limitations/implications – The answ...

Developing parsimonious retailer equity indexes using partial least squares analysis: a method and applications

Abstract The information that a retailer’s name communicates to consumers can be a source of competitive advantage for many retailers. Indeed, retailers develop a kind of brand equity, which we refer to as “retailer equity.” To aid both practitioners and researchers, we outline a method, using partial least squares (PLS) analysis for developing parsimonious measures for retailer equity. In addition, we provide four illustrations of possible ways that the index can be used by retailers: (1) as a benchmarking tool, (2) as an indicator of the success (failure) of marketing strategies and tactics, (3) as a means to evaluate the attractiveness of market segments, and (4) as an instrument to examine the relative importance of the various components of retailer equity for specific retailers. The index also provides a means for marketing researchers to examine potential antecedents and outcomes of retailer equity.

ENHANCING CUSTOMER-NEEDS-DRIVEN CRM STRATEGIES: CORE SELLING TEAMS, KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT COMPETENCE, AND RELATIONSHIP MARKETING COMPETENCE

Managing relationships with customers is often challenging because firms engage in many different types of transactions and their customers vary considerably as to their wants and needs. To meet these challenges, firms are turning increasingly to formal customer relationship management (CRM) programs. Because of their ability to enhance interfirm relationships in business-to-business marketing, firms often turn specifically to customer-needs–driven CRM strategies. These strategies focus on the use of database technology to aid in developing long-term cooperative relationships with key customers. One important resource that enables firms to more easily develop and implement customer-needs–driven CRM strategies is the core selling (CS) team. We examine CS teams’ ability to enhance the development of two competences (a knowledge management competence and a relationship marketing competence) that are important components of customer-needs–driven CRM strategy.

Resource-Advantage Theory and Embeddedness: Explaining R-A Theory’s Explanatory Success

In the mid-1990s, a new theory of competition, labeled “resource-advantage theory,” was proposed in the marketing literature. R-A theory’s explanatory and predictive successes have resulted in its being well received by both marketing and nonmarketing scholars. This article examines the characteristics of resource-advantage theory that have enabled the theory to successfully explain and predict marketing phenomena. Specifically, the thesis that R-A theory is a moderately socialized, embedded theory of competition is explored by focusing on the theory’s ability to provide a theoretical foundation for the frequently made claim that, at least in some circumstances, social structures and trust-based governance can be competition-enhancing.

Market Segmentation Strategy, Competitive Advantage, and Public Policy: Grounding Segmentation Strategy in Resource-Advantage Theory

Market segmentation is one of the most widely accepted concepts in marketing. Its fundamental thesis is that, to achieve competitive advantage and, thereby, superior financial performance, firms should (1) identify segments of demand, (2) target specific segments, and (3) develop specific marketing “mixes” for each targeted market segment. However, understanding the competitive circumstance in which segmentation strategy will work requires an understanding of the process of competition. That is, segmentation must be grounded in competition theory. This article examines the nature of market segmentation strategy and identifies the characteristics that a theory of competition must possess if it is to provide a theoretical foundation for it. The criteria are argued to be that a grounding theory must (1) provide for the existence of demand heterogeneity, (2) justify why firms would choose to produce and market a variety of market offerings, and (3) explicate a mechanism by which a market segmentation strategy can lead to superior financial performance. This article argues that resource-advantage theory, a process theory of competition, meets these criteria and, therefore, provides a theoretical foundation for market segmentation strategy. Furthermore, it argues that the use of market segmentation promotes public welfare by prompting the innovations that foster firm-level, industry-level, and societal-level productivity.

Competition as an Evolutionary Process and Antitrust Policy

The antitrust debate in the United States has been grounded and guided by principles derived from equilibrium-based economics. However, these principles mischaracterize key elements of real economies. The authors (1) explore the nature of the antitrust debate by reviewing a key component of the debate—the efficiency versus wealth transfer argument; (2) illustrate how the equilibrium-based tradition has misguided the debate; (3) sketch an alternative, process view of competition that draws heavily on evolutionary and Austrian economics (resource-advantage theory; Hunt 2000b); and (4) discuss the implications of using a process view of competition as a basis for antitrust policy.

Competitive Irrationality: The Influence of Moral Philosophy

This study explores a phenomenon that has been shown to adversely affect managers’ decisions—competitive irrationality. Managers are irrationally competitive in their decisions when they focus on damaging the profits of competitors, rather than improving their own profit performance. Studies by Armstrong and Collopy (1996) and Griffith and Rust (1997) suggest that the phenomenon is common but not universal. We examine the question of why some individuals exhibit competitive irrationality when making decisions, while others do not by focusing on four aspects of moral philosophy—deontological orientation, cognitive moral development, idealism, and relativism. Results suggest that individuals high in deontological orientation, high in cognitive moral development, high in idealism, and low in relativism will be less competitively irrational than those who are not.

A longitudinal examination of the effects of retailer–manufacturer brand alliances: The role of perceived fit

Abstract One resource that has been identified as a valuable source of competitive advantage is the equity associated with an organisations brands. Organisations devote considerable resources to developing strategies that allow them to build and/or maintain strong brand names. This study investigates brand alliances between retailers and manufacturers. The role of perceived fit between the partnering brands is explored. In addition, the study examines the influence that retailer–manufacturer brand alliances have on: retailer equity; manufacturer brand equity; the intention of consumers to frequent the stores of the retailer involved in the brand alliance (shopping intention); and the intention of consumers to purchase products from the manufacturer involved in the brand alliance (purchase intention).