Dieter Ahlert

Applications of functional magnetic resonance imaging for market research

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of the methodology of several brain imaging techniques and in particular, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and its potential implications for market research. The aim is to enable the reader both to understand this emerging methodology and to conduct independent research in the area.Design/methodology/approach – A short introduction on current neuroimaging methods used in behavioral neuroscience is provided by means of a literature review. The ensuing discussion focuses on fMRI as the currently most popular neuroimaging technique. Having described the fMRI methodology, an outline of the analysis of functional neuroimaging data follows, after which there is a discussion of some key research issues.Findings – Although in its infancy, fMRI seems to be a useful and promising tool for market researchers. Initial studies in the field reveal that fMRI is able to shed light on subconscious processes such as affective aspects of consume...

The Effects of Country of Origin and Corporate Reputation on Initial Trust: An Experimental Evaluation of the Perception of Polish Consumers

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the simultaneous effects of country of origin (COO) and corporate reputation on initial trust in a transition economy, and to compare these effects across two service industries. The model broadens COO research by incorporating initial trust as a key driver of success in the context of services internationalization. Design/methodology/approach – Poland is the transition economy studied. A total of 184 respondents evaluated different service combinations (high vs low reputation/home country vs foreign country) in two different service categories (high risk vs low risk). Relationships between constructs are tested, employing a between‐subject experimental design. Findings – Both reputation and the risk level of service have a significant main effect on initial trust. Furthermore, results indicate a highly significant interaction effect: a positive COO effect leads to a higher level of initial trust only in the case of a risky service. Research limitations/implications – As with all laboratory studies, external validity is limited. Further research should focus on other instruments for gaining initial trust (e.g. warranties), especially in the case of a negative COO image. Practical implications – International marketers of services must carefully consider COO information as a means of building initial trust. Positive effects only apply in the case of high‐risk services. Originality/value – A major contribution is the introduction of initial trust as an important mediator in COO‐related international service marketing literature. As a second contribution, COO effects were compared across different service categories with respect to perceived risk. Furthermore, investigating COO effects in transition economies is of particular interest, as such markets are gaining attraction for international service providers.

Knowledge management in knowledge intensive service networks: a strategic management approach

Purpose – The main purpose of this paper is to analyze knowledge management in service networks. It analyzes the knowledge management process and identifies related challenges. The authors take a strategic management approach instead of a more technology-oriented approach, since it is believed that managerial problems still remain after technological problems are solved. Design/methodology/approach – The paper explores the literature on the topic of knowledge management as well as the resource (or knowledge) based view of the firm. It offers conceptual insights and provides possible solutions for knowledge management problems. Findings – The paper discusses several possible solutions for managing knowledge processes in knowledge-intensive service networks. Solutions for knowledge identification/generation, knowledge application, knowledge combination/transfer and supporting the evolution of tacit network knowledge include personal and technological aspects, as well as organizational and cultural elements. Practical implications – In a complex environment, knowledge management and network management become crucial for business success. It is the task of network management to establish routines, and to build and regularly refresh meta-knowledge about the competencies and abilities that exist within the network. It is suggested that each network partner should be rated according to the contribution to the network knowledge base. Based on this rating, a particular network partner is a member of a certain knowledge club, meaning that the partner has access to a particular level of network knowledge. Such an established routine provides strong incentives to add knowledge to the networks knowledge base Originality/value – This paper is a first attempt to outline the problems of knowledge management in knowledge-intensive service networks and, by so doing, to introduce strategic management reasoning to the discussion.

Customer Relationship Management im Handel

Stagnierende Markte, zunehmender Wettbewerbsdruck und heterogenes Konsumentenverhalten fuhrten in den letzten Jahren zu einer Veranderung des unternehmerischen Handelns. Wahrend Unternehmen noch bis zu Beginn der 1990er Jahre auf die reine Durchfuhrung von Transaktionen fokussierten, stehen heute vielmehr der Aufbau und die Intensivierung langfristiger Kundenbeziehungen im Fokus unternehmerischen Denkens. Sowohl die Unternehmenspraxis als auch Marketingforschung konzentrierten sich dabei insbesondere auf Themenkomplexe wie Kundenzufriedenheit, Kundenbindung und Kundenorientierung.

Does “Made in …” Also Apply to Services? An Empirical Assessment of the Country-of-Origin Effect in Service Settings

ABSTRACT The country-of-origin (COO) effect is one of the most prominent phenomena in the field of international marketing. Its influence on consumer quality perception, as well as on purchase decision, is strongly supported by a notable amount of empirical work. However, despite the obvious managerial relevance, most COO studies have been conducted with respect to products, whereas the impact of COO in service settings is a woefully underresearched area. This article fills that void by using limit conjoint analysis to empirically test the role of COO effect for services in two experimental settings. Specifically, the study investigates how much the relative importance of COO changes if additional quality cues are available for the consumer. Results lend support for the relevance of COO effects for services and provide useful implications for ways to utilize COO effects in international services marketing.

Die Bedeutung von Vertrauen für die Interaktionsbeziehungen zwischen Dienstleistungsanbietern und -nachfragern

In der Okonomie beschaftigt man sich seit geraumer Zeit mit der Bedeutung von Vertrauen fur die Prozesse innerhalb und zwischen Unternehmungen einerseits und zwischen den Kunden und dem Unternehmen andererseits (Albach 1980, S. 2ff.). Im Hinblick auf die Beziehung zum Kunden titulierte bspw. Hans Domizlaff schon 1951 sein wohl bekanntestes Buch “Die Gewinnung des offentlichen Vertrauens” und erhob damit das offentliche Vertrauen zur zentralen Zielkategorie der Markentechnik. Heute erlebt der Vertrauensbegriff im Zuge der Diskussion des Relationship Marketing an Bedeutung.

Relationship Management im Beziehungsnetz zwischen Hersteller, Händler und Verbraucher

Die Entwicklungen der letzten Jahre, allen voran die digitale Revolution, haben der Fachwelt des Marketing und des Handels, Praktikern ebenso wie Theoretikern, Studierenden wie Beratern, eine - vorsichtig ausgedruckt — unubersichtliche Flut neuer Begriffe und Heilslehren beschert (vgl. Abb. 1-1). Sie sind Gegenstand unzahliger Publikationen, wie auch der vorliegenden, und unzahliger Kongresse.

Das Multikanalphänomen — viele Wege führen zum Kunden

„Wir mussen dort verkaufen, wo die Verbraucher sind“.1 Das Zitat des ehemaligen Nestle-Deutschland-Chefs Hans G. Guldenberg beschreibt treffend den derzeitigen Entwicklungsstand der Absatzkanale deutscher Handels-und Industrieunternehmungen. Wahrend in den vergangenen Jahren eine Konzentration auf die Grosflachen die grosten Umsatz-und Ertragszuwachse ermoglichte, gewinnen heute alternative Vertriebswege neben den etablierten, klassischen Vertriebswegen zunehmend an Bedeutung.2 Dazu gehoren neben den von Guldenberg angesprochenen Vertriebswegen, wie Fusballstadien und Kinos, auch und insbesondere solche Vertriebswege, die durch die technologischen Fortschritte der letzten Jahre ermoglicht wurden. Allen voran ist hier das Internet als zusatzlicher Vertriebskanal zu nennen.

Das Handelsunternehmen als Marke

In den letzten Jahren hat das Markenkonzept im institutionellen Handel eine erhebliche Aufwertung erfahren (vgl. Ahlert/Kenning/Schneider, 2000; Esch/Wicke, 1999, S. 34). Gros angelegte Kampagnen der Firmen OBI, Karstadt, Media Markt und Saturn — um nur einige zu nennen — zeigen deutlich, dass viele Handler das Thema Marke auf der Agenda haben. Ein Indikator hierfur mogen auch die deutlich gestiegenen Kommunikationsaufwendungen des Handels sein (vgl. o. V., 2003 d).

The Impact of Country-of-Origin and Joy on Product Evaluation: A Comparison of Chinese and German Intimate Apparel

Abstract Consumer’s differentiated perception and appraisal of a product’s country-of-origin (COO) exerts large influence on perception of the COO-image (COI) and on the perceived product quality. At peripheral information processing COO-Image (COI) provides a basis to ease requirements for information processing in form of heuristics. Most of internationalization literature examines the COO effect with respect to high-involvement products and in context of cognitive processing. However studies from Maheswaran and Chen (2006) point out, that besides cognitive influences, also specific emotions impact on COO-effects. Whereas the influence of negative emotions like anger, sadness or frustration on processing and judgments could be exposed, the issue of positive emotions’ impact still stays open. Since the question should be answered, if emotions impact on COO-Effects, it is emphasized to focus on COO as an affective heuristic operating as a “halo” effect on attitudes towards a product. Because both marketing and evolutionary theories of emotion act on the assumption of satisfaction of human needs, latter is specified, describing emotions as complex chains of events with stabilizing feedback loops. Particularly, in the context of impulsive purchasing emotion plays a vital role. Impulsive buyers are more emotionalized, experiencing more enthusiasm, joy, and glee than nonbuyers. Thus “joy” leads to impulsive decision making behavior. Drawing on the extant literature, we develop our conceptual framework to analyze whether, and if so, how positive emotions (such as joy) affect the impact of COO on product evaluation. Based on an experimental study including 130 respondents, we test three hypotheses: whether the COO has an impact on product evaluation (H1), whether the positive emotion of joy has a stronger positive influence on product evaluation than neutral emotional states (H2), and whether the positive emotion of joy reduces the positive relationship of COO on product evaluation (H3). In the experimental design, it is hypothesized that the latent variable Emotion impacts on the latent variable COI and in addition that these latent variables, both influence beliefs towards the product in terms of a halo effect. Latent variables in each case get measured with manifested variables in form of validated scales. Cause-and-effect relations are revealed in an experiment concerning a factorial test arrangement with a 2x2 factor design, consisting of two COOs (China vs. Germany) and two emotional states (joy vs. neutral state). Complex pictures from International Affective Picture System state standardized stimuli obtaining specific emotions. The apparel industry serves as the product category used in the experiment because impulsive buying behavior is quite common in this product category. Moreover, we chose women as respondents because they rather purchase for emotional and relationship-oriented reasons. Products get labeled with woven tags and tags at clothes hangers manipulating COO. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) can be counted among the most important analysis methods in marketing research and is used for analysis, with emotional state and COO being the independent variables and product evaluation as the dependent variable. Prior to probing hypothesized assumptions a manipulation check concerning induced emotions was successful. Participants primed with the joyful IAPS checked a significantly higher percentage of positive adjectives than respondents primed with the neutral IAPS (joyful=.76, neutral =.61; F=7.59, p<.001). Also the used scale of Product Evaluation could be validated by confirmatory factor analysis. The main effect of emotion is highly significant for product evaluation. Following Cohen (1988), the strength of the effects is large (η2 = 10.8%). Product evaluation is influenced by a highly significant interaction effect (Emotion * COO, EtaSquare: 6.2%). COO has a significant influence on product evaluation giving support for H1. Furthermore respondents in a joyful state evaluate the product significantly better than respondents in a neutral state (MVJoy=4.89 vs. MVNeutral=4.33, F=11.359, p<.001). This finding confirms our hypothesis H2. Since the product evaluation is influenced by an interaction effect, the impact of COO must be analyzed in both cases for (1) joy and (2) neutral state. In a neutral emotional state respondents evaluate products of German origin (MV=4.73) significantly better compared to a Chinese COO (MV=3.94). In contrast to this, COO does not affect product evaluation when the respondent is in a joyful mood: The Chinese product (MV=4.89) is evaluated better than the German product (MV= 4.87). However, the difference is not statistically significant. This finding confirms hypothesis H3. This survey increases acknowledgement concerning emotional impacts on perception of COO serving as affective heuristic, because during induction of joyful emotional states a tendency towards an alleviated COO-Effect is demonstrated. Thus emotion impacts on perception of COO information at such a rate that poor COIs can be valorized, while beneficial domestic COIs rather level off. Insights for retailers and manufacturers’ brand management are that they should pay attention to consumer’s emotional state while developing foreign markets. They have to continually encourage consumers’ positive emotion through store design, product displays, package designs and sales in order to valorize poor COIs. Contrariwise brand management from manufacturers offering brands, featuring beneficial COIs should mind that encouraging consumers’ positive emotions by recommended actions, impacts on apparel featuring poor COIs in superior manner.