Douglas J. Lincoln

Ethical beliefs and personal values of top level executives

Abstract Do business executives sell their souls to the corporation? Is the organization a “paramour” in an executives life? Is backstabbing the only way to climb the corporate ladder? The basic purpose of this study was to provide answers to these questions by surveying Fortune 500 corporate executives in the marketing, finance, and production areas. The findings are interesting as various executives exhibited different behavior regarding three types of ethical concern.

The purchase of components: Functional areas of influence

Abstract The Webster and Wind model of organizational buyer behavior enjoys considerable popularity. However, not all of its constructs and relationships among constructs have been validated by empirical research. The purpose of this study was to provide empirical evidence concerning the relationships between three of the models critical constructs: buying center membership, purchase situation, and purchase phase. The relationships studied were variations in the perceived relative influence of different functional areas (e.g., production, marketing, purchasing, etc.) across three purchase situations and four purchase phases. The results of the study clearly indicate that the functional areas are generally perceived to have varying amounts of influence across both the purchase situation and purchase phase. These results have specific implications for developing effective industrial marketing strategies.

Marketing Educator Internet Adoption in 1998 versus 2000: Significant Progress and Remaining Obstacles

Two separate surveys were conducted over a 2-year period to gauge how marketing educators’ use of the Internet changed between 1998 and 2000. Respondents were found to have made significant strides in their adoption of electronic technology and appeared satisfied with their efforts. While most were not expected by their institutions to have Web sites, many did so out of personal motivation. Both those with and without administrative duties see the same significant obstacles to increased adoption: time to learn, execute, and maintain faculty Web sites. Despite the use of Marketing Educators’ Association members as the sample frame, study findings provide an excellent benchmark on which individual marketing faculty and administrators can gauge their own efforts and design future plans.

Systems theory approach to conducting industrial marketing research

Abstract Two decades ago, leading marketing academicians called for the application of systems theory to marketing study (Fisk, 1967; Lazer and Kelly, 1962). Since then, few researchers have applied an open-systems level of analysis to the study of industrial marketing. While a few researchers have started moving in this direction (Spekman, 1977; Spekman and Stern, 1979), integration of open-systems concepts holds tremendous further potential as a research agenda in industrial marketing. The purpose here is to demonstrate how such an open-systems approach should and can be used in order to conduct productive research within the industrial- marketing setting. An empirical example of this approach is presented as well as the theoretical basis for the approach. This approach has considerable merit for basic or theory building, as well as for applied-research motive.

Choice Criteria Model for Selecting Live-case Marketing Research Class Projects

This article provides a two-stage model for selecting clients for live-case marketing research class projects. After research design requirements have been met, the impor tance and probability of benefit to students, clients, instructors and the institution can be calculated to derive a weighted expected value score for potential projects. Ex amples are evaluated.

How Different Buying Center Members Influence Different Purchasing Phases

This research examined both the composition of the buying center and the variation in the relative influence of those members throughout purchase phases. The results indicated that variation in relative influence of several buying center members was significantly related to the purchase phase. The results have important implications for the development of effective marketing strategies.

Developing Alternative Retail Marketing Strategies: An Evolutionary Orientation

This paper maintains that there are four key retail marketing strategies. These are: mass retailing, differentiating, segmenting and positioning. Positioning is considered to be one of the most widespread retailing strategies. At the present time it is only gaining momentum. It is likely to follow the patterns product marketing has been setting. Product marketing strategies have included positioning as one of the key alternatives for a decade or so. It is maintained that retailing follows product marketing strategies with a time lag of 5 to 10 years.

Contrasting Customer Preceived Store Image with Management’s Self Perception: A Diagnostic Approach

Recent work indicates the desirability of studying managers’ store image as well as their customers’ store image. There has also been interest in using multiattribute models instead of the semantic differential approach to measuring store image. This paper reports on the usefulness of the multiattribute approach in assessing possible differences between the customer perceived store image and management’s self perceived store image.

Selecting Live-Case Projects for the Advertising Class

Marketing educators increasingly use live-case projects in their course in order to provide a more meaningful learning experience. However, the use of such live-cases can provide several undesirable side effects. The purpose of this paper is to provide a decision framework for effectively incorporating live-case projects into the advertising class.