Fred Miller

Word‐of‐mouth communication in the service marketplace

Word‐of‐mouth communication (WOM) is a dominant force in the marketplace for services. However, the current body of research provides little insight into the nature of WOM in the service marketplace. Reports the results of a content‐analytic study that provides insight into WOM’s content and the catalysts by which it is stimulated. The goal was to capture a series of “grounded events” from which broader patterns could be discerned. These grounded events were actual incidents of WOM as described by the recipients of a communication. Three content categories and ten catalyst categories are identified. Implications for managers are addressed.

Developing Information Technology Skills in the Marketing Curriculum

Advances in technology have opened new avenues by which students can gather marketing information. The new technology-based sources include on-line computer databases, CD ROM databases, and the INTERNET. Research conducted in one Marketing department suggests that students consider these technology-based sources to be important to business professionals but attach a relatively low rating to their skills at acquiring information through these sources. Suggestions for incorporating technology-based information sources into the marketing curriculum constitute the primary focus of the article. Specific attention is given to courses that are common to most marketing curriculums (Principles of Marketing, Consumer Behavior, Marketing Research, Marketing Management, and Global Marketing).

The Current Status of Outcomes Assessment in Marketing Education

Under pressure for accountability and in pursuit of valid measures of their performance, institutions of higher education are examining outcomes assessment as a means of program and institutional evaluation. Through a survey of chairs of marketing departments, this study explores the current status of outcomes assessment in marketing education in universities in the United States. It examines attitudes toward several potential measures of educational outcomes as well as current and anticipated collection patterns for these measures.

Integrating the Personal Computer into the Marketing Curriculum: A Programmatic Outline:

The rapid growth in the use of personal computers among practitioners and teachers of marketing offers a significant opportunity to improve marketing education. To capitalize on this opportunity, marketing departments must integrate personal computing activities into their curricula. This article discusses the benefits of this process and proposes a model to achieve the necessary integration.

Integrating Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Applications Into Business Courses Using Online Business Geographics Modules

Although the value of geographic information systems (GIS) technologies is recognized by practitioners and educators alike, GIS instruction has yet to make significant inroads into business curricula. In this article, the authors discuss the constraints of integrating GIS tools into business education. They develop a prototype module for overcoming these constraints and discuss a retail site selection module and its implementation in a retail management course. Faculty and student evaluations of this exercise serve as the basis for assessment of this approach and recommendations for future development of GIS instruction in business education.

Building the Technology Toolkit of Marketing Students: The Emerging Technologies in Marketing Initiative

New information technologies are transforming marketing practice, leading to calls for marketing academics to focus their research and teaching more tightly on areas relevant to practitioners. Developments in e-commerce, business geographic information systems (GIS), and social media offer powerful marketing tools to nontechnical users. This paper describes one departments effort to integrate these tools through an Emerging Technologies in Marketing Initiative spanning several marketing courses. It describes the development, underlying principles, pedagogical content, and academic structure of the Initiative. The paper also evaluates the performance of the Initiative and discusses the potential for and difficulties of replicating it at other institutions.

Using a Gis in Market Analysis for a Tourism‐Dependent Retailer in the Pocono Mountains

The role of Geographic Information System (GIS) technology in retail market area analysis and site selection is well established. Though approaches range from simple rings to complex multivariate models of customer loyalty patterns, they share the common understanding that market areas for retailers are relatively compact geographically. This assumption is much less appropriate for retail operations in tourist destinations, where stores rely heavily on visitors to the area who spend most of the year far removed from the retailers location. Though location is still an important factor for such retailers, market area analysis based on geographic proximity is not as useful. However, GIS tools can still play a major role in market analysis for tourism‐dependent retailers. This study uses Pocono Mountain Treasures, a hypothetical retailer in Pennsylvania, to describe how a GIS application, Environmental Systems Research Institutes (ESRI) ArcGIS 9.2 system, can be used to help tourist‐dependent retailers serve existing customers more effectively and to target prospective new customers more precisely.

Test Frequency, Student Performance and Teacher Evaluation in the Basic Marketing Class:

This article describes a study of test frequency in the basic marketing class. An increase from four to six exams per semester produced significant improvement in student performance. Improvement in the lowest quartile of the class was greater than in the highest. Student perception of teacher performance also improved significantly. The article considers alternative explanations of these results.

Integrating Geographic Information Systems (GIS) into the Marketing Curriculum

Though spatial information is of vital importance in a wide variety of marketing decisions, geographic information systems (GIS) applications are not well integrated into the marketing curriculum. Such integration faces a serious array of financial, training, faculty, technical and resource constraints. The collection of GIS modules described in this paper is a set of course-specific instructional tools that are designed for use across the marketing curriculum. Each module enables students to engage in hands-on GIS analysis that is directly related to content in the relevant course. Over the course of their academic program, students using the modules build a solid portfolio of basic GIS skills as well as an understanding of more extensive applications of the technology.

Development of and Student Reactions to an International Accounting GIS Case Problem

A geographic information system (GIS) is an information technology tool which supports presentation, analysis and communication of the geospatial dimension of data. GIS tools have made significant contributions to decision making in marketing, finance, accounting and business intelligence. Business educators can help their students by using teaching resources that facilitate understanding and application of these powerful tools in online configurations similar to situations that graduates may encounter in their careers. This paper describes an international accounting GIS case, which was one module in a series of business GIS instructional modules. In addition, the paper provides feedback from students regarding the perceived benefits of using the case. Findings indicate that the international accounting GIS case is well received by students and contributes to student learning. Instructor notes are provided that include answers to the case questions.