Fred W. Morgan

Services in Society and Academic Thought: An Historical Analysis

This article traces the development of economic activity and the sociopolitical, philosophical, and scientific agenda from which the present goods-centered paradigm of marketing emanated. The authors suggest that the services-centered model of exchange, abandoned during this development, is more appropriate for the advancement of the understanding of exchange relationships.

The Job Characteristics of Industrial Salespersons: Relationship to Motivation and Satisfaction

The job characteristics model of worker motivation has been applied in many organizational settings. An empirical application of this model to the industrial sales position is presented in this art...

Managing trade promotions in the context of market power

The use of trade promotions as a channel-programming tool has increased substantially in the past decade. In focusing on the tactical implications of trade promotions, some firms appear to have underestimated the tendency of poorly planned trade promotions to interfere with the implementation of a marketing strategy. In this article, the authors examine the complex issue of trade promotion use from both long-term and short-term perspectives. Different trade promotions can produce dissimilar types of channel cooperation, consumer responses, and postpromotion channel member behavior, resulting in differences in distribution-programming preferences between suppliers and retailers. The authors argue that the adjudication of these different preference structures is addressed through the market power of the channel participants. Based on an assessment of these channel relationships, an approach for suggested courses of action is forwarded.

Adaptive Selling-Insights from Social Cognition

Based upon considerable evidence reported and discussed in the social cognition literature, it is quite probable that there are many basic perception and information use problems surfacing during a sales interaction. These problems basically stem from the manner in which the prior expectations individuals hold affect reactions to newly presented information or situations. Until now, only the facilitative aspects of this knowledge have been recognized, primarily within the context of the adaptive selling framework. Given the view of limited and biased cognition present in the social cognition literature, several implications need to be considered. The views expressed present a necessary supplement to the adaptive selling framework, and several practical and research issues are identified.

Legal Dimensions of Salespersons' Statements: A Review and Managerial Suggestions

Salespeople can generate liability problems for their organizations through both intentional and inadvertent statements, yet the sales management and personal selling literature has not provided adequate discussion of these problems. The authors describe the various ways salespeople initiate such liability and include specific advice for sales managers interested in guiding salesperson behavior.

Marketing and Product Liability: A Review and Update

Product liability developments have been widely discussed but often with differing views regarding their impact on companies. This article reviews this debate from a marketing perspective by analyzing relevant insurance industry data and case law decisions. Conclusions drawn from the analysis as well as their implications for marketing managers are presented.

Extending the Marriage Metaphor as a Way to View Marketing Relationships

ABSTRACT Relationships lie at the center of many marketing activities, and in certain cases are a central focus of a firms marketing strategy. This review further develops the use of marriage as a useful metaphor for understanding many marketing relationships. Specific attention is given to the nature of a marriage relationship and to the critical transitions and different trajectories that define marriages. Dwyer, Schurr and Oh (1987) point out that far too little is known about these aspects of marketing relationships. We provide a complementary perspective on the issues that will help relationships survive and prosper. Drawing upon work in the area of marriage and family studies, we introduce several aspects of relationship trajectory and discuss implications for marketing conduct and scholarly research.

The evolution of first amendment protection for commercial speech

During the past 15 years, the U.S. Supreme Court has used Central Hudson Gas v. Public Service Commission (1980) to expand significantly the power of the government at all levels to regulate advert...

Informal group influence among situationally/dispositionally-oriented consumers

Consumer susceptibility to reference group influence has been demonstrated for certain products and buying situations. This article reports a study designed to determine if reference group influence varies between consumers classified as situationally-oriented and dispositionally-oriented. Results indicate a considerable difference between the two groups.

Marketing cost controls: A survey of industry practices

Abstract The use of marketing control systems is examined across a variety of industries. Survey results indicate that, for those companies that attempt to identify problem areas, few actually proceed to determine specific causes of the problem.