George D. Deitz

Direct-to-Consumer Advertising: Exposure, Behavior, and Policy Implications

This research investigates the influence that the proliferation of prescription drug advertising has on consumers’ purchase decisions by evaluating how direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) awareness influences the acquisition of the prescription erectile dysfunction (ED) drug Viagra. The authors’ purpose is to determine whether familiarity with DTCA influences the likelihood that consumers will try to obtain Viagra with and/or without a prescription while considering demographic, individual trait, and attitudinal factors. Their results indicate that a significant relationship exists between awareness and acquisition of the drug. They find that respondent familiarity with DTCA is positively associated with the likelihood of having ordered Viagra, indicating that DTCA does play a role in prompting men to seek medical advice. Despite controversy over the appropriateness of sexual themes depicted in ED advertisements, it seems that the use of DTCA for ED drugs has helped many men feel more comfortable in discussing sexual impotence with their physicians. Thus, the authors’ findings provide support for DTCA advocates who promote drug advertising as an important information resource that helps guide responsible consumer decision making. Moreover, the results uncover two individual difference variables that promoted Viagra use without medical consent, indicating a need to identify potentially vulnerable populations relevant to individual brands or therapeutic classes of drugs. Although the studys results and findings are limited to a single therapeutic class, they provide general policy implications and directions for extension of the research.

The Role of Corporate Image for Quality in the Formation of Attitudinal Service Loyalty

Drawing from signaling theory, this study investigates the processes through which corporate image (CI) for quality affects attitudinal loyalty. The research hypotheses are examined using data from a cross-sectional survey and two scenario-based experiments. Overall, findings across these three studies suggest that the effects of CI upon loyalty are channeled through customer satisfaction and perceived value. The effects of CI on perceived value and loyalty are stronger relative to the effects of employee interaction quality (IQ) when IQ is measured as an overall evaluation. However, when employee IQ is measured in reference to a specific service encounter, it becomes a stronger driver of perceived value and loyalty relative to CI. Regardless of the context of measurement (i.e., overall evaluation vs. a specific service encounter), employee IQ exerts a stronger influence on customer satisfaction than CI. CI negatively moderates the effect of employee IQ on customer satisfaction and loyalty, rendering the effect of employee IQ upon customer evaluations less critical for service providers with stronger CIs. The findings highlight the relevance and importance of CI as a signal of unobservable quality, which should be measured and closely monitored by management. Managers should also recognize the central role of customer satisfaction, especially in channeling the effects of IQ upon loyalty, and therefore, design policies that enhance frontline employee ability and motivation to deliver satisfying customer experiences.

Taxonomy of service-based loyalty program members

Purpose – This study aims to present a taxonomic framework that categorizes hotel loyalty program members on the basis of involvement and a mix of behavioral outcome variables.Design/methodology/approach – The taxonomy is derived through mixture modeling from a sample of 1,395 loyalty program members of two global hotel chains.Findings – Study results suggest the presence of four classes of program members across both hotels. Class members differ with respect to the attitudes they hold, the behaviors they exhibit, and the motivations they have for maintaining membership in the program.Practical implications – First, the study enhances understanding of member differences that exist within loyalty programs. Second, the study advances understanding of the ways through which loyalty programs can best be managed. Third, the study illustrates the usefulness of mixture modeling as a classificatory tool.Research limitations/implications – Study results are not generalizable beyond the sample used in deriving them...

Coerced Integration: The Effects of Retailer Supply Chain Technology Mandates On Supplier Stock Returns

Purpose – Over the past decade, channels researchers have devoted considerable attention to a potential shift in the balance of power in retailer‐manufacturer relationships. At the same time, a burgeoning body of supply chain research, largely overlooked by marketing researchers, has emerged promoting the benefits of cooperation in technology‐enabled supply chain integration. This study aims to investigate the confluence of these streams. Specifically it aims to consider the effects of retailer supply chain technology mandates on supplier financial performance. Design/methodology/approach – The design and method is a secondary data event analysis including cross‐sectional regression analysis. Findings – The event analysis findings indicate suppliers affected by Wal‐Marts 2003 RFID mandate experienced net gains in abnormal stock returns. Subsequent cross‐sectional regression analysis show abnormal returns were stronger for suppliers with greater cash flow and for more dependent suppliers. Practical implications – Study results suggested firms with stronger cash flows are better able to absorb the unexpected costs of complying with the retailer mandate. Additionally, the findings indicate mandate‐associated positive abnormal returns were more pronounced for suppliers with a larger percentage of sales through the Wal‐Mart channel. This means that a dependent supplier that follow technology mandates by power retailers will potentially receive above average stock returns. Originality/value – This paper is believed to be the first to address the impact of technology mandates in the supply chain.

Programme-ad congruence: integrating advertising and entertainment

This investigation builds on previous research streams to introduce a new concept – programme–ad congruence – into advertising research. Programme–ad congruence is defined as the integration of the entertainment into the advertisement. This research identifies three specific types of congruence (actor congruence – matching the people; plot congruence – matching the situations; and language congruence – matching the verbal elements) and uses experimental design to test viewer response in three separate studies. Results indicate an overall effect of programme–ad congruence and demonstrate that each type of programme–ad congruence has a significant effect on consumer response. Moreover, involvement was found to mediate the effect of congruence, indicating it may play a significant role in the process by increasing the personal relevance of the advertisement. Implications are provided.

The Benefits of Sales Force Automation (SFA): An Empirical Examination of SFA Usage on Relationship Quality and Performance

Sales force automation (SFA) technologies are commonly used to support customer relationship strategies in firms across industries around the world today. However, research reports mixed results among companies incorporating SFA technologies, and there remains some debate in the literature about the specific benefits provided through these systems. Therefore, this study seeks to expand researchers’ understanding of the relative benefits of SFA usage on both customer relationship quality and job performance. The findings highlight the mediating roles of market learning, customer orientation, and relationship quality on the SFA usage–performance relationship. Managerial and theoretical implications are discussed and future research directions provided.

Correlates of customer loyalty to financial institutions: a case study

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to investigate the relative efficacies of intrinsic and extrinsic cues as drivers of customer loyalty to financial institutions between male and female bank customers. Design/methodology/approach – A large-scale survey of 872 customers of a national bank serves as the study setting. Findings – Results showed that extrinsic cues were the more effective correlates of customer loyalty and that gender does not moderate the relationships between image cues and customer loyalty. Research limitations/implications – The cross-sectional nature of the current study does not allow causal inferences. Therefore, future studies should adopt longitudinal designs. Practical implications – Results suggest that, although transmitting a favorable image through extrinsic cues is critical, nevertheless, intrinsic cues (interactions among customers and bank personnel) should not be ignored. To reinforce this not only among current customers but also among potential customers, banks should...

The face of contagion: consumer response to service failure depiction in online reviews

Online consumer reviews (OCRs) have emerged as a particularly important type of user-generated information about a brand because of their widespread adoption and influence on consumer decision-making. Much of the existing OCR research focuses on quantifiable OCR features such as star ratings and volume. More research that examines the influence of review elements, aside from numeric ratings, such as the verbatim text, particularly in services contexts is needed. The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of service failures on consumer arousal and emotions.,The authors present three behavioral experiments that manipulate service failure and linguistic elements of OCRs by using galvanic skin response, survey measures and automated facial expression analysis.,Negative OCRs lead to the greatest levels of arousal when consumers read OCRs. Service failure severity impacts anger, and referential cohesion, an observable property of text that helps a reader better understand ideas in the text, negatively moderates the relationship between service failure severity and anger.,The authors are among the first to empirically test the effect of emotional contagion in a user-generated content context, demonstrating that it can occur when consumers read such content, even if they did not experience the events being described. The research uses a self-report and physiological measures to assess consumer perceptions, arousal and emotions related to service failures, increasing the robustness of the literature. These findings contribute to the marketing literature on OCRs in service failures, physiological measures of consumers’ emotions, the negativity bias and emotional contagion in a user-generated content context.

A Strategic Choice Theory Taxonomy of Retailers’ Strategic Orientations

Grounded in strategic choice theory and employing a latent class analysis model of 371 retailers, this study provides a classification of retailer strategic orientations so that the retailers’ choice of cooperation levels and ultimately their growth performance can be assessed by their suppliers. The results suggest three major classes of retailers based on their strategic orientations: premium, hybrid, and emergent classes. The outcome of this study guides the supplier partners of retailers in developing and maintaining various levels of cooperative relationships based on uniqueresource needs and expectations of each retailer strategic group.

Risks, Benefits, and Competitive Interference: Consumer Perceptions of Prescription Drug Versus Dietary Supplement Advertising

ABSTRACT Direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA) of prescription drugs has been a controversial topic ever since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) modified the advertising regulations for such products. The controversy generally surrounds the risk/benefit ratio and whether or not the practice helps or hurts consumers. Consumers often have nonpharmaceutical options that purportedly solve similar problems as prescription drugs. These may include a class of products labeled “dietary supplements.” Supplements are a distinct product category, and advertisements for these products are not held to the same regulatory standards as prescription drugs. The current research begins by outlining the regulatory standards for both prescription drugs and dietary supplements. We then focus on one particular category (erectile dysfunction) of drugs to determine how consumers perceive the risks and benefits provided in the advertising. This research also investigates the potential influence of competitive interference in advertising on consumer perceptions. Results indicate that male consumers do perceive the risks associated with the use of a prescription drug (Viagra). Moreover, findings suggest that competitive interference may play a role in consumer perceptions of the prescription drug and the dietary supplement. Implications are discussed and future research directions are offered.