George R. Milne

Trust and concern in consumers' perceptions of marketing information management practices

Abstract This research examines two constructs, consumers’ trust and concern, in information management practices. The authors present empirical evidence from a national consumer survey that suggests improving trust and reducing concerns are two distinct approaches to managing consumer information. Contrary to existing self-regulation efforts, the authors argue that when managing consumer information, the improvement of trust is more effective than efforts to reduce concern.

Gender Differences in Privacy-Related Measures for Young Adult Facebook Users

ABSTRACT This study examines gender differences in young adults’ privacy beliefs, their reactions to behavioral advertising, personal information-sharing behaviors, and privacy protection behaviors on social networks. This investigation uses a large-scale survey of college students based on a social networked sampling technique facilitated through a Facebook group. Results reveal several gender differences in these areas. Third-party data usage beyond the original purpose and behavioral advertising techniques are of concern to both genders but more to women. In addition, women engage in noticeably more proactive privacy protection behavior compared with a decade ago. The authors conclude with a discussion of implications for behavioral advertising.

Consumer Privacy and Name Removal Across Direct Marketing Channels: Exploring Opt-In and Opt-Out Alternatives

The authors examine consumer perspectives of data collection awareness and knowledge of name removal mechanisms, such as opt in and opt out, across mail, telephone, and Internet direct channels. The authors investigate consumer privacy states based on the fair information practices of notice (data collection awareness) and choice (knowledge of name removal mechanisms). Data from a national survey suggest that name removal preference varies by channel, consumer privacy state, channel-specific purchase experience, and consumer demographics. Empirical support is also found for alternative approaches (i.e., opt-in methods) for removing personal information from direct marketing lists.

Privacy and Ethical Issues in Database/Interactive Marketing and Public Policy: A Research Framework and Overview of the Special Issue

Privacy is a high-profile public policy issue that affects consumers and marketers. The emergence of online marketing brings new privacy concerns that have resulted in Federal Trade Commission scrutiny and review. At the same time, industry groups and associations have been active in self-regulation efforts. To highlight areas in which marketing researchers can add value to the public policy discussion on privacy, the author provides a research framework that highlights four aspects of information exchange between marketers and consumers. The author argues that improving exchange mechanisms will provide consumers with more control and the ability to make more informed trade-offs of personal information for benefits. Within this framework, the author provides an overview of the articles in this special issue and suggests avenues for further research.

Just what the doctor ordered: The role of information sensitivity and trust in reducing medical information privacy concern

This paper examines consumer concern regarding the collection and use of personal medical information. The authors investigate consumer concern in the context of information sensitivity and consumer trust in the organization involved in the collection and/or use of personal information. Data from a national survey suggest that consumers are most concerned with the collection and use of personal medical information, such as medical history or medical records. The data also indicate that consumers are less concerned with certain retail organizations involved in healthcare delivery (i.e., drug stores and grocery stores) using personal information in their marketing efforts, as compared with other organizations such as insurance firms, employers, and political organizations.

An approach for identifying cannibalization within product line extensions and multi-brand strategies

Abstract For decades, a common strategy of firms has been to offer multiple brands and/or brand variants which compete within the same product category. In many categories, dozens or even hundreds of brands are produced by a few dominant firms. Recently, however, manufacturers, retailers, and consumers are increasingly concerned about product proliferation and parity products. Constraints on retail shelf space and manufacturing considerations are examples of pressures leading firms to prune items from their product lines. When reviewing strategy and performance, a critical issue is cannibalization, or the extent to which one products customers are at the expense of other products offered by the same firm. With the exception of new product models, there is little research on cannibalization. In this paper, we propose an approach for identifying cannibalization in mature markets. We empirically illustrate our approach for the cigarette market with 188 brands and brand variants.

Spreading the word through likes on Facebook: Evaluating the message strategy effectiveness of Fortune 500 companies

Purpose – This research aims to investigate the message strategies most likely to promote online “word-of-mouth” (WOM) activity for business-to-business (B2B)/business-to-consumer as well as product/service Facebook accounts. Design/methodology/approach – Using content analysis and HLM, the authors measure the relationship between three types of message strategies and Facebook message “Likes” by analyzing 1,143 wall post messages of 193 Fortune 500 Facebook accounts. Findings – Research findings suggest that B2B Facebook account posts are more effective if they include corporate brand names and avoid “hard sell” or explicitly commercial statements. Furthermore, results suggest that including emotional sentiments in Facebook posts is a particularly effective social media strategy for B2B and service marketers. Originality/value – This study advances the knowledge of social media and online WOM behavior, as well as B2B and service advertising/communication literature, by relating message content to message ...

A mixed-method approach to examining brand-consumer interactions driven by social media

Purpose – Online social media are dramatically changing the ways in which firms and their consumers interact. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter among younger consumers (“digital natives”) in their interactions with brands. To investigate this, the authors conduct a mixed-method study including latent class analysis (LCA) to examine the role of social media among younger consumers (referred to as “digital natives”) in their interactions with brands. Design/methodology/approach – A mixed-method approach including both qualitative analysis and LCA was used to analyze daily interactions between consumers and specific brands across two primary social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter). Data were collected by means of a social media platforms (Facebook and Twitter). Data were collected by means of a social media diary collected over a one-week period. Findings – The findings from this study suggest that brand-consumer interactions driven ...

Toward a Framework for Assessing Covert Marketing Practices

In an effort to make the marketing process seamless and more efficient, marketers are surreptitiously and inextricably coupling information gathering and marketing. To understand the welfare implications of these practices better, this essay extends the conceptualization of covert marketing to include both information gathering and marketing communications. The authors present a multistage exchange framework that helps identify factors affecting marketer and consumer welfare when covert practices are used. They use the framework to discuss the benefits and harms related to these types of covert marketing practices as well as consumer reactions to such practices.

The use of online marketplaces for competitive advantage: a Latin American perspective

The promise of B2B e‐commerce had led to an explosion in the number of e‐marketplaces as firms adopted a “launch and learn” strategy. However a cash crisis and continuing losses led to tremendous consolidation in these marketplaces. This scenario was mirrored in Latin America too. With the growing importance of B2B e‐commerce worldwide, Latin American firms cannot ignore the competitive advantages that accrue by employing the Internet into their strategies. This paper presents a variety of decision models that small and medium enterprises can employ to integrate the Internet into their business decisions and thereby remain competitive.