Guijun Zhuang

Interlinear or inscription? A comparative study of Chinese and American mall shoppers’ behavior

This study compares the mall shopping behavior of Chinese and US consumers. Marked differences wee found between the two populations in their shopping motives, criteria for selecting the mall, and shopping behaviors. Unlike US shoppers, who visited the mall with diverse reasons, Chinese mall visits were driven, first and foremost, by purchase. However, Chinese shoppers were cautious about spending and less likely to make purchases during their shopping trip. More importantly, they were more immune to situational factors in their purchase decisions than their US counterparts. The paper also discusses marketing implications of these findings and future research directions.

Deterrence or Conflict Spiral Effect? Exercise of Coercive Power in Marketing Channels: Evidence from China

Purpose: The article aims to test the appropriateness of deterrence and conflict spiral models in marketing channels. Both models have been alternatively used as bases to explain firms’ power-related behaviors in marketing channels. However, the issue of the appropriateness of such an application in various contexts has not yet been addressed. Methodology/approach: The authors develop the hypotheses based on deterrence theory and their alternatives based on conflict spiral theory. They gather data from 204 sales representatives of suppliers in China and use linear regression analysis to test their hypotheses versus alternatives. Empirical findings: The data analysis offers supportive evidence for the deterrence logic but with unexpected results. By elaborating on the empirical results, the original assumption of deterrence theory, and the nature of interfirm relationship in marketing channels, the authors modify the deterrence model for research on power related-behaviors in the given context. The analysis implies a possible explanation for inconsistent findings in the literature regarding exercises of coercive power. Originality/value/contribution: This article proposes a revised deterrence model that can interpret the empirical results with a consistent logic and better predict power-related behaviors in marketing channels. Research limitations/implications: The research results may lack generalizability with respect to channel type and culture. It does not directly test the cognitive mechanisms that mediate the impact of power on its exercise. Researchers are encouraged to directly test the mediating constructs in other channels or countries. Practical implications: The article includes some insights and implications for managers in understanding power structure and implementing influence strategies in business-to-business marketing.

Scale economies of department stores in the People's Republic of China

This paper statistically tested three hypotheses about relationships between the size and efficiency of department stores in the Peoples Republic of China. The results show that the enlargement of the size of stores in China had a positive impact on the efficiency of large and medium-sized department stores, and that these department stores derived their economies of scale from cost savings rather than from an increase of the average transaction size.

The Impact of Buyers on Salespersons' Ethical Judgment and Behavioral Intention to Practice Gray Marketing

ABSTRACT The purpose of this article is to explore how the behavior of buyers in business-to-business markets influences the behavior of salespeople toward gray marketing practices. With the salespersons as participants, the authors examine the impact of two buyers’ factors—buyers’ asking for gray benefits and order size—on salespersons’ ethical evaluation of, and behavioral intention to practice, gray marketing. We found that buyers’ asking for gray benefits and offering bigger orders have negative impacts on salespersons’ perceived unethicalness of gray marketing, which in turn increases their behavioral intention to practice gray marketing. We also found that these two factors have a direct and indirect impact on salespersons’ behavioral intention to practice gray marketing.

Inquiry and Review of Dependence in Marketing Channels: An Economics of Exchange Approach

This article extends the economics of exchange for bilateral monopolists to more general situations in marketing channels, that is, exchange between two members with alternatives, by incorporating insights drawn from power-dependence theory, interdependence theory, and the concept of switching cost. It proposes a framework of three factors of channel dependence and reviews the literature on the operationalizations of channel dependence based on the framework. This study concludes that the approaches used by channels researchers, explicitly or implicitly, more or less, capture the three factors of channel dependence. It also notices weaknesses in some approaches, including missing important aspects of a factor, possibilities of inflating or deflating channel dependence, and falling short of being a one-dimensional construct. The article finally draws conclusions and reports implications from the findings of this inquiry and literature review.

Scale Economies of Retailing at Store Level: Production Function Approach versus Statistical Cost Approach

The purpose of this paper is to test the research proposition that the inconsistent findings existing in the literature on scale economies of retailing at store level are caused by the different approaches adopted. To do this, two approaches, the production function approach and the statistical cost approach, are used to analyze the same set of data. As expected these two methods produced somewhat contradictory results. Modifying the approaches by adding additional variables seems to resolve these contradictions and improve the explanatory power of the models