Haiming Hang

Revisiting the psychic distance paradox: International retailing in China in the long run (1840–2005)

This paper uses original research on the roles played by two sets of foreign entrants into Chinese retailing since the 1850s – the overseas Chinese entrants and western entrants – to explore the psychic distance paradox over the long run. It explains how the advantages of psychic closeness in Chinese retailing have always been important in reducing entry barriers, but that the rising costs of technology have increased the significance of firm proprietary strengths in some formats, notably supermarkets, so reducing the relative importance of psychic closeness. The paper therefore illustrates how taking the long-term perspective enables more sophisticated conclusions to emerge. A cross-sectional analysis of one sector – Chinese supermarkets – would confirm the psychic distance paradox; overseas Chinese have been unable to translate psychic closeness into superior performance. By contrast their historic performance in department stores and more recently in fashion chains has been superior to the format leaders. This long-term perspective therefore suggests that the understanding of the psychic distance paradox needs to be moderated by additional conceptualisation.

The implicit influence of bimodal brand placement on children: information integration or information interference?

This research compares two competing views – the integration view and the interference view – to see whether presenting a brand placement in multiple modalities can enhance its effectiveness. Our results first show that majority of the children can not recall a brand placement embedded in a video game. Our results further demonstrate that presenting a brand placement in a single modality makes children more likely to choose the target brand at test than presenting it in multiple modalities. These results have important implications for both public policy makers and marketing managers.

Brand-placement effectiveness and competitive interference in entertainment media

ABSTRACT Is brand-placement effectiveness immune to competitive interference? This study explored that question in the context of entertainment media, specifically childrens video games. Results showed that brands placed in a video game were recalled by only a minority of children and that brand choice was significantly influenced even when the placement was not recalled—suggesting that brand placement may influence childrens choice without any explicit cognitive processes. The data further demonstrated that the presence of a competing brand placement may have a negative impact on focal-brand choice. When exposed to a competing brand placement, children were less likely to choose the target brand at test than those who had not been exposed. Thus, advertisers need to negotiate for exclusiveness when placing brands in entertainment media. Furthermore, the dissociation between brand recall and brand choice suggests advertisers should use multiple methods to measure brand placement effectiveness.

Globalisation and the evolution of international retailing: A comment on Alexander's ‘British overseas retailing, 1900–1960’

Nicholas Alexanders (2011. British overseas retailing, 1900–60: International firm characteristics, market selections and entry modes. Business History, 53, 530–556) survey of British overseas retailers from 1900 to 1960 provides pathbreaking new evidence of international retailing activity during the first globalisation boom. The article surveys this and other recent evidence, and confirms that international retailing was far more significant up to 1929 than previously thought. This activity was overwhelmingly undertaken by non-retailers, however, and hence by multinationals whose advantages in retailing were fundamentally unsustainable over the long run. Even the department store format, the principal retail innovation of the period, was not internationalised primarily by multinationals. Rather it was diffused via indigenous entrepreneurs, driven by a rapidly growing global demand for western style fashion and dress.

“I Can’t Wait to See This”: An Exploratory Research on Consumer Online Word-of-Mouth on Movies: An Abstract

The success of a movie is often determined by its opening weekend performance (Earnest, 1985; Epstein, 2005; Gong et al., 2011). Using the most effective movie advertising tool, studios release trailers early in advance aiming to build heavy pre-release buzz which will in turn drive audiences to the cinema on the opening weekend. While pre-release movie buzz has proved to be instrumental in influencing box office performance, most electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) research on movies is limited to the quantitative measurement of WOM metrics (e.g. volume, valence) (Hennig-Thurau et al., 2015; Liu, 2006), overlooking other significant information that could offer insight on early audience perceptions.

Seeking Relief from Negative Emotions: Customer Revenge as an Emotional Outlet: An Abstract

Customer revenge as a form of customer misbehaviour has attracted increasing attention in service marketing. Previous research suggests that customer revenge can take various forms, ranging from aggressive behaviours towards the employees to negative word of mouth (NWOM) (Gregoire, Laufer, & Tripp, 2010). While a number of studies have examined the cognitive aspect of customer revenge (i.e. perceived unfairness), the emotional aspect is relatively understudied. This research aims to contribute to the literature in two ways. First, it will investigate the role of three moral emotions (i.e. anger, contempt and disgust) in translating perceived unfairness into various revengeful behaviours (i.e. H1). Second, it will examine whether revenge is employed by customers as an emotion regulatory strategy to ameliorate their negative emotions (i.e. H2).

Defend the indefensible: helping children cope with the implicit influence of online game advertising

Abstract Purpose The main purpose of this chapter is to highlight the latest research on the implicit influence of online game advertising on children and to discuss some possible solutions to help them cope with this implicit influence. Methodology/approach This chapter reviews key theories and relevant empirical evidence in the literature on advertising to children in order to highlight the implicit influence of online game advertising on children. Findings Children can be influenced by online game advertising outside their awareness. Social implications The chapter challenges the effectiveness of current advertising literacy education. Originality/value This chapter highlights the implicit influence of online game advertising on children. It also proposes alternative approaches to current advertising literacy education to help children cope with the implicit influence.

Collective financing among Chinese entrepreneurs and department store retailing in China

Abstract Chinese entrepreneurship in department store retailing differed from that seen in other emerging economies before 1940. Rather than the leading examples of the format being owned by advanced economy firms, in China a small group of Cantonese entrepreneurs established what became known as the ‘Big Four’ department stores in Shanghai. By 1940 the ‘Big Four’ department stores were among the most famous stores in China, and among the biggest businesses in China. None of these Chinese entrepreneurs had any prior experience in department store retailing. Rather this article explains how their success in department store retailing was dependent on a business model that enabled these Chinese entrepreneurs to act as informal investment bankers (or ‘shadow’ banks) for the thousands of overseas Chinese wanting to invest surplus savings in mainland China, so creating large indigenous business groups.