James J. Zboja

Antecedents of Coupon Proneness: A Key Mediator of Coupon Redemption

Coupons increase the buying power of consumers. Businesses use coupons to increase sales, new products adoption, and repeat buying. Billions of coupons are distributed annually via different methods. However, consumers redeem only a small fraction of these, thereby forgoing the potential cost savings. The authors investigated several factors that motivate coupon redemption. The data were obtained by surveying 353 U.S. consumers. Price consciousness, pride, and satisfaction in using coupons, and value consciousness were found to increase coupon use. The perception that the savings are not worth the effort decreased their use. The results suggest ways for managers to boost coupon use.

Using Internal Relationship Marketing Activities to Enhance Cross-Selling Performance in Services

Despite its pervasive use in practice, the academic literature offers little guidance on how to improve cross-selling performance. This study develops and tests a model that examines how management-initiated activities shape frontline employee responses that, in turn, lead to enhanced cross-selling performance. The study draws on social exchange theories, and the results confirm that managers can improve employee cross-selling performance by implementing internal relationship marketing activities (i.e., training and incentives) that enhance employee role clarity and self-efficacy and by providing incentives that increase employee motivation to cross-sell. Managerial implications and directions for future research are offered.

An Examination of High-Frequency Cross-Selling

Cross-selling has been identified as an effective strategy for relationship marketing, with its ultimate objective of customer retention. Through a survey of 225 insurance agents, we seek to create a limited profile of the high-frequency cross-selling salesperson. The results show that those who are high-frequency cross-sellers perceive significantly more cross-selling incentives from their organizations, a higher level of commitment to cross-selling among their workgroup, as well as higher levels of cross-selling role clarity and self-efficacy. The results have managerial implications for sales managers engaged in cross-selling initiatives.

An Examination of Heavy Coupon Use, Opinion Leadership, and Self-Confidence: An Abstract

The primary objective of this study is to profile the heavy coupon user based on both social influence (i.e., opinion leadership) and individual difference (i.e., consumer self-confidence) variables. If heavy coupon users also influence the coupon use of other consumers, their importance may be magnified for marketers seeking to increase participation in their coupon promotional efforts. Meanwhile, if heavy coupon users also influence other consumers in a more general sense, their importance is magnified further. “Americans generally are twice as likely to cite word of mouth as the best source of ideas and information as they are to cite advertising” (Keller & Berry, 2003, p. 5).

Consumer Entitlement’s Moderating Role on the Impact of Salesperson Credibility on Perceptions of Sales Pressure: An Abstract

Although it has been generally reported that high-pressure sales tactics can have negative effects on both the customer and the salesperson/firm (e.g., Chu et al. 1995), the amount of attention devoted to the subject in the marketing literature is less than optimal. As such, our understanding of factors, such as salesperson credibility, that can contribute to consumer perceptions of sales pressure could also benefit from more research effort. Additionally, with the millennial generation playing an ever-increasing role in the consumer population, the need exists to examine the role of consumer entitlement in this relationship. Using a sample of 326 consumers, this research seeks to address these gaps in the literature.

On the Service Quality and Satisfaction Relationship: The Moderating Role of Consumer Entitlement

While the study of service quality and its impact on customer satisfaction has a rich history within the services marketing literature, there have been recent calls for research that provides a deeper understanding of this relationship, given its fundamental role in ensuring outcomes such as customer retention and profitability (Anderson 2007). This research study seeks to add to the literature by exploring the role of an under-researched construct known as consumer entitlement on the service quality-satisfaction relationship. Using a sample of season ticket holders of a professional sports franchise, this study hypothesized and found that consumer entitlement moderates the service quality-satisfaction relationship such that higher levels of consumer entitlement mitigate the positive impacts of service quality on satisfaction.

An Exploratory Study of Extreme Couponing

Using a convenience sample (n=309) consisting of members of the social couponing website “A Full Cup” (www.afullcup.com), the purpose of this study is to report the opinions of coupon users on the concept of extreme couponing. While some have been intrigued and increasingly attracted to couponing by the buzz created by the TLC show “Extreme Couponing,” it has become clear that many longtime coupon users are less than enthusiastic about the concept.