Janell D. Townsend

Does culture explain acceptance of new products in a country

This paper investigates the role of cultural differences in the acceptance of new products, as moderated by socio‐economic variables. In order to assess the relationship, an analysis utilizing Hofstedes cultural dimensions, along with secondary data representing socio‐economic structure and the penetration rate of new products was undertaken. The results demonstrate that power distance and uncertainty avoidance hinder the acceptance of new products. Also found is that individualism has a positive effect but the masculinity dimension has no significant effect on the diffusion of new products. The findings regarding the moderation effects of the socio‐economic variables are mixed.

Exploring the Marketing Program Antecedents of Performance in a Global Company

As the era of globalization continues to manifest through the emergence of global companies, the use of marketing programs in these firms has become increasingly important. This research examines global marketing program–related factors, their drivers, and their performance consequences. The global marketing program, as the authors conceptualize it, consists of three key factors: global marketing strategy, global marketing structure, and global marketing processes. The authors develop and test an empirical model to portray the application of the global marketing program factors with respect to product standardization and product processes. As such, global customer convergence and leaderships global orientation have significant, positive effects on global product standardization and global marketing structure. The authors find that global product standardization and global marketing structure drive the implementation of global product processes, which are positively related to marketing performance.

Understanding alliances: a review of international aspects in strategic marketing

This paper presents a review of the recent literature related to international strategic business alliances utilizing the conceptual foundations presented by Varadarajan and Cunningham in the 1995 special edition of Marketing Science as a baseline. Employing a parsimonious framework, alliances are defined, motives are identified, structures and governance methods are considered, critical success factors are recognized and outcomes are analyzed. This paper elucidates the relationships between the major components of the alliance literature, presents a conceptualization of an integrated framework and provides direction for future research.

Global Brand Architecture Position and Market-Based Performance: The Moderating Role of Culture

Companies expend vast resources to create product and brand portfolios in the global marketplace. Yet knowledge of the market-based performance implications of various positions in a firms portfolio architecture is lacking in the literature. To further the understanding of managing brands in the global marketplace, the authors develop a conceptual framework based on the tenets of signaling theory, explore the relationship between global brand architecture and market-based performance, and consider how culture moderates this relationship. The results of the analyses, from a panel data set of 165 automotive brands operating in 65 countries from 2002 to 2008, reveal that global brands perform better in the marketplace than their nonglobal counterparts. Cultural values indeed provide boundary conditions for this relationship, suggesting that alternative strategies for some markets may be advisable.

Building Market-Based Assets in a Globally Competitive Market: A Longitudinal Study of Automotive Brands

Understanding the impact of marketing-related investments on market-based assets is a fundamental issue for marketers. In this study we address the relationship between product-related investments and communication-related efforts, with respect to a basic intangible market-based asset: consumer-based dimensions of brand equity. We draw from a longitudinal study of pre-purchase brand attribute data derived from consumer panels, conducted within the context of the U.S. automotive market. Brand equity dimensions are statistically related to marketing investments and contextual factors of “region of origin” and “global brand reach,” employing a seemingly unrelated regression model. The results reveal a positive effect of communication-related investments, as measured by annual advertising expenditures, on all dimensions of brand equity except luxury image. Product-related investments, as indicated by a brands innovativeness, positively affect brand image but negatively affect perceived economy. Region of origin and global brand reach have mixed effects on the consumer-based dimensions of brand equity.

Entrepreneurial and Market Orientation: The bridging role of Proactive Competitor Orientation

Proactive Competitor Orientation is conceptually and empirically the most underdeveloped component of strategic orientation. In this paper, we theoretically develop, measure and inves-tigate Proact...

Characteristics of project-based alliances: evidence from the automotive industry

As organisational governance has evolved from hierarchical structures to relational networks, project-based alliances are increasingly employed by automakers as part of their innovation strategy. In this study, we explore characteristics of different types of project-based alliances in the automotive industry. Employing dyadic data drawn from 59 new product development project-based alliances undertaken by two firms, we are able to discern the relevant characteristics of product, process, and software development projects. Our results suggest very different characteristics for each project type, with products and software presenting contrary results across almost all characteristics. Characteristics of process-focused projects are unique from either product and software alliance-based projects.

Liability of Localness and Cross-Cultural Variance in Conspicuous Consumption: The Case of the Global Automotive Industry

Conspicuous consumption, a term coined by Thorstein Veblen in his celebrated treatise The Theory of Leisure Class (1899), refers to consumers’ extravagant spending on brands, products, and services which primarily, if not solely, aim to confer wealth, and thus signal status. Consumers are willing to pay prices for premium brands, even if their functionally equivalent and cheaper counterparts are widely available, since they covet the status associated with them (Bagwell and Bernheim 1996). Conceptualizations of conspicuous consumption are distinguished from, and hence sometimes are at odds with those of mainstream consumption as they go beyond explaining material needs and address consumers’ satisfaction of social needs (e.g., prestige and social status). In effect, studies on conspicuous consumption expand our overall understanding of consumer expenditure and decision making process by examining the atypical, “irrational” nature of such extravagant spending, which falls beyond the scope of “rational” theories of consumption such as the neoclassical theory of consumption (Trigg, 2001).