John D. Mittelstaedt

How Small Is Too Small? Firm Size as a Barrier to Exporting from the United States

The purpose of this paper is ask whether there is a minimum size that firms must achieve to take advantage of the benefits of exporting from the United States. An analysis of 2,822 firms in 49 different industries in South Carolina, a rapidly growing export–driven state, was conducted to address this question. This paper builds on the contributions of previous research in the areas of small to medium–sized enterprises (SMEs) and export success and SMEs in the export development process. Analysis of manufacturing exports from South Carolina indicates that firm size serves as a necessary as well as a sufficient condition for export success among small manufacturing firms. Reasons for this are discussed, and implications for managers and policymakers are offered.

Macromarketing as Agorology: Macromarketing Theory and the Study of the Agora

Twenty-five years of conceptual and empirical research in macromarketing can be synthesized in three fundamental, complementary principles: that markets are systems, that markets are heterogeneous, and the actions of market participants have consequences far beyond the boundaries of firms. Together, these principal findings form the foundation of a theory of macromarketing. The authors argue that macro-marketing, in contrast to micromarketing and microeconomics, is uniquely positioned to address many market-related questions of the coming century.

Age and Consumer Socialization Agent Influences on Adolescents’ Sexual Knowledge, Attitudes, and Behavior: Implications for Social Marketing Initiatives and Public Policy

Social marketing initiatives that influence adolescents’ sexual behavior are critical given that adolescents are the most at-risk group for sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned and unwanted pregnancy. This study, involving 1343 middle school– and high school–aged students, explores relationships among several factors that potentially influence adolescents’ sexual knowledge, attitudes, and behavior. The authors examine the influence of several socialization agents, including parents, peers, and mass media. The results show that parental influence is the most consistent socialization agent across age groupings on all dependent variables studied. However, the relative influence of parents, peers, and media may vary between middle school– and high school–aged adolescents. The authors discuss implications for social marketing initiatives, public policy, and further research.

A Framework for Understanding the Relationships between Religions and Markets

Religions and religious institutions affect markets in a variety of ways. The objectives of this study are threefold. First, it details the parameters of market activity affected by religions and religious institutions. Second, it discusses the ways in which religion exerts authority over the activities of markets. The presence of authority is a necessary prerequisite for religious influence on markets. Third, religious authority is used as a framework to understand how traditional questions of macromarketing inform, and are informed by, the intersection of religions and markets. The article uses the framework of religious authority to explore the variety of effects of religions on markets and markets on religions.

Assortment overlap: its effect on shopping patterns in a retail market when the distributions of prices and goods are known

Abstract The majority of households divide their grocery shopping between two or more stores each week. This paper examines the merchandising factors affecting the sharing of customers between stores through a pairwise analysis of their assortment overlap, price differentiation, and interstore distance. Results from a study of a market of 27 stores show that assortment overlap and interstore distance are determinants of shared patronage. Results also support hypothesized relationships concerning the differentiation of assortments and price in a spatial market.

Sustainability as Megatrend Two Schools of Macromarketing Thought

Is sustainability a megatrend? If so, what does it mean to be a megatrend, and how can macromarketing advance our understanding of sustainability as a megatrend? This article makes three contributions to research on sustainability as megatrend. First, if offers a set of elemental criteria to understand the concept of a megatrend. Megatrends are complex in nature, whose understanding requires the skills and perspectives of macromarketers. Second, this article articulates two schools of thought in Macromarketing scholarship, a Developmental School and a Critical School. The former operates from the premise that marketing systems are important parts of the solution to the human condition, while the latter operates from the premise that they are part of the problem. Each concludes that sustainability is the megatrend of our time, but for different reasons. Finally, this article offers directions for macromarketing scholars, who are uniquely positioned to explore sustainability as megatrend.

Firm size diversity, functional richness, and resilience

This paper applies recent advances in ecology to our understanding of firm development, sustainability, and economic development. The ecological literature indicates that the greater the functional richness of species in a system, the greater its resilience - that is, its ability to persist in the face of substantial changes in the environment. This paper focuses on the effects of functional richness across firm size on the ability of industries to survive in the face of economic change. Our results indicate that industries with a richness of industrial functions are more resilient to employment volatility.

Location, industrial concentration and the propensity of small US firms to export

Purpose – To examine the effects of urbanization and industrial concentration on the propensity of firms to export, and to determine whether these aspects of geography affect smaller firms differently than larger ones.Design/methodology/approach – Based on expectations from economic geography and organizational learning theories, logistic regression was used to assess the effects of firm size, urbanization and industrial concentration on the export choices of 43,707 manufacturing firms located in the Southeastern USA.Findings – Results indicate that geography affects choices to export, and that these choices differ with firm size. The smallest manufacturers (fewer than 20 employees) were most likely to export from urban areas and in concentrated industrial sectors. Industry‐specific differences were also found.Research limitations/implications – Results from the Southeastern USA are consistent with findings from China, though caution should be used in generalizing from these findings. The findings suggest...

Departures from Gibrat's Law, Discontinuities and City Size Distributions

Cities are complex, self-organising, evolving systems and the emergent patterns they manifest provide insight into the dynamic processes in urban systems. This article analyses city size distributions, by decade, from the south-eastern region of the US for the years 1860—1990. It determines if the distributions are clustered into size classes and documents changes in the pattern of size classes over time. A statistical hypothesis test was also performed to detect dependence between city size and growth using discrete probability calculations under the assumption of Gibrats law. The city size distributions for the south-eastern region of the US were discontinuous, with cities clustering into distinct size classes. The analysis also identified departures from Gibrats law, indicating variable growth rates at different scales.

An examination of the globalisation of authorship in publishing in 20 leading marketing journals

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the global contribution of academics to marketing literature between 1999 and 2003, based on an examination of the location of academics institution of employment, as reported in published works. The data is used to evaluate the global dispersion of publishing.Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses the method of content analysis where the authorship of all articles in 20 leading marketing journals between 1999 and 2003 is examined. An empirical examination of performance was undertaken across geographic regions. There was also an examination of whether the quality of journal affected regional performance.Findings – The research found that there is a significant “bias” of authorship within the 20 journals examined, with the majority of works published by academics at institutions in North America. There is some variation in regional performance based on the type of journal examined.Research limitations/implications – There was no attempt to empiricall...