Joseph E. Phelps

Viral Marketing or Electronic Word-of-Mouth Advertising: Examining Consumer Responses and Motivations to Pass Along Email

ABSTRACT Although viral marketing has garnered a great deal of attention in the trade press, almost nothing is known about the motivations, attitudes, and behaviors of the people (those sending the email to others) that constitute the essential component of any such strategy. This article reports the results of three studies that examine consumer responses and motivations to pass along email. Implications for target selection and message creation are discussed for advertising practitioners interested in implementing viral efforts, and suggestions for future research relating to computer-mediated consumer-to-consumer interactions are presented for academic researchers.

Privacy Concerns and Consumer Willingness to Provide Personal Information

The authors examine potential relationships among categories of personal information, beliefs about direct marketing, situational characteristics, specific privacy concerns, and consumers’ direct marketing shopping habits. Furthermore, the authors offer an assessment of the trade-offs consumers are willing to make when they exchange personal information for shopping benefits. The findings indicate that public policy and self-regulatory efforts to alleviate consumer privacy concerns should provide consumers with more control over the initial gathering and subsequent dissemination of personal information. Such efforts must also consider the type of information sought, because consumer concern and willingness to provide marketers with personal data vary dramatically by information type.

Conceptualizing the Integrated Marketing Communications' Phenomenon: An Examination of its Impact on Advertising Practices and its Implications for Advertising Research

Abstract An increasing number of marketers are integrating the results-oriented methods of consumer sales promotion and direct response advertising with the image/awareness capabilities of general advertising. This integration has blurred the boundaries between traditionally independent marketing communication disciplines and, more importantly, fundamentally restructured many of marketing and advertising communication. In hopes of stimulating scholarly interest in the integrated marketing communications phenomenon, this article identifies the underlying tenets of integrated marketing or advertising communication philosophies; offers a conceptual framework for understanding and addressing integrated marketing and advertising communication issues; and delineates the advertising-related research opportunities that exist as a result of the integrated phenomenon. This examination indicates the integrated phenomenon has impacted marketing communications at an advertisement as well as campaign level, and created...

The Aad-Ab-PI relationship in children: The impact of brand familiarity and measurement timing

Given the explosion of research in the past decade that has examined the Aad-Ab-PI relationship using adult subjects, one would expect to see an almost parallel stream of research involving children. However, as is evident in Brown and Staymans (1992) meta-analysis of the literature, no studies investigating this area have used children as the sample. This study provides an initial exploration into the Aad-Ab-PI relationship in children with specific focus given to the impact of brand familiarity and measurement timing while controlling for prior brand attitudes. Forty-three third graders and sixty-eight sixth graders participated in a 2 × 2 factorial experiment that manipulated brand familiarity (familiar vs. unfamiliar) and measurement timing (immediate vs. delayed). Similar to the results using adult subjects, the childrens Aad measures significantly affected Ab for both familiar and unfamiliar brands, even after controlling for prior brand attitude. However, contrary to adult responses, the childrens Aad had a significant, albeit modest, impact on their PI responses. Based on these results, the paper offers implications for marketers and public policy makers and questions for future research.

Entering the quagmire: examining the 'meaning' of integrated marketing communications

The lack of a generally accepted definition of integrated marketing communications has greatly impeded the efforts to develop sound measures of integrated marketing communications impact on current marketing communication practices. The study reported here uses a factor analysis of responses from a national sample of marketing communication practitioners to begin the exploration into the underlying meaning of integrated marketing communication to practitioners. Identifying the underlying structure of the meaning of integrated marketing communications provides future researchers with a stronger conceptual basis on which to build a definition of integrated marketing communications, which, in turn, provides the foundation for measures which will more accurately determine how integrated marketing communications is used in practice.

Internet-facilitated consumer-to-consumer communication: the moderating role of receiver characteristics

This study explores relationships among several factors that may influence the persuasive power of online consumer-to-consumer communication. The results call into question the assumption that consumer remarks posted on an independent online forum will automatically be more persuasive than remarks posted on a corporate website. Instead, the findings suggest that reactions to consumer-generated product reviews are moderated by receiver characteristics such as product involvement and experience with offline consumer-to-consumer communication.

Exploring decision-making approaches and responsibility for developing marketing communications strategy

Abstract The results of a national survey ( n = 101) of marketing communication practitioners are used to: (1) examine whether companies assign the responsibility for developing communication strategies to an individual or if there is a consensus among the heads of various communication functions, and (2) look for evidence of trends in the assignment of planning responsibilities. Although a minority of the firms responding to the survey currently use the consensus decision-making approach, its use is increasing. Arguments are presented regarding the importance of the consensus approach in the development of integrated marketing communications.

Understanding the antecedents of the acceptance of donation after cardiac death by healthcare professionals.

Objective:A 3-yr study funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services was conducted to identify potential barriers to and opportunities for increasing the number hospitals with donation after cardiac death (DCD) protocols, the support of DCD by individuals involved in the donation request process, and the number DCD donors recovered. This study reports the qualitative findings. Design:Methods used included an advisory committee and an extensive array of key informant interviews and focus groups. Setting:Hospitals and telephone contact. Subjects:Discussions with nurses, physicians, social service staff, clergy, administrators, and organ procurement organization staff. A total of 216 people participated. Interventions:Collection and analysis of information regarding perceptions of DCD, potential barriers and opportunities, and strategies for gaining support. Measurement and Main Results:Key barriers included a lack of knowledge about DCD, psychological barriers for DCD vs. brain death, concerns about whether death has been reached, saving vs. killing patients, trust in the organ procurement organization, moving from saving patients to being a donation advocate, and concerns with the DCD process. Opportunities included education initiatives, well-trained requesters, a cultural shift, a consistent DCD protocol separating care from recovery, process monitoring, and a strong sense of teamwork. Conclusions:Our findings provide a better understanding of healthcare professionals’ knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors regarding DCD. Understanding these issues is critical to the implementation of strategic plans for DCD programs. One of the biggest barriers to overcome is a lack of knowledge of DCD, which leads to misperceptions, which in turn contribute to negative attitudes and/or discomfort by healthcare professionals. Communication efforts that are able to educate healthcare professionals and eliminate misperceptions will increase support for DCD. Key to future success requires confident and well-trained DCD requesters.

Consumer Privacy and Security Protection on Church Web Sites: Reasons for Concern

The authors examine online privacy and security issues in a study of 102 church Web sites throughout the nation and find that though church Web sites collect personal identifying information comparable to that collected by commercial Web sites, few offer information practice statements or privacy policies. Furthermore, unlike their commercial counterparts, church Web sites often post personal identifying information of their members and site visitors that enhances potential threats to both consumer privacy and security. Survey responses from 21 church Web site administrators provide further insight into this information disclosure gap and potential means of addressing it.

Appeals in Korean Magazine Advertising: A Content Analysis and Cross-Cultural Comparison

This paper examines the economic, advertising industry, cultural, and product factors influencing the use of emotional and rational appeals in advertising for South Korea and the U.S. Content analysis of 600 Korean magazine advertisements shows that emotional appeals predominate in headlines, but rational appeals are more common overall and in the illustrations. Compared to results from 403 U.S. advertisements, Korean magazine advertising uses more emotional appeals, though differences vary across product types and executional method. Implications for advertising practice and future research are discussed.