Kathleen A. Krentler

The Value of User Image In Quelling Aberrant Consumer Behavior

Shoplifting has reached epidemic proportions. Traditional approaches to keeping this behavior under control have met with limited success. This article explores the use of user image to decrease shoplifting. The analysis supports the approach. If the image of the “typical shoplifter” is made more negative, individuals anxious to disassociate themselves with the negative image will be less likely to shoplift.

Building Critical Thinking Skills: Can Standardized Testing Accomplish It?

Though most marketing educators claim to strive for building critical thinking skills in their students, often the tests they use to evaluate those students do not build such skills. The authors analyze the standardized test banks of four major principles of marketing texts and find that a large percentage of the questions tested memorization and recall skills rather than critical thinking skills. They also study the accuracy of test bank-provided question classification systems.

Corporate Reputation, Customer Satisfaction, & Customer Loyalty: What is the Relationship?

Customer satisfaction and corporate reputation have both been studied as antecedents of customer loyalty. Of the two constructs, however, customer satisfaction has received much greater attention in the literature. Investigation of the relationship between the three constructs is undertaken through a study of insurance company customers in Singapore. Results indicate that the effect of corporate reputation on customer loyalty is completely mediated by customer satisfaction.

The Use of Management and Marketing Textbook Multiple-Choice Questions: A Case Study.

Abstract Management and marketing professors classified multiple-choice questions in four widely adopted introductory textbooks in their respective disciplines according to the two basic cognitive levels of Blooms taxonomy of educational objectives: knowledge and intellectual ability and skill. Eighty-seven percent of management and 65% of marketing questions measure the lower level, knowledge. Textbook test files classify the cognitive level of their questions, but overrate, on the average, 20% of management and 15% of marketing questions. These inaccuracies put unwary instructors at risk of selecting questions that require less thinking than they may intend in their educational objectives.

Nonprofit Marketing as a College Course: Potential Problems and Probable Opportunities

This article explores issues surrounding the teaching of nonprofit marketing in college curriculums. The authors discuss questions concerning course relevancy, availability of resources, student demand, and course structure.

The Multiplying Literature: Moore’s Law at Work in Marketing

Moore–s law describes the growth in computing power as exponential. This concept was applied in astrophysics, where it was demonstrated that knowledge since 1895 has doubled every 15 years. Our research suggests that knowledge in marketing has doubled every decade since the 1950s.

Recruitment Without Responsibility: The Problem of Sojourner Adaptation

U.S. business schools are enrolling increasing numbers of foreign students without consideration of their needs. This practice is not educationally sound, nor is it responsible on the part of our institutions or among the individuals involved in instruction. This paper suggests some strategies that can aid in solving the problem.

Is Pulling Mom & Dad’s Strings a Global Phenomenon? (A Study of Children’s Purchase Influence in the United States and Malta)

This study investigates differences in the extent and nature of children’s purchase influence in the U.S. and Malta. Hypothesized differences were based on cultural patterns in the countries. Findings support that Maltese children will exert greater overall influence than children in the U.S. Findings about the nature of influence were mixed.

Marketing Research Directions in the 80’s and 90’s

This paper forecasts the directions that marketing research will take in the 1980’s and 1990’s. These directions are determined based on data collected from current marketing doctoral students with respect to their research plans after graduation. This information is compared to current and past research trends via a topic analysis of the marketing literature for the past 20 years.

A Close Look at the Options in the Health Care Industry: The Marketing Audit

This paper explores the concept of the marketing audit and its applicability to the health care industry. The authors emphasize the importance of this tool for the health care administrator in light of increasing costs, intensifying competition, and more complex regulation. Examples of how the audit operates in a health care facility are provided throughout the paper.