Kiran Karande

A Content Analysis of Magazine Advertisements from the United States and the Arab World

Abstract In recent years, a wealth of literature has increased our understanding of cross-cultural differences in advertising content. Abernethy and Franke (1996) point out a gap in literature stating that “no study has examined the advertising information in any African nation, any part of the Middle East other than Saudi Arabia, or any of the economies in transition associated with the former USSR.” The current study, therefore, investigates differences in content of magazine advertisements from the United States and the Arab world comprising twelve Middle Eastern countries and ten African countries. Differences in the depiction of men and women, the extent of comparative advertising, the extent of information content, and the extent of price information are hypothesized, based on the role of religion in forming values (Luqmani, Yavas and Quraeshi 1987), the level of individualism (Hofstede 1980), and whether the culture is high-context or low-context (Hall 1976), as well as economic differences. One thousand sixty-four ads from Egyptian, Lebanese and United Arab Emirates, as well as pan-Arabic general interest, family, and womens magazines, together with 540 ads from three U.S. general interest, family and womens magazines, were content analyzed. It was found that people are depicted less frequently in Arabic magazine ads. However, in ads in which people are shown, there are no differences in the extent to which women are depicted. In ads in which women are shown, they are depicted wearing long dresses, and tend to be pictured in ads when their presence relates to the advertised product. Also, in ads showing people, there are no differences in the extent to which male models are depicted. U.S. ads have more information content, provide more price information, and use more comparative advertising than Arabic ads. Implications for international marketers wanting to advertise in Arab magazines are offered. Limitations and extensions are also discussed.

The Effect of Retail Store Environment on Retailer Performance

Abstract Retail stores are segmented using socioeconomic characteristics of the trade area, and it is shown that the effects of store environment on store performance vary across segments. Store performance is measured by a market-based measure—sales and a productivity-based measure—sales per square feet. The internal store environment includes the number of checkout counters per square foot of selling area, the number of nongrocery products sold (extent of scrambled merchandising), whether the store at least doubles manufacturers coupons, whether there is a banking facility, and whether the store is open for 24 hours. The external store environment includes the type of neighborhood it is located in. A methodology for predicting store performance (for existing and new stores) based on the type of environment and store location by using aggregate secondary data is demonstrated. The proposed models are estimated and validated using Market Metrics geodemographic data for 646 grocery stores provided by A.C. Nielsen. It is shown how the findings of this retail environment study can be used to offer guidelines to retailers for attaining desired levels of sales and sales per square feet by using readily available data.

How important are ethics and social responsibility? ‐ A multinational study of marketing professionals

States that in the present era of global marketing, as more companies enter international markets, ethical problems are likely to increase. As companies and their managers deal with their counterparts in different countries, there is a need to understand the latter’s ethical decision‐making processes. Divergence in ethical behavior and attitudes of marketing professionals across cultures can be explained by, among other variables, differences in perceptions regarding the importance of ethics and social responsibility in achieving organizational effectiveness. This study investigates the variation in those perceptions among marketing professionals from Australia, Malaysia, South Africa, and the USA. The variation is explained by country differences (cultural differences, differences in the economic environment, and differences in legal/political environment), organizational ethical climate, and selected demographic characteristics of the marketer (gender and age).

Recovery voice and satisfaction after service failure: an experimental investigation of mediating and moderating factors

Past research studies on service failures and recovery have conceptualized “voice” in terms of customers having an opportunity to air complaints after failures occur. In contrast, the authors introduce the concept of recovery voice , which entails a service provider asking a customer (after a failure has occurred) what the firm can do to rectify the problem. In a scenario-based experiment carried out in an airline setting and in a hotel setting with 216 and 208 participants, respectively, it was found that customers perceived greater procedural justice when offered recovery voice, which resulted in higher overall postfailure satisfaction. It was shown that perceived procedural justice mediated the effect of recovery voice on overall satisfaction. Furthermore, recovery voice had a greater impact on perceived procedural justice for established customers with long transaction histories than for new ones with short transaction histories. Managerial and research implications based on these findings are also presented.

The impact of internal and external reference prices on brand choice: The moderating role of contextual variables

Abstract The impact of internal reference price discrepancy (between actual price and internal reference price), and external reference price discrepancy (between actual price and external reference price) on brand choice is studied in two different contexts: whether the consumer faces a stockout condition at the time of purchase or not, and whether the consumer is a deal-prone consumer or not. Internal reference price is based on the past prices paid for the brand by the consumer, and external reference price is dependent upon the prices of all brands in the category at the point of purchase. Hypotheses are tested by estimating brand choice models using IRI scanner panel data for two product categories—saltine crackers and baking chips. Results indicate that, in general, the impact of the external reference price discrepancy on brand choice is greater than that of the internal price discrepancy. However, this varies depending upon the contextual conditions. For consumers facing a stockout condition at the time of purchase, and for deal-prone consumers, the impact of the external reference price discrepancy on brand choice is greater than that of the internal reference price discrepancy. However, for consumers not facing a stockout condition, and for non-deal-prone consumers, there is no difference in the impact of the internal and external reference price discrepancy on brand choice. Also, the impact of both the external and internal reference price discrepancy on brand choice is greater for consumers not facing a stockout condition at the time of purchase relative to facing a stockout condition, and for deal-prone consumers than for non-deal-prone consumers. Implications for pricing strategies are discussed for retailers, and limitations and extensions of this study are also provided.

Moral philosophies of marketing managers

A recent article pointed out that “past research has paid relatively little attention to the sources of individuals’ moral philosophies from either a conceptual or an empirical standpoint” and investigated the determinants of idealism and relativism among American marketers. A literature review indicates that there is even less theoretical and empirical cross‐cultural investigation of moral philosophies. As more and more companies are expanding into foreign markets, problems related to cross‐national ethics and social responsibility are becoming increasingly prevalent. Therefore, this study proposes a framework explaining the differences in the idealism and relativism of American, Malaysian, and Australian marketers based on: country differences (cultural differences and differences in economic and legal/political environment); corporate ethical values; and gender and age of the marketer. Results indicate that there are differences in the level of idealism and relativism exhibited by marketers from the three countries. Irrespective of country, corporate ethical values are positively related to the idealism and negatively related to the relativism of marketers. Also, irrespective of country, women are more idealistic than men, and relativism increases with age. Implications are offered and avenues for future research suggested.

Determinants of Ethical Behavior: A Study of Autosalespeople

This study proposes a model that explains the ethical behavior of automobile salespeople in terms of their ethical perception, legal perception, method of compensation (commission-based or salary-based), age, and education. The model is estimated by using five scenarios that involve ethical issues commonly found in the automobile industry and responses from 184 automobile salespeople in a mid-Atlantic metropolitan area. The findings suggest that ethical perception is the most important determinant of ethical behavior. Also, method of compensation is a major determinant in four of five scenarios, and legal perception in two out of five scenarios. However, age and education are not significantly related to ethical behavior. A discussion of the results, limitations, and implications is presented for managers.

The effect of brand characteristics and retailer policies on response to retail price promotions: Implications for retailers

Abstract The variation in the impact of a brands retail price promotion on its own sales (promotional price elasticity) and the sales of its competitors (promotional cross-price elasticities) during the period of the price promotion is studied. Brand characteristics and retailer policies significantly explain the variation in promotional price elasticities and cross-price elasticities across brands. Results are used to offer guidelines to retail managers for planning promotions in terms of what brands to promote, and how and when to promote them under three different retailer objectives: (1) to liquidate inventories; (2) to maximize product category sales; and (3) to maximize product category profits. These guidelines can be used by retailers in taking actions that will result in desirable levels of responses to price promotions of a brand—promotional price elasticity and promotional cross-price elasticities.

Who Shops at Factory Outlets and Why?: An Exploratory Study

In the last decade, factory outlets have grown at over ten percent per year and have become an attractive distribution channel for manufacturers. However, there is little academic research on factory outlets. In this study, the patronage behavior of outlet mall shoppers is investigated. Data are collected from 182 shoppers at a factory outlet mall in northeastern United States. Four different reasons for shopping at outlet malls are identified using factor analysis—price/value, merchandise, recreational, and time saving and deal seeking reasons. The relationship between these four reasons for shopping at outlet malls and eighteen variables representing attitude toward shopping, shopping behaviour patterns, importance of outlet mall attributes, and demographics is studied. Using canonical correlation analysis, three types of outlet mall shoppers are identified—recreational shoppers, serious economic shoppers, and time conscious deal prone shoppers. Based upon the findings, implications for retailers and directions for future research are drawn.

Perceived moral intensity, ethical perception, and ethical intention of American and Malaysian managers: a comparative study

In this study, differences in perceived moral intensity, ethical perception, and ethical intention of managers from the United States and Malaysia are investigated. Models are proposed with perceived moral intensity, ethical perception, and ethical intention as dependent variables, the country of residence of the managers as the independent variable, and gender and age of the managers as covariates. By using scenarios involving ethical situations, it is found that American managers perceive higher levels of moral intensity than Malaysian managers on the components that relate to the extent of harm done to the victim. However, there are no significant differences between the two groups on those components that relate to social pressure. Also, the ethical perception and ethical intention of American managers are higher than those of Malaysian managers. An explanation for the direction of the differences is offered based on the divergence of the United States and Malaysia with respect to the societal moral climate, organizational culture, cultural factors, and cognitive moral development. Implications and suggestions for future research are also offered.