Mary Anne Raymond

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 comparison of service quality dimensions conveyed in advertisements for service providers in the USA and Korea

Purpose – This cross‐national study seeks to examine the service quality dimensions and advertising appeals conveyed in services advertisements in the USA and Korea.Design/methodology/approach – Using Hofstedes cultural dimensions as a basis for distinguishing cultures, this study explores the role of culture in services advertising strategy. Content analysis was used to examine services advertising in the USA and Korea.Findings – The results of a content analysis of over 400 magazine advertisements suggest that advertisers may be able to standardize services advertising in magazines by type of advertising appeal and on specific service quality dimensions.Research limitations/implications – As the service sector continues to grow, future research is needed to compare services advertising for different types of services and in other media. Experimental studies that explicitly examine what types of cues are effective with Korean consumers are needed.Practical implications – Implications for advertisers att...

Consumer Responses to Perceived Telepresence in the Online Advertising Environment: The Moderating Role of Involvement

Cyber technology creates new shopping experiences for consumers and ways of searching for product information that are not possible in traditional advertising contexts. Telepresence, defined as the sense of being present in the remote environment, can simulate direct experience, and is useful for conceptualizing consumers’ experiences in computer-mediated environments. We focus on perceived telepresence in seeking to broaden our understanding of the effects of persuasive communications in the cyber environment. We examine effects of perceived telepresence on consumer responses such as attitude toward the ad, attitude toward the brand, and purchase intention, and also examine how these effects are moderated by consumer involvement. Hypotheses derived from a proposed conceptual model are tested via a laboratory experiment. Data is then analyzed with multi-sample structural analysis. Results show that perceived telepresence significantly affects consumer responses to online advertising and that involvement moderates these effects. Theoretical and managerial implications of the results are discussed.

Educating Students to Give Them a Sustainable Competitive Advantage

With an increasingly competitive job market, this study focuses on what marketing educators can do to help students develop a sustainable competitive advantage. The authors conducted a survey of students, faculty, and recruiters to develop a better understanding of what skills and characteristics might be of value to each group of respondents and to ascertain where differences might exist across respondent groups. Although the basic skills (i.e., critical thinking, communication) recruiters seek have not changed much from previous studies, recruiters rated critical thinking skills, such as problem solving, much higher than either faculty or students. Graduates must be accountable and show the impact and rationale behind decisions. In other words, educators must continue to stress reading, writing, and “arith-metrics.” The lessons learned herein include ways to engage students, strengthen communication skills, incorporate skill development workshops, use professional speakers in marketing organizations, and promote services available outside the classroom as well as help students develop multiple skill sets in class. Educators should also encourage students to be open-minded, creative, and explore opportunities including internships and positions that may not be their current career choice. Finally, educators should discuss pros and cons of going straight through school or working before attending graduate school.

Barriers and Facilitators of Mental Health Treatment Seeking Among Active-Duty Army Personnel

The purpose of the current two-phase study was to comprehensively identify the barriers and facilitators of mental health treatment seeking among active-duty service members. For Sample 1, focus groups were conducted with a general sample (n = 78) of United States soldiers. For Sample 2, interviews were conducted with soldiers who had sought mental health treatment (n = 32). Transcripts were coded using Atlas.ti software (Berlin, Germany), and descriptive analyses identified key themes. Factors identified by this study that have been underinvestigated in previous research included medication concerns, discomfort with discussing mental health problems, beliefs promoted by military culture, positive leader behaviors, and witnessing treatment seekers’ experiences. Common barriers included career concerns, stigma, treatment concerns, leadership problems, and practical barriers. Common facilitators included social support, leadership support, and perceived symptom severity. Findings suggest that treatment-facilitating interventions should reframe treatment-inhibiting perceptions, change leader behaviors, and employ testimonials.

An analysis of product category restrictions in advertising in four major East Asian markets

Many nations have restrictions on advertising in certain product categories. This paper examines product category restrictions on advertising in four large East Asian markets: Japan, Taiwan, the People’s Republic of China, and South Korea. Product categories included in this study include alcohol, cigarettes, ethical drugs, contraceptives, personal hygiene products and undergarments. The authors describe regulatory policy in these categories and use Albaum et al.’s framework for assessing environmental factors in advertising to assess the logic behind the regulation. A wide range of regulations is found across the four countries and it is concluded that a complex web of factors underlies the regulations. Implications for managers are provided.

Utilization of Relationship-Oriented Social Media in the Selling Process: A Comparison of Consumer (B2C) and Industrial (B2B) Salespeople

The rapid pace of technological advancement and adoption of social media among consumers/organizations has been unprecedented in recent years. This study provides insights into understanding social media utilization among professional salespeople. Specifically, social media applications are separated into 15 categories, with multiple applications falling within each category. From a sample of 395 salespeople in B2B and B2C markets, utilization of relationship-oriented social media applications are presented and examined. Overall, findings show that B2B practitioners tend to use media targeted at professionals whereas their B2C counterparts tend to utilize more sites targeted to the general public for engaging in one-on-one dialogue with their customers. Moreover, B2B professionals tend to use relationship-oriented social media technologies more than B2C professionals for the purpose of prospecting, handling objections, and after sale follow-up.

Reward Preferences of Salespeople: How do Commissions Rate?

Compensation plans, including salary, commissions, incentives, promotion, recognition, and rewards, are critical in motivating and influencing salespeople. While commissions are often considered a key component of companies’ compensation and reward structures, past studies have overlooked commissions when studying salespeople’s relative preferences for rewards. The present study extends Chonko, Tanner, and Weeks’s (1992) research by examining salespeople’s preferences for commissions versus other rewards. The findings of this study support the importance of increases in commissions as a reward for salespeople across different industries and different demographic profiles. Higher commission rates were the most preferred reward, followed by pay raises. Promotion and recognition were the least preferred rewards. Managers can utilize the results of this study as they design compensation plans within their companies.

Do Perceptions of Hiring Criteria Differ for Sales Managers and Sales Representatives? Implications for Marketing Education.

Using both qualitative and quantitative methods, this study explores whether perceptions of critical hiring criteria for entry-level sales positions differ across sales managers and sales representatives. This research also examines which classroom activities and skills these individuals perceive to be most important for strengthening the desired skill set and whether an MBA degree is an added advantage when candidates are being considered for entry-level sales positions. Results indicate that managers believe objective assessment, technical skills, experiential learning, acquired skills, college accomplishments, and extracurricular activities are more important than do sales representatives. Sales representatives deem basic skills, educational experiences, and interactive skills as more important than how managers assess these skills and attributes. Neither group believes that having an MBA is a necessary prerequisite for these positions. Recommendations for marketing educators are offered.

Perceived Differences Among Countries

Abstract The purpose of this paper is to report on the development and validation of a measurement tool designed to help us understand perceived similarities and differences among countries. The intent of this project is to extend our understanding of the effects of country perceptions on the larger question of perceptions of products and their origins. While much research has been done on product-country images (PCI), there continues to be a need for understanding how country perceptions affect consumer evaluations of products. Our intent is to complement the country evaluation measures developed by Papadopoulos and Helsop (2000) by understanding the nature of country evaluations in a comparative context. While Papadopoulos and Helsop measured directly perceptions of countries, this research proposes that understanding country evaluations in a comparative context is valuable, as well.