Richard R. Brand

A cross-sectional test of the effect and conceptualization of service value

Focusses attention on service value as a construct which may help explain consumer decision making; however, to date this attention has been largely conceptual. Finds from the results of two empirical studies that models of consumer decision‐making which include service value explain significantly more variance in purchase intentions than models which include only service quality or cost factors, and the means by which consumers form service value perceptions is best depicted as a cognitive addition process.

Purchasing's Role in Supply Chain Management

The concept and importance of supply chain management (SCM) has been introduced and described at length in the literature. Several mostly conceptual definitions of SCM were found. To classify these multiple definitions and extend SCM to include a process orientation a conceptual model of SCM evolution was developed. This research proposes that SCM is an evolving concept with individual firms at different stages in their adoption of the concept. In its most advanced form SCM is not a subset of logistics but is a broad strategy which cuts across business processes both within the firm and through the channels required to reach the customer and involves the firms suppliers. Thus SCM as a concept is organization‐wide; not logistics‐specific. An exploratory study of purchasing professionals was performed and it was determined that their definitions of SCM focused on developing relations with suppliers including partnerships. SCM provided purchasers multiple benefits including improved supplier coordination. This improved coordination resulted in greater commitment to long‐term supplier relations, with a focus on reducing cost to the buying organization.

Quality Service Issues: a Multivariate Analysis of Association-Meeting Planner Perceptions of Caribbean Destinations

From 1979 to 1989, meeting industry expenditures, particularly corporate meeting expenditures, grew explosively-more than tripling. The recent world-wide recession and the international concern for security, however, have caused many association-meeting planners to reassess the need to continue holding overseas meetings, regardless of the destination. This presents a unique marketing challenge to overseas destinations traditionallydependent upon the United States association- meetings industry. The primary purpose of this research was to determine the quality and service issues that most affect the attractiveness of 10 Caribbean destinations as perceived by U. S. association-meeting planners who actually planned meetings in the Caribbean. Results indicated that the planners perceived the 10 selected Caribbean destinations differently when comparing grand means as well as indi vidual-cluster means for the categories of Facilities & Services, Recreation, and Entertainment. Consequently, specific marketing strategies for each segment may now be developed and implemented by Caribbean governments, hotel associations, tourism organizations, and individual properties.

Consumer‐specific determinants of the size of retail choice sets: an empirical comparison of physical good and service providers

Examines the relationship between consumer‐specific constructs and the size of consumer retail choice sets for four different types of retailers: convenience/quick‐stop stores, fast‐food outlets, health clubs and medical services. Includes in the analysis consumer experience, product class importance, brand‐decision importance, perceived risk, brand loyalty and demographics as predictors of the size of awareness, consideration/evoked and reconsideration set sizes. Finds that when comparing physical goods as opposed to service providers, the size of retail choice sets differs significantly and that consumer experience and reseller loyalty are important predictors of choice set size. Indicates that the size of a consumer’s choice set decreases as a retailer’s product offerings move along the continuum from pure physical goods to pure services. Identifies and discusses managerial and research implications of the results.

Identifying Market Potential: The Application of Brand Development Indexing to Pleasure Travel

Tourism and travel marketing executives have historically been faced with challenges related to the accurate measurement of market demand and the accurate identification of market potential. Market demand and market potential differ from each other. It is there fore important to understand how they differ with respect to tourism and hospitality services marketing. This study applied brand development indexing (BDI) to tourism. This marketing tool, traditionally used for identifying market potential and resource allocation for goods and products, was found to be very successful in identifying pleasure travel market potential when combined with the proposed opportunity matrix. The study suggests that the utility of brand development indexing for the travel and tourism industry has tremen dous potential for destinations, attractions, and other hospitality services.