Robert G. Vambery

Unbranding: threat to brands, opportunity for generics and store brands

Purpose – Marketers devote great efforts to maintaining brand value. However, brand value can come under attack in the absence of sufficient product performance and image differentiation in a process called unbranding. This paper aims to provide insights and guidelines that will give marketing managers tools to deal with variables that impact consumer decisions on whether to buy a national brand or a store brand product.Design/methodology/approach – A consumer research study was based on a random, mall intercept with 188 respondents consisting of seven questions scored on a ten‐point scale. The results are presented on a set of graphs accompanied with some analysis of means (ANOM) applications.Findings – Results indicated that a significant portion of consumers (from over 40 percent to a high of 85 percent) feel that the quality differences between branded and generic products have diminished and the price premiums charged by branded products are often no longer justifiable.Research limitations/implicatio...

Exports in the Globalization Strategies of Korean, Japanese and U.S. Firms – An Interactive Analysis

The successes of their export sectors have been key to the economic recoveries of both Japan and Korea through the 1970’s. During the 1980’s, exportation became fundamental in the establishment of their largest firms as major multinational corporations. At the beginning of the 1990’s U.S. trade officials point to America’s export sector as the outstanding performer in a generally weak economy. This study conducts mail questionnaire surveys of senior executives of the largest Korean, Japanese, and U.S. corporations to gain insights into the evolution of the international competitive strategies of their corporations. The paper uses quantitative analysis to improve understanding of how firms continuously adjust their marketing strategies in response to their interactions in export markets in an increasingly global market place.

An Evaluation of the Marketing Competitiveness of the Us and Japan in a Comparative Framework

Recent US business editorials extol the competitive posture of the

Aligning Global Business Strategy Planning Models with Accelerating Change

7-trillion-a-year American economy, emphasizing the positive affects associated with the nation’s rising productivity rankings. Is the United States truly in the midst of an enviable period of maintainable economic growth, with an effective, purposeful and guiding trade policy, or is it destined to watch as mercantilist countries practice carefully crafted methods of managed trade, hampering continued US growth?