Ronald J. Adams

Retail profitability and sweatshops: a global dilemma

Abstract Todays social contract requires that retailers provide consumers with competitively priced merchandise that is produced under fair and humane conditions, a demand that is increasingly difficult to meet in a global environment where retail buyers are separated from merchandise suppliers both geographically and structurally. As retailers have increasingly turned to outsourcing as a means of protecting bottom line performance, they have become increasingly vulnerable to attack by sweatshop critics. This paper provides a chronological review of sweatshop reform efforts as they relate to world retail trade. The economics of sweatshops are considered, and retail responses to sweatshop critics are described.

Fast Food and Animal Rights: An Examination and Assessment of the Industry's Response to Social Pressure

Fast food chains such as McDonalds, KFC, and Burger King are major players in the production, marketing, and consumption of animal-derived food throughout the world. Animal rights activists are quick to point out the link between the highly efficient factory farms that supply these chains and extreme animal cruelty and environmental degradation. Strategically, fast food is well positioned to leverage change in the methods by which animals are raised and processed for human consumption. Although progress has been made as the fast food industry has responded to pressure exerted by animal rights organizations, there is little indication of true collaborative efforts that would harness the power of the market to bring about substantive changes in the way the consuming public views the issue of animal welfare and food production.

Retailer–manufacturer responsibility in the marketing of firearms: exploring the concept of negligent distribution

One of the most divisive, controversial issues confronting Americans today is the regulation of firearms. Statistics pertaining to firearm-related injuries and death in the United States are staggering; approximately 32,000 Americans die annually from gunshot wounds, the vast majority of which can be attributed to handguns. Estimates of the costs of gun-related violence in the United States run as high as

Product liability in industrial markets

100 billion/year. Not surprisingly, the firearms death rate in the United States is among the highest in the world, and clearly the highest among industrialized nations. To what extent, if any, do manufacturers and retailers share responsibility for harm caused by firearms? Manufacturer/retailer responsibility for firearm-related injuries may be tested under any one or more of a number of legal theories: products liability, public nuisance, and negligence. Of particular interest to marketers and retailers is the assertion that responsibility can be traced to negligent distribution practices. Although negligent distribution has been alleged in a number of key cases, the concept remains ambiguous. What does seem clear is that legal responsibility for injuries and death attributable to handguns has expanded, and negligence in marketing and distribution practices will become a paramount issue shaping the future direction of the firearms industry worldwide.

Some Correlates of Consumer Dissatisfaction with Retail Complaint Handling Performance

Abstract Major changes have been proposed in product liability law at the federal level. These changes are of strategic importance to marketing decision makers. A brief overview of the crisis in product liability is given along with proposed changes in the law. Strategic implications of passage and nonpassage of federal legislation are discussed.

Product Liability: An Important Dimension of Marketing Strategy

The viability of modern-day retail organizations is largely contingent upon the ability of management to monitor and respond constructively to consumerism. Although retailers have made considerable progress in this direction, consumer dissatisfaction rema.ins with certain facets of retail performance, including the capability of retailers to satisfactorily resolve customer complaints.

Some Insights into the Effective Promotion of Gift Certificates: Behavior and Media Characteristics of Department Store Gift Certificate Purchasers

Marketing decision makers are faced with a crisis in product liability law which impacts virtually every area of marketing decisionmaking. A brief review of the current crisis is presented and underlying causal factors are identified. Strategic implications are emphasized and the prospects for federal product liability reform are discussed.

Consumer Utilization and Reactions Toward Two Grassroots Dispute Resolution Systems

Gift certificates are a potentially profitable element in the product mix of the retailer. This research extends knowledge about gift giving behavior and provides department store managers with insights into effectively promoting gift certificates.

A Brief Review and Assessment of the Leegin Decision: Who Wins and Who Loses When Manufacturers are Free to Set Retail Prices?

Consumer welfare and satisfaction are directly related to the performance of available dispute resolution systems. Results of a 1980 survey indicate that consumer utilization of small claims courts and Better Business Bureaus is low and attitudinal reactions toward these two systems tends to be negative.

Trade Shows: An Effective Promotional Tool for the Small Industrial Business

For decades, it has been a per se violation of U.S. antitrust law for manufacturers or distributors to specify retail selling prices. In the spirit of atomistic, unrestrained competition, retailers were free to set prices without undue interference from upstream channel participants. Attempts by manufacturers or other channel participants to restrict retail price setting initiatives were viewed by regulators as an unwarranted and illegal interference with the market mechanism. Restrictions on price setting initiatives would, it was argued, lessen competition and ultimately raise prices above competitive levels to the detriment of consumers. Recently, under the leadership of newly appointed Chief Justice Roberts, a more “business friendly” Supreme Court has reversed this policy; vertical price fixing is no longer a per se violation of U.S. antitrust law. By a five‐to‐four margin, the Court held in Leegin Creative Leather Products that manufacturers could, under certain circumstances, establish binding retail selling prices. Henceforth, retail price setting restrictions will be subject to a rule of reason evaluation whereby price restrictions will be assessed on a case‐by‐case basis. Proponents of the now‐legal restrictions argue that this will ensure that merchandise sold through retail outlets will receive needed support, free riding will be reduced or eliminated, and new brand introduction will be facilitated. Critics argue that the Courts decision marks a return to the days of fair trading; marginal firms will be protected, so‐called “inframarginal consumers” will be forced to pay for services they do not want or need, and prices for many branded products will rise, all to the detriment of consumer welfare.