Trina Larsen Andras

Wholesalers as Global Marketers

ABSTRACT The notion of wholesalers as global marketers is almost an oxymoron in marketing thought. Yet, in fact, wholesalers as an institutional type have for thousands of years been involved in what today we refer to as global marketing. Wholesalers of many types have performed numerous activities or functions that have always been necessary for connecting distant buyers and sellers so that transactions can be consummated across international boundaries. In fact, by performing many distribution tasks or functions, wholesaling intermediaries of all types create the channel flows that link buyers and sellers together on a global scale. These flows, of which there are eight (product, ownership, promotion, negotiation, financing, risking, ordering, and payment), do not automatically appear out of thin air. Rather, the eight flows are created and sustained by many types of organizations that perform all of the myriad distribution tasks needed to connect sellers and buyers. Wholesale distributive institutions of all kinds, from the traditional so-called full-function merchant wholesaler to the more narrowly focused wholesaling intermediaries such as freight forwarders and export desk jobbers, all make a contribution by creating and sustaining channel flows. In recent years, as these flows increasingly extend to an international or global level, wholesaling intermediaries will likely play an even larger role in global marketing.

Advertising to ‘active’ viewers

Effects of mere exposure have been widely investigated in the area of advertising, consumer behaviour and social psychology. However, mere exposure theory presents an inherently passive audience perspective (‘What does advertising do to consumers?’). Using a cross-national sample from the US (n = 280) and South Korea (n = 958), this study proposes and tests an ‘active’ exposure concept (‘What do consumers do with advertising?), as derived from uses and gratifications theory. This is important because consumers have changed in the way that they watch television and television advertising, with ‘active’ audiences exerting more control over what, how and when they watch. The results of this study suggest that when consumers experience passive exposure to TV, their prior attitudes do not change in both countries. However, the findings suggest that consumers’ active exposure to TV (in both countries) and to TV ads (only in South Korea) boosts the relationship between Aad and Aproduct in a positive direction. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.

Mitigating consumer ethnocentrism via advertising and media consumption in a transitional market

Consumer ethnocentrism is considered an important barrier to consumption in the global marketplace. Although the concept of consumer ethnocentrism has been investigated over many years in developed markets, there is little research addressing the mitigation of consumer ethnocentrism in transitional economies, which are becoming increasingly important in the global marketplace. One such market, Russia, represents a major potential investment opportunity for global marketers. In this study, we undertake an exploratory study investigating consumer ethnocentrism’s negative influence on Russians’ attitudes towards foreign products and their frequency of purchase of foreign products. We also demonstrate that the influence of consumer ethnocentrism on the frequency of purchase of foreign products is moderated by consumers’ exposure to mass communication (i.e. exposure to television, exposure to foreign movies) and by marketing communication efforts (i.e. exposure to foreign product advertising, involvement with foreign product advertising). In addition to extending theoretical research to a transitional, non-Western context, the empirical results also provide implications for international advertising practitioners.

Consumer Communications, Media Use, and Purchases via the Internet: A Comparative, Exploratory Study

ABSTRACT The Internet provides a fast, efficient and cost-effective alternative for communication, transaction, and distribution. In this study, consumers’ Web-based chatting behavior across three countries (i.e., the U.S., Canada, China) is explored, using an Internet survey of Web-based chatters. Results indicate that chatters’ Internet use does not affect their use of traditional mass media in any significant manner. No difference is found in the frequency of information seeking and chatters’ attitude towards online advertising across the three countries. Internet purchase patterns are contrasted in the three countries, and results suggest that consumers in the U.S. have the highest purchase incidence among the three countries under study. Canadian consumers make significantly fewer purchases than their counterparts in each product category.

Does the degree of retailer international involvement affect retailer performance

This study investigates the impact of the degree of retailer international involvement (DRII), which we define as the number of geographic regions in which a retailer operates, on retailer performance. The data cover 16 international retailers over the period 1996–2012. The findings of the study show that DRII is negatively related to retailer performance. We also find that the cultural distance between the home and host country moderates the relationship between DRII and retailer performance.

The impact of national cultural values on retail structure: Evidence from the World Values Survey

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between national cultural values and retail structure. Design/methodology/approach The authors use a panel data set of 67 countries over the period 1999-2012. Findings The results demonstrate that national cultural values, measured with the World Values Survey’s traditional/secular-rational and survival/self-expression dimensions, affect retail structure. Research limitations/implications While marketing scholars have examined the relationship between demographic and competitive factors and retail structure, there has been a substantial body of anecdotal evidence showing that national culture can also drive retail structure development. In order to enhance the understanding of the relationship between national culture and retail structure, the authors empirically examine the impact of national cultural values on retail structure. Originality/value This study is the first one to empirically examine the impact of national culture on retail structure. The authors thus help advance retail structure research the primary focus of which has been on investigating the impact of demographic and competitive factors on retail structure. This study is especially relevant to international retail managers who coordinate retail operations in multiple countries around the world. These managers need insight into the impact of national cultural values on retail structure in order to devise effective retail strategies for each host market.

The multidimensionality of anthropomorphism in advertising: the moderating roles of cognitive busyness and assertive language

ABSTRACT Anthropomorphized brands or products in advertisements are known to affect consumers’ attitudes in a positive direction. However, most research treats anthropomorphized stimuli as the same in both its design and effects. We explore the multidimensional nature of anthropomorphism in advertising by investigating two degrees of humanization (i.e. subtle vs. overt) that generate different outcomes in terms of advertising performance. For example, we find that consumers prefer ads that use overt humanization (compared to subtle and no humanization) when an ad uses assertive language (i.e. Buy NOW!); however, they prefer ads that use subtle humanization when coupled with ads that do not include assertive language. We find a similar pattern when consumers are cognitively busy. Managerial and theoretical implications are discussed.

International Retail Expansion: What’s Ahead?—An Abstract

Retailers are the last and, thus, a crucial link in the marketing channel because they make goods available to millions of consumers where and when they want them on a daily basis. As consumer tastes and preferences are ever evolving, retailers devise new store formats and expand their operations in order to respond to changing consumer behavior trends. As a result, in many countries around the world, the retail industry has become saturated and retailers have sought to explore untapped market potential in foreign markets in a desire to grow. This has led to a heightened level of retail internationalization (RI), which refers to a retailer’s store presence in foreign markets (Reinartz et al. 2011; Vida et al. 2000). And despite the recent growth of online shopping, which enables international retailers to use e-commerce as a foreign entry mode, these retailers still face similar foreign market expansion impediments as retailers expanding internationally through brick-and-mortar stores.

Paying More for Victoria than Tonya: The Moderating Effect of Brand Anthropomorphism on Phonetic Symbolism

Women’s fashion items are frequently sold with women’s names (i.e. the Victoria dress); however, this trend does not occur in men’s fashion very often. When brands humanize the product by naming it with a person’s name (i.e. Lucky Jeans’s Lolita jeans), the brand is subtly anthropomorphized. Previous research finds that there is a universal positive effect for anthropomorphized brands. Additionally, previous literature also finds that there is a gender effect regarding the preference for the sounds of brands, where men like the sound of back vowels (o, a), and women like sound of front vowels (i, e). In a series of two experiments we find, consistent with previous literature, that women prefer brands with front vowels and that men prefer brands with back vowels in non-anthropomorphized ads. Conversely, the effect is reversed in anthropomorphized ads; we find that women prefer brands with back vowels and that men prefer brands with front vowels. We believe that the mechanism influencing this reversal is narrative transportation.

The Impact of National Culture on Retail Structure

In every country in the world, consumers rely on retailers to purchase the products they need for everyday survival and to satisfy their most specialized needs and wants. Retailers from tiny “mom-and-pop” stores to giant modern stores such as supermarkets, hypermarkets, and “big-box” stores provide the retail distributive institutions needed to make vast arrays of products conveniently available to millions of consumers when and where they desire to buy them. And despite the rapid penetration of online shopping in many countries around the world, brick-and-mortar stores still dominate retail structure because “Shoppers want to feel the fabrics, look at the colors, try out styles—all those things that can be lost online…” (2013 Interbrand Best Retail Brands Report, p. 4). Therefore, retail structure, which refers to the number, size, and type of physical retail stores in a given geographic area, will continue to play a crucial role in the everyday lives of millions of consumers around the globe.