W. Glynn Mangold

Word‐of‐mouth communication in the service marketplace

Word‐of‐mouth communication (WOM) is a dominant force in the marketplace for services. However, the current body of research provides little insight into the nature of WOM in the service marketplace. Reports the results of a content‐analytic study that provides insight into WOM’s content and the catalysts by which it is stimulated. The goal was to capture a series of “grounded events” from which broader patterns could be discerned. These grounded events were actual incidents of WOM as described by the recipients of a communication. Three content categories and ten catalyst categories are identified. Implications for managers are addressed.

Developing Information Technology Skills in the Marketing Curriculum

Advances in technology have opened new avenues by which students can gather marketing information. The new technology-based sources include on-line computer databases, CD ROM databases, and the INTERNET. Research conducted in one Marketing department suggests that students consider these technology-based sources to be important to business professionals but attach a relatively low rating to their skills at acquiring information through these sources. Suggestions for incorporating technology-based information sources into the marketing curriculum constitute the primary focus of the article. Specific attention is given to courses that are common to most marketing curriculums (Principles of Marketing, Consumer Behavior, Marketing Research, Marketing Management, and Global Marketing).

Service quality in a retail channel system

Focuses on quality service issues as they relate to channel retail systems, providing insights into the type of channel systems rewards that are given to distributors that produce superior service quality, and providing insights into the determinants of service quality in retail channel systems. Examines the relationship between retailers and consumers in the consumer beverage industry. Provides implications for managers and researchers.

An Examination of the Relationship between Manufacturing Strategy and Marketing Objectives

The development of a manufacturing strategy that is in consonance with marketing objectives is an essential ingredient for success in the current business environment. Therefore, the relationship between marketing objectives and manufacturing strategies was examined in this article. Responses from 175 manufacturing organisations indicated that high levels of process structure complexity and organisational scope are associated with companies that have a dominant market share. Conversely, organisations that are minor competitors tend to have lower levels of process structure complexity and organisational scope.

Integrating Geographic Information Systems (GIS) Applications Into Business Courses Using Online Business Geographics Modules

Although the value of geographic information systems (GIS) technologies is recognized by practitioners and educators alike, GIS instruction has yet to make significant inroads into business curricula. In this article, the authors discuss the constraints of integrating GIS tools into business education. They develop a prototype module for overcoming these constraints and discuss a retail site selection module and its implementation in a retail management course. Faculty and student evaluations of this exercise serve as the basis for assessment of this approach and recommendations for future development of GIS instruction in business education.

Growing the Employee Brand at ASI A Case Study

The employee brand is the image presented to an organizations customers and other relevant stakeholders through its employees. The employee branding process is predicated on achieving and maintaining message consistency throughout the organization. Messages emanate from various organizational sources such as the systems of organizational staffing, performance management, and compensation. Each message should reflect and reinforce the organizations desired brand image which, in turn, should be consistent with the organizations mission and values. When this happens, both the psychological contract and employee brand knowledge is effectively managed, resulting in a brand image that is consistent with the organizations desired brand image. The development of the employee brand through the employee branding process can provide a source of sustainable competitive advantage for the organization. This case study is designed to be used as a teaching tool for understanding the complexity of the process and providing guidance for growing the employee brand.

Developing a Social Media and Marketing Course.

This paper describes the process used and experiences gained in developing a social media and marketing course. As the first known paper on this topic appearing in the marketing education literature, the paper provides educators with a framework for developing similar courses. The course was developed using a sound instructional design model, the Kemp Instructional Model, and was continuously improved over a four-year cycle. The course concept entailed four distinguishing characteristics: an experiential-learning approach, a nontraditional class format, a practitioner orientation that focused on the use of social media in marketing, and the integration of a Learning Community (LC) that consisted of multiple participants with different professional perspectives and areas of expertise. Based on quantitative and qualitative evaluations collected over a four-year period from all members of the LC, the course was found to be highly successful in achieving all course objectives.

Building the Technology Toolkit of Marketing Students: The Emerging Technologies in Marketing Initiative

New information technologies are transforming marketing practice, leading to calls for marketing academics to focus their research and teaching more tightly on areas relevant to practitioners. Developments in e-commerce, business geographic information systems (GIS), and social media offer powerful marketing tools to nontechnical users. This paper describes one departments effort to integrate these tools through an Emerging Technologies in Marketing Initiative spanning several marketing courses. It describes the development, underlying principles, pedagogical content, and academic structure of the Initiative. The paper also evaluates the performance of the Initiative and discusses the potential for and difficulties of replicating it at other institutions.

Integrating Geographic Information Systems (GIS) into the Marketing Curriculum

Though spatial information is of vital importance in a wide variety of marketing decisions, geographic information systems (GIS) applications are not well integrated into the marketing curriculum. Such integration faces a serious array of financial, training, faculty, technical and resource constraints. The collection of GIS modules described in this paper is a set of course-specific instructional tools that are designed for use across the marketing curriculum. Each module enables students to engage in hands-on GIS analysis that is directly related to content in the relevant course. Over the course of their academic program, students using the modules build a solid portfolio of basic GIS skills as well as an understanding of more extensive applications of the technology.

RacerGISOnline: Enhancing Learning in Marketing Classes with Web-Based Business GIS.

Geographic Information Systems (GIS) offer geospatial analytical tools with great potential for applications in marketing decision making. However, for various reasons, the rate of adoption of these tools in academic marketing programs has lagged behind that of marketing practitioners. RacerGISOnline is an innovative approach to integrating these tools into several courses in the marketing curriculum while avoiding the problems that have constrained adoption. This paper describes that system, its implementation, and evaluation at a regional comprehensive university, as well as its potential for implementation in other marketing departments.