Measuring marketing performance: a review and a framework

Critics of marketing commonly allude to problems with its accountability and credibility. In order to address these issues, marketing professionals have been called on to demonstrate the contribution of marketing to firm performance. A better understanding of current research in marketing performance can better enable marketing managers to justify its expense. Given the foregoing, it was determined to (1) review the current status of marketing performance studies, and (2) develop a comprehensive, yet concise model to measure the performance of marketing. To begin, the main terms used in marketing performance are clarified. Then, a detailed review of marketing performance studies is provided. An integrated Model for Measuring Marketing Performance (MMMP) is then proposed. Finally, some conclusions are drawn and some directions for future research are suggested

Irish consumers' perception of Chinese brands and how to improve the "Made in China" image

The Chinese government launched the “going abroad” policy in 2001 to encourage Chinese companies to invest and create Chinese brands in international markets. However, the perceptions of Chinese brands among Western consumers have been shown to be consistently low, especially amongst European consumers. This research aims to investigate the Irish consumers’ perception of Chinese brands and how to improve the “Made in China” image. This paper also investigates consumers’ perceptions and attitudes when making purchase decisions for Chinese brands based on gender, age, and nationality. The paper provides important recommendations for Chinese companies who plan to enter the European, and more particularly, the Irish market

Low cost airlines - a new customer relationship? an analysis of service quality, service satisfaction and customer loyalty in a low cost setting

Many organizations are now paying close attention in evaluating and implementing marketing strategies with the specific aim of improving customer retention. While extensive literature has focused on the link between service quality, satisfaction, and loyalty, little research has been conducted on examining these three constructs in the context of low cost airlines. Using questionnaire data collected at two European airports, the results suggest that though both the service quality and customer satisfaction have positive influence on repurchase intentions, customer satisfaction is a much stronger driver in influencing repurchase loyalty than service quality, which implies that these constructs interact in a different manner in a low cost setting

Engendering a market orientation: exploring the invisible role of leaders’ personal values

With the emergence of a ‘second generation of market orientation’, the topic has become a rich field for researchers to cultivate. Though marketing scholars have turned their attention to the critical role top leaders play in shaping and creating a market oriented organization, no research to date has considered the impact of leaders’ personal values in the process of engendering a market orientation. We argue that personal values, the primary driver of motivation, fundamentally determine human behavior. The objective of this study is to fill the gap in the current literature by systematically exploring the relationship between the two constructs. In this paper, a series of propositions is derived which suggests that leaders with different sets of personal values tend to emphasize different dynamics of market orientation. Consequently, we postulate that personal values play an invisible yet powerful role in impeding or facilitating the development of a market orientation. This research leads to an important implication for managers: a more balanced market-orientated approach can be achieved if managers become more aware of the personal values they possess

Adopting an open innovation paradigm: managerial perceptions and the innovation value chain

This study explores the adoption of open innovation (OI) practices in medium-sized and large firms in a sector characterised by low levels of external collaborations. Many firms struggle to adopt OI practices (O'Connell, 2011); the processes that lead to the adoption of OI practices are unclear (Mortara and Minshall, 2011); and the degree of open innovation, as measured by the number of external collaborations, in Irish firms is low (Vahter et al., 2012). This inductive study is based on case studies of a significant innovation in four medium-sized (€50m to €500m) and four large (Revenue above €500m) firms from the food sector in Ireland. In each of the firms, multiple senior managers (CEOs, innovation managers and marketing managers) were interviewed about the origin of the innovative idea; the management of the innovation; and the role of external partners and customers in the innovation process. Within and cross case analysis finds that the adoption of OI innovation practices are most common at the early stage of the innovation value chain (IVC); that managerial perceptions of competitive threats appear to limit the extent to which firms adopt OI practices at the conversion stage of the IVC; that at the diffusion stage OI practices are largely limited to collaborations with customers; and managers regard external interactions for market orientation as being open in their innovation processes. In terms of the process of adoption, the smaller firms in this study are characterised by ad-hoc adoption of OI practices, while in the larger firms there is some evidence of more ‘conscious adoption’ of OI practices (Mortara and Minshall, 2011). Contributions include an argument that OI practices differ by stages of the innovation process; that managerial perceptions limit the adoption of OI practices; that market orientation may be regarded as a subset of open innovation; and the development of emerging work that explores the adoption of OI in non-‘high-tech’ contexts

An Improved Apriori Algorithm for Association Rule Mining in Employability Analysis

The wide application of emerging advanced technologies causes significant changes in the development trend of the employment market. The lack of flexible and easy-to-implement analysis methods challenges general maritime education practitioners to understand the developing trends. This research proposed the improved Apriori algorithm to explore employment preference by identifying the association rule of the employability indicators and the employment status. The candidate generation methods are optimised based on the questionnaire design to generate fewer candidates. The minimum support value is automatically generated to reduce the reliance on analysis expertise and improve accuracy. To validate the algorithm, a questionnaire for the maritime graduate is used to collect employment data to test the efficiency and capability of the improved algorithm. The computation time for different data set sizes shows that the improvement could improve the algorithm\u27s effectiveness. The algorithm also successfully identifies significant employment preference that certain employment types emphasise specific employability skills, such as responsibility and core professional skills. The results suggest that the improved A algorithm could reduce the computing burden and identify the employment preference from questionnaire data. This research provides easy-to-use and flexible analysis tools, which could reduce the computing expertise required for education practitioners

Rational design of microRNA-siRNA chimeras for multifunctional target suppression

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in a variety of human diseases by simultaneously suppressing many gene targets. Thus, the therapeutic value of miRNAs has been intensely studied. However, there are potential limitations with miRNA-based therapeutics such as a relatively moderate impact on gene target regulation and cellular phenotypic control. To address these issues, we proposed to design new chimeric small RNAs (aiRNAs) by incorporating sequences from both miRNAs and siRNAs. These aiRNAs not only inherited functions from natural miRNAs, but also gained new functions of gene knockdown in an siRNA-like fashion. The improved efficacy of multifunctional aiRNAs was demonstrated in our study by design and testing of an aiRNA that inherited the functions of both miR-200a and an AKT1-targeting siRNA for simultaneous suppression of cancer cell motility and proliferation. The general principles of aiRNA design were further validated by engineering new aiRNAs mimicking another miRNA, miR-9. By regulating multiple cellular functions, aiRNAs could be used as an improved tool over miRNAs to target disease-related genes, thus alleviating our dependency on a limited number of miRNAs for the development of RNAi-based therapeutics

Kinetics of lithium peroxide oxidation by redox mediators and consequences for the lithium–oxygen cell

Lithium–oxygen cells in which lithium peroxide forms in solution rather than on the electrode surface, can sustain relatively high cycling rates but require redox mediators to charge. The mediators are oxidised at the electrode surface and then oxidise lithium peroxide stored in the cathode. The kinetics of lithium peroxide oxidation has received almost no attention and yet is crucial for operation of the lithium–oxygen cell. It is essential that the molecules oxidise lithium peroxide sufficiently rapidly to sustain fast charging. Here we investigate the kinetics of lithium peroxide oxidation by several different classes of redox mediators. We show that the reaction is not a simple outer–sphere electron transfer and that the steric structure of the mediator molecule plays an important role. The fastest mediator studied here could sustain charging current of up to 1.9 A cm–2, based on a model for a porous electrode described here. Lithium-oxygen cells in which the cathode reaction of lithium peroxide formation takes place in solution rather than on the electrode surface, can sustain relatively high cycling rates but require redox mediators to oxidise it. The mediators are oxidised at the electrode surface and then oxidise lithium peroxide particles in the pores of the cathode that are disconnected from the surface. The kinetics of lithium peroxide oxidation has received almost no attention and yet is crucial for operation of the lithium-oxygen cell. While molecules with fast electron transfer at the electrode surface are common, it is also essential that the molecules oxidise lithium peroxide sufficiently rapidly to sustain relatively fast charging. Here we investigate the kinetics of lithium peroxide oxidation by several classes of redox mediators, with varying electrochemical and structural properties (amines, nitroxy and thiol compounds). The rates range from 0.025 to 7.9 x10—3 cm s—1 with the nitroxy compounds exhibiting the highest rates. We show that the reaction is not a simple outer sphere electron transfer and that the nature of the mediator molecule plays an important role for example the steric hindrance around the active redox centre of the mediator. The fastest mediator studied here could sustain an areal current density on charging of up to 1.9 A cm—2, based on a model for a porous electrode described in the paper

Marketing performance measurement systems and firm performance: are marketing capabilities the missing links?

Purpose – Driven by the growing pressure to justify the contributions of marketing activities, marketers have shown considerable interest in improving their marketing performance measurement systems (MPMSs). The objective of this study is to examine the neglected mediating effect of marketing capabilities on the MPMS-firm performance relationship and to focus on specific aspects of MPMSs that have been largely omitted in the prior research, namely the comprehensiveness and uses of MPMSs. Design/methodology/approach – A survey was conducted with marketing and senior managers from 210 Irish-based companies. The proposed research model was tested using the SPSS Process macro and structural equation modelling in AMOS 24. Findings – The three characteristics of MPMSs influence firm performance in different manners: while the diagnostic use of MPMSs hinders the development of market-linking capability and thus negatively influences firm performance, the comprehensiveness of MPMSs positively influences firm performance through its impact on architectural marketing capability, and the interactive use of MPMSs via externally-focused learning and market-linking capabilities. Practical implications – This study provides insights into how companies can use a comprehensive MPMS to cultivate specific crucial marketing capabilities and thereby enhance firm performance. Originality/value – This study contributes to the marketing performance measurement literature by proposing and empirically validating the mediating effect of marketing capabilities on the MPMS-firm performance relationship. Keywords Marketing performance measurement systems, the use of MPMSs, market-linking capability, externally-focused learning capability, architectural marketing capabilit