Domain 3: Situation Analysis

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When less is more: the downside of customer knowledge sharing in new product development teams

Despite the common belief that knowledge sharing in new product development (NPD) teams is beneficial, empirical findings are mixed. We adopt a microfoundations perspective and draw from the socio-cognitive theory to propose a model that theorizes a nonlinear effect of customer knowledge sharing behaviors on NPD performance. In particular, we identify the underlying mechanism through which shared common customer knowledge and perceived diagnostic value shape the nonlinear returns to customer knowledge sharing behaviors. In Study 1, data from the biotechnology industry provide support for the hypothesis that customer knowledge sharing behaviors in NPD teams have an inverted U-shaped relationship with NPD performance. In Study 2, data from business-to-business (B2B) industries demonstrate that customer knowledge sharing behaviors are positively related to shared common customer knowledge in NPD teams, and the latter has an inverted U-shaped effect on NPD performance. Finally, this nonlinear effect is moderated by the team’s perceived diagnostic value of customer knowledge, such that the inflection point of the inverted U-shaped curve is shifted upward in teams with high levels of perceived diagnostic value of customer knowledge, strengthening the impact of shared common knowledge on NPD performance

Construction of Heterogeneous Conjoint Choice Designs: A New Approach

Extant research on choice designs in marketing focuses on the construction of efficient homogeneous designs where all respondents get the same design. Recently marketing scholars proposed the construction of efficient heterogeneous designs where different respondents or groups of respondents get different subdesigns, and demonstrated substantial efficiency gain when such heterogeneous designs are employed. A significant hurdle in the widespread adoption of heterogeneous designs is the high computation cost, even when the number of subdesigns contained in the heterogeneous design is restricted to be small. In this paper we propose a new approach for the construction of efficient heterogeneous choice designs. In contrast to extant approaches that are based on an exact design framework where it is computationally prohibitive to do an exhaustive search to find a globally optimal design, our proposed approach is based on the continuous design framework where well-established mathematical theories can be leveraged for quick identification of a globally optimal design. The proposed approach makes it feasible to generate a highly efficient choice design that is completely heterogeneous—a unique subdesign for each individual respondent in the choice experiment. The proposed approach is the first in the marketing literature to find a completely heterogeneous choice design with assured high global design efficiency using the continuous design framework. Results from simulation and empirical studies demonstrate superior performance of the proposed approach over extant approaches in constructing efficient heterogeneous choice designs

Going green to be morally clean: An examination of environmental behavior among materialistic consumers

Materialism and environmentalism have emerged as megatrends in developed western societies. Prior research has suggested that these two values are incompatible. The current research shows that materialistic values can strengthen the positive relationship between environmental knowledge and environmental behaviors under certain conditions. The results suggest moral compensation as the underlying cause. Across four studies, this research uses experimental, survey, and secondary data to show that materialistic values can have a positive impact on indirect environmental behaviors when an individual possesses sufficient environmental knowledge. This effect is stronger in individuals who are highly self-conscious as well as those primed to be self-conscious, consistent with the moral compensation paradigm. In summary, the impact of environmental attitudes on environmental behaviors through environmental knowledge is most pronounced when one's materialistic values and self-consciousness are high. Conceptual, policy-making, and managerial implications are discussed

On Optimal Designs for Nonlinear Models: A General and Efficient Algorithm

Finding optimal designs for nonlinear models is challenging in general. Although some recent results allow us to focus on a simple subclass of designs for most problems, deriving a specific optimal design still mainly depends on numerical approaches. There is need for a general and efficient algorithm that is more broadly applicable than the current state-of-the-art methods. We present a new algorithm that can be used to find optimal designs with respect to a broad class of optimality criteria, when the model parameters or functions thereof are of interest, and for both locally optimal and multistage design strategies. We prove convergence to the optimal design, and show in various examples that the new algorithm outperforms the current state-of-the-art algorithms

Optimal Resource Allocation with Time-varying Marketing Effectiveness, Margins and Costs

The importance of optimal marketing communications mix decisions is well-recognized by both marketing scholars and practitioners. A significant volume of work has addressed the problem of dynamic marketing mix optimization assuming constant effectiveness of marketing instruments. However, the effectiveness of marketing communications varies over time for a variety of reasons. Moreover, due to factors such as inflation or deflation in media prices and/or raw material inputs, there can be differential changes in the costs of communications and/or margins on the good (or service) sold over time. The academic literature offers little normative direction on how time-varying marketing effectiveness and costs drive optimal marketing-mix levels and their relative allocation. The authors shed light on these issues by solving a monopoly firm's finite horizon dynamic marketing communications mix optimization problem involving two marketing instruments with time-varying parameters, i.e., the marketing effectiveness parameters, media costs, and product margin are all allowed to vary over time. First, they find that the structure of the solutions is similar to that of the classic Nerlove–Arrow model, for a completely general nature of time-varying effectiveness. Second, their model can be used by managers to exactly determine whether and when to switch their marketing-mix emphasis (defined by the marketing element receiving the dominant portion of the budget) over a finite planning horizon. In sum, the authors expand knowledge on optimal allocation of marketing resources with time-varying effectiveness. They also extend their solution to incorporate multiple (more than two) marketing instruments

Establishing a high-technology knowledge transfer network: The practical and symbolic roles of identification

Knowledge transfer networks (KTNs) are composed of interconnected firms, government entities, and research organizations that play a critical role in the funding, development, and dissemination of knowledge in high-technology industries. Despite the common use of KTNs in situations that require technology inputs spanning multiple firms, little research has examined the start-up of KTNs and the marketing literature has essentially ignored them. Using social network, social identity, and relevant attribution and motivation theories, the authors build a conceptual model that explains key outcomes of start-up KTNs. A preliminary empirical investigation of a UK-wide KTN start-up finds evidence that social identification with the network is a key moderating mechanism. Identification plays a practical role in creating positive knowledge-transfer benefits for firms that are central in the KTN's social network. Identification also plays a symbolic role by affecting participants' perceptions of overall KTN performance in light of knowledge-transfer benefits that they received, and as an antecedent to affective commitment to the KTN

The Bricks That Build the Clicks: Newsroom Investments and Newspaper Online Performance

As the world embraces the Internet for media consumption, the concept of a hybrid newspaper—a printed newspaper with a companion Web site—is becoming more prevalent. Many hope that online advertising revenue (OAR) will help newspapers make up for losses in print (offline) revenue. However, there is little research that has empirically investigated whether and how investment in the “bricks” (i.e., the newsroom staff and resources that produce news content) will help to build “clicks” (i.e., more online visitors and, subsequently, OAR). This article examines the issue via an econometric analysis of 12 years of longitudinal data from a hybrid newspaper. The results show that the basic success of the clicks model depends on the investment in the bricks of the newspaper (i.e., its newsroom). Specifically, although news gathering is a very expensive part of the news business, it is also a creator of value and directly brings in OAR in addition to print advertising revenue. Therefore, as newspapers seek to capture more OAR, they may need to increase, rather than decrease, investment levels in the newsroom