Suboptimality of Sales Promotions and Improvement Through Channel Coordination

This paper deals with sales promotions in the form of consumer price discounts in fast-moving consumer goods. First, we show analytically that suboptimality is to be expected with respect to the size of the consumer price discount. This is due to the separate decision making of the retailer and the manufacturer. We then compute the impact of this suboptimality for a database of eighty-six sale promotions, and we find that it is substantial. On average, the actual profitability of the sales promotions is only about one fourth of its potential profitability. The suboptimality problem can be solved through specific arrangements between retailer and manufacturer, which have the purpose of better channel coordination. One of these is a proportional discount sharing arrangement, in which each party contributes to the consumer price discount in proportion to its original margin (without sales promotion). Several other winwin arrangements are possible also.Sales promotions;channel coordination;channels of distribution;consumer price discounts

The Effectiveness of Case-Based Reasoning: An Application in Sales Promotions

This paper deals with Case-based Reasoning (CBR) as a support technology for sales promotion (SP) decisions. CBR-systems try to mimic analogical reasoning, a form of human reasoning that is likely to occur in weakly-structured problem solving, such as the design of sales promotions. In an empirical study, we find evidence that use of the CBR-system improves the quality of SP-campaign proposals. In terms of the creativity of the proposals, decision-makers who think highly divergent (i.e., who tend to generate many, and diverse ideas in response to a problem) benefit most from prolonged system usage. Creativity, in turn, is positively related to the (practical) usability of a proposal. These results suggest that the CBR-system is most effective when it is used as an idea-generation tool that reinforces the strength of divergent (creative) thinkers. A convergent thinking style, in which case the CBR-system has a compensating role, even has a negative impact on CBR-system usage. Increasing the decision-maker's personal belief in the usefulness of the system, e.g., by training or education, may help to alleviate this reluctance to use the CBR-system.marketing management support systems;sales promotions;case-based reasoning;weakly-structured decision making

The Effectiveness of Different Mechanisms for Integrating Marketing and R&D

The integration of marketing and R&D is a major concern for companies that want to improve their new product performance (NPP). In order to integrate, companies are using mechanisms such as physical proximity, cross-functional teams, and job rotation. This study examines the relative effectiveness of these mechanisms by developing a model that distinguishes between indirect effects of mechanisms on NPP (i.e., through a higher level of integration) and direct effects. The model is tested with data collected from 148 pharmaceutical companies. By simultaneously studying a broad range of integrating mechanisms, we found that housing marketing and R&D closer to each other and using an influential cross-functional phase review board are highly effective mechanisms to increase integration. Using information and communication technology (ICT) more intensively, having equal remuneration and career opportunities for marketing and R&D and using more cross functional teams are also effective in producing more integration, although to a somewhat lesser extent. The effectiveness of personnel movement and informal social group events is rather low. Interestingly, ICT appears to be a very effective tool for enhancing NPP. ICT not only fosters integration, but in addition it has an independent direct positive effect on NPP, possibly through knowledge creation within marketing and R&D. We also found a direct effect on NPP of another mechanism: cross functional phase review boards. However, for this mechanism the direct effect is negative. So, notwithstanding its strong positive effect on integration, a price is paid in terms of NPP. This may be related to the amount of formalization and complexity accompanying this mechanism.marketing;interne organisatie;farmaceutische industrie;interfaces;productontwikkeling

Intra-Firm Adoption Decisions

The subject of this paper is intra-firm adoption decisions, a relatively unexplored research area in the marketing literature. In particular, we investigate which factors influence the intra-firm adoption decisions regarding the common European currency of the treasury, purchasing and sales departments of European companies. Two sets of independent variables were hypothesized to influence the intra-firm adoption decisions, i.e. (1) variables known from the inter-firm diffusion literature, (2) variables specifically relevant for intra-firm analyses of innovation acceptance. The hypotheses are tested using data from treasury, purchasing and sales managers (441 respondents in total) from companies located in five different European countries. The results of logistic regression show that the proposed intra-firm variables are indeed important explanatory variables that should be included in intra-firm analyses. Moreover, for the inter-firm variables we found differences in the effects between departments, which demonstrates the very need for an intra-firm analysis.innovation;European Monetary Union;business marketing;intra-firm adoption;European marketing

New Product Announcements as Market Signals. A content analysis in the DRAM chip industry

New-product announcements (NPAs) have considerable effects on competitors in industrial markets. Several studies have shown that the perceived threat caused by an NPA may trigger severe competitive reactions. Yet it is still unclear how the perception of threat by competitors is related to the specific content of the announcement. In this study we explore the actual content of NPAs observed in a particular market. We do this through a multi-year content analysis of new-product announcements in the DRAM memory chip industry. We analyze patterns in the occurrence of attributes and demonstrate how firm strategy affects NPA content. Findings from this study provide important insights for managers about the design of NPAs. It also triggers further research on the use of NPAs in competitive industrial markets.competition;innovation;market signals;new product announcement;semiconductors

Building Stronger Channel Relationships Through Information Sharing

Does sharing market information help channel partners to buildstronger mutual relationships? Is low initial trust really animpediment for further relationship development by means ofinformation sharing? How do connections with other competingchannel partners affect the relationship building process? Toaddress these questions, we conducted an experimental study.Our findings show that retailer information sharing helps todevelop higher quality supplier relationships. Interestingly,even if the initial level of trust in the retailer is low, therelationship quality substantially improves. In a morecompetitive situation the suppliers respond more favorably tothe retailer?s information-sharing initiative.experimental design;information-sharing;interfirm collaboration;marketing channels

Case 10: Rozenhof

Het recreatiepark 'Rozenhof', gevestigd in een bosrijke streek in het midden des lands, biedt aan zijn bezoekers ontspanningsmogelijkheden in de vorm van: een speeltuin met een groot assortiment speelwerktuigen, een dierentuin van bescheiden omvang, een zwembad en een uitgestrekt wandelterrein. Ook maakt een rozentuin deel uit van het park. Aan deze tuin ontleent het park zijn naam. Oorspronkelijk vormden de rozen vrijwel het enige attractiepunt voor het publiek, maar op dit moment is het een onderdeel dat de bezoekers hoogstens in het voorbijgaan even 'aandoen'. Rozenhofis open van Imaart tot Inovember. De bezoekers zijn echter vooral geconcentreerd in de maanden juli en augustus. In deze twee maanden komt 60% van hetjaarlijks aantal bezoekers

Marketing door het architektenbureau

Zoals uit het voorwoord van dit jaarboek blijkt, is de belangrijkste aanleiding voor dit artikel de teruggang in de orderportefeuille van architectenbureaus en de daarmee gepaard gaande sterke aehteruitgang van de werkgelegenheid in deze branche. De hulp van marketing wordt ingeroepen om nieuwe perspectieven te ontwikkelen. Direct al kan worden opgemerkt dat marketing niet moet worden beschouwd als een wondermiddel dat alle problemen oplost. Het lijkt tamelijk laat om de hulp van marketing in te roepen als de branche reeds onder grote druk staat. Ook als het goed gaat, is een goede marketing-strategie een eerste vereiste, al is het alleen maar om te zorgen dat het ook goed blijft gaan. Niettemin geldt ook hier: 'beter laat dan nooit' en in nevenstaand artikel zal verder worden uitgewerkt hoe een marketing-benadering vorm kan krijgen binnen het beleid van een arehitectenbureau en kan bijdragen tot meer marktgericht ondernemen in deze bedrijfstak. We beperken ons hierbij tot het zelfstandige architektenbureau dat, onafhankelijk van opdrachtgever en uitvoerend bouwbedrijf, betrokken is bij de voorbereiding, het ontwerpen en de realisatie van bouwwerken. Vragen komen aan de orde zoals: hoe kunnen we de problematiek van een dergelijk bureau vertalen in marketing-termen, welke zijn de specifieke kenmerken (produkt, opdrachtgevers, concurrenten en omgeving) van de markt van architectenbureaus, welke marketing-instrumenten heeft het architectenbureau en hoe kunnen deze worden ingezet. Uiteraard is er een grote diversiteit aan bureaus en is niet ieder aspect is even relevant voor ieder bureau. Ongetwijfeld zijn er bureaus die, soms expliciet, veelal wellicht impliciet, reeds opereren volgens een marketing- concept, dat wil zeggen bij hun beleid de beboeften en wensen van hun afnemers (opdrachtgevers) als uitgangspunt nemen, Daarnaast lijken er veel bureaus te zijn waarbij de eigen opvattingen over hoe het produkt moet worden ontwikkeld en vormgegeven zodanig domineren, dat veeleer sprake is van produktgerichte dan van marktgericbte benadering. In dit artikel wordt eerst aandacbt besteed aan marketing als vakgebled, waarbij het marketingconcept centraal staat. Daarna wordt de marketingbenadering toegepast op het architectenbureau

Profile of the first generation of marketing expert systems

The emergence of expert systems in marketing can be seen as the next step in the development of the use of computers in marketing management, where starting out with an almost exclusively mathematical model building/optimization approach, gradually more judgmental elements from managerial experience were added (decision calculus; marketing decision support systems)

Multidimensional models for the analysis of consumer' perceptions and preferences with respect to agricultural and food products

This paper deals with models and measurement procedures, recently developed in the field of consumer research, that can help to obtain useful information for the marketing of agricultural and food products. The models described take a multidimensional approach where the dimensions that are assumed to influence consumers' perceptions and preferences can be physical as well as psychological. The methods described can be used (i) to determine the dimensions (attributes), by which agricultural and food products are judged by consumers (the perceptual dimensions) (ii) to examine how consumers weigh these attributes against one another when determining their preferences between the alternatives. The approach offers benefits especially in product development, market segmentation and marketing communication