Suchergebnisse

PurposeSets out to nvestigate the adoption of and application of the market orientation concept within the small business sector using Michigan, USA, as a study setting.Design/methodology/approachFollowing a literature review, a pilot study involving face‐to‐face interviews with owner‐managers, and covert and overt observation of small businesses' marketing practices, was undertaken. The main thrust of the research involved a postal survey based on an adapted market orientation construct. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses are employed to assess the reliability of the results.FindingsReveals four dimensions/factors/strategies underpinning market orientation in the study setting. The paper concludes that the size of the business does not moderate the importance ascribed to, and the application of, the marketing concept (i.e. market orientation).Research limitations/implicationsFuture research should be directed at assessing the congruence between owner‐managers' purported marketing practices and consumers' perceptions of their actions. There is the need to develop normative guidelines concerning small businesses' best practice in market orientation.Practical implicationsInsights derived from this study will provide owner‐managers with the building‐blocks for understanding their firm's market orientation capabilities, an important facet in dealing with upstream (suppliers) and downstream (customers) business relationships.Originality/valueThis study responds to a suggestion for marketing scholars to adapt/adopt existing models, constructs, frameworks, definitions, and also to an assertion that the age‐old adage that what does not get measured does not get managed and, as a result, empirical evidence explaining the appreciation and the employment of an extant market orientation construct in the small business environment has been put forward.

PurposeThe hybrid convenience store, a convenient shopping as well as dining environment, is an innovative concept in both the convenience store sector and the food service industry in Taiwan. As Taiwan has taken the lead in the development of the convenience store sector, this phenomenon deserves further investigation so as to assist convenience store operators and restaurateurs in Taiwan in formulating strategies to cope with this trend. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the facilitators of the hybrid convenience store concept accepted by consumers within the framework of Rogers' diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory.Design/methodology/approachThe data in the form of self‐completion survey are collected in MRT stations in Taipei. In total of 289 questionnaires are collected and used for data analysis.FindingsIt is found that the higher the levels of "compatibility", "observability" and "trialability" are, the higher the likelihood that potential consumers will dine in hybrid convenience stores. It is also found that lower levels of "complexity" also increase the likelihood that potential consumers will dine in hybrid convenience stores. However, the findings do not support "relative advantage" as a facilitator.Practical implicationsThe research findings reveal that consumers in urban areas of Taiwan have gradually accepted the innovative concept of dining in hybrid convenience stores. According to the findings, a number of strategies might be applied in order to facilitate the adoption of the dining concept in hybrid convenience stores by potential consumers in Taiwan. For example, the dining process of fast food restaurants can be possible to emulate; having meals on a trial basis can be applied; TV commercials and word of mouth marketing strategies can also be employed.Originality/valueThis paper extends/validates the DOI theory in the Taiwanese convenience store sector and as a consequence, this paper serves as a basic building block in the formulation of pertinent marketing strategies geared toward sustaining and/or increasing consumer patronage in hybrid convenience stores.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the predicting roles of extension naming strategies and categorical fit on the transfer of brand personality from a parent brand to its extension brand. Extension naming strategies include direct and indirect naming, while categorical fit is the similarity between an extended product and its parent brand's cognitive category. Further, the interaction effect and the relative effectiveness of various combinations of the two predictors when determining brand personality transfer are also explored.Design/methodology/approachA 2×2 factorial between‐subject experimental design with one covariate is used to test the proposed hypotheses. The experiment involves 242 participants from a university in Taiwan.FindingsThe findings show that consumers perceive higher brand personality transfer when a direct naming strategy is applied or when the parent brand extends to a high perceived fit product. The former is the dominant predictor of brand personality transfer. There also exists an interaction effect between extension naming strategies and categorical fit. Specifically, consumers perceive the highest brand personality transfer when a direct naming strategy is applied for a high fit extended product. Moreover, the use of a direct naming strategy for an extended product with a low categorical fit still leads to a higher degree of parent brand personality than both the other cases in which an indirect naming strategy is applied for either high or low fit extended products. Furthermore, irrespective of the degree of categorical fit, the transfer of brand personality is low when an indirect naming strategy is applied.Originality/valueThe current research is pioneer work in identifying the determinants of brand personality transfer. It also notes the interaction effect and the relative effectiveness of the determinants.

Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the moderating roles of brand name attitude and product expertise on the impact of different corporate rebranding strategies on consumer brand preference. Rebranding strategies include evolutionary and revolutionary rebranding strategies, while brand name attitude is consumer attitude towards a firm's original brand name and consumer product expertise refers to the consumer knowledge related to the brand's product or service.


Design/methodology/approach
– A 2×2 factorial experimental design is used to examine the proposed hypotheses. In total, 220 undergraduates from a public university in Taipei of Taiwan participate in the experiment.


Findings
– The findings indicate that given brand repositioning is preferable, the use of evolutionary rebranding strategies is superior in enhancing consumer brand preference in the case of pleasant original brand name attitude, while the use of revolutionary strategies is superior when consumers hold less pleasant attitude. In addition, expert consumers show similar responses towards the two rebranding strategies, whereas evolutionary strategies seem to be more effective than revolutionary ones in enhancing consumer brand preferences in the case of novice consumers.


Research limitations/implications
– A convenient sampling method was employed and undergraduate students were the research subjects. Besides, a fictitious brand was used in the experiment design. As a result, the generalisability and applicability of the current research findings should be considered and carried out with cautions.


Practical implications
– The findings of the research provide empirical understanding on the use of rebranding strategies to generate higher levels of brand preference under contingencies, thus helping brand managers apply a more appropriate type of rebranding strategies when necessary.


Originality/value
– The current study is the preliminary causal-oriented work to provide guidance with appropriate rebranding strategies under the contingencies of consumers' original brand name attitude and product expertise.

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the impact of perceived value on customer intention to use the internet as a retailing platform and, more specifically, the impact that perceived value (comprising functional, social, emotional and epistemic values) has on Taiwanese customer intention to conduct the two distribution channel functions, i.e. information collection and order placement, through the internet.Design/methodology/approachA total of 295 usable survey responses were collected in the main commuter district of Taipei, Taiwan.FindingsThe findings indicate that both functional and epistemic values have a significant impact on information collection and order placement. Nevertheless, social value has an impact only on information collection, whereas emotional value has a significant impact only on order placement.Originality/valueThe aforementioned issue has rarely been researched but is essential to the development of a channel of distribution theory and is of immediate relevance to marketing practices. The paper pioneers the study of the impact of perceived value in this context work that empirically investigated such an issue.