The Internet age, some argue, heralds “the death of distance.” For example, aside from occasional utilitarian factors, such as shipping costs, geography is irrelevant to a purchasing decision. Unlike physical stores, the geographic location of online vendors is irrelevant to the consumer. Along these same lines, one might assume that geographical proximity is even less […]
Read More… from Geography Still Counts for Electronic Word of Mouth
Shareholders can submit complaints to publicly-traded companies on a broad range of topics, including poor financial performance, poor governance, dissatisfaction with the firm strategy, or a controversial change in leadership, to name but a few. These complaints are then discussed at the next meeting. Complaints from shareholders are likely to have a negative impact on […]
Read More… from Advertising Bolsters Firm Value after Shareholder Complaints
Most major firms have online brand communities to reinforce their connections with customers and increase their reputation, brand patronage and customer spending. These online communities offer satisfied customers the ability to easily and widely spread positive word of mouth about the company. However, online brand communities offer dissatisfied customers the same ability to spread negative […]
Governments, companies and consumers all generally agree on the importance of recycling for environmental reasons. The challenge is turning awareness into action. Governments and non-governmental organizations are taking steps to encourage consumer recycling through public service announcements and public policy, while companies are attempting to make more of their products from recyclable materials. Consumers, however, […]
Read More… from To Inspire Recycling, Describe the Product to Come
The business literature almost unanimously presents a simple, positive picture of the beneficent effects of corporate social responsibility on customer attitudes toward the corporation. Through a series of four quantitative studies involving more than 4,000 customers and participants, a team of researchers revealed the much more ambiguous reality of how customers view companies that engage […]
Read More… from When Customers Can See More Cost than Benefit in CSR
If you’re a national or international company with marketing authority and practices spread across various locations, or if you have a diversified group of products or businesses that call for different marketing approaches, how can you maintain a consistent marketing strategy that is aligned with the company’s overall priorities while still giving local functions the […]
Read More… from How a Marketing Doctrine Overcomes the Flexibility Vs Consistency Conundrum
Does a Chief Marketing Officer help a company, or is this position a ‘C’ that doesn’t earn its place in the C-suite? In 2008, an influential research study by Pravin Nath of the Drexel University (now at Oklahoma) and Vijay Mahajan of the University of Texas came to the conclusion that a CMO neither adds […]
When people do good things, they reward themselves. This is the conclusion of a number of previous studies into the psychology of doing good deeds. Two researchers from Harvard Business School and Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business explored through their own series of studies the business implications of this previous psychological research. The researchers […]
Read More… from Reusable Grocery Bags: How Green Customers Help the Environment-and Your Business
In 1995, Japanese telecommunications giant NTT agreed to distribute a new product featuring new technology, but rejected the offer of exclusivity to the Japanese market. Going against the conventional wisdom that the less competition the better, NTT actually wanted more competition. The reason: the product was unfamiliar and untested; as a result, the more customers […]
Read More… from Is New Product Exclusivity Always a Good Idea?
