Many Internet retailers give customers the opportunity to review their products on their site, and some Internet companies even specialize in reviews only (e.g. Yelp and TripAdvisor). Given, as research shows, the impact that online customer reviews can have on the success of a product or service, it is no wonder that special attention is […]
Read More… from Online Customers Reviews: Loyalty and Deception
In a classic episode from the old American TV show The Odd Couple, the main character Felix replaces all of the traditional furniture in his apartment with new furniture featuring radical designs (e.g. the chairs are in the shape of huge hands). While his roommate Oscar figures out how to use the ‘hands’, he’s astonished […]
Read More… from Great Innovation! But What’s it for? Marketers Beware
More and more people are feeling financially constrained. In the U.S., half of American families recently surveyed considered themselves ‘financially fragile’. Financial constraint does not refer to income level, but to the feeling that the income is insufficient to pay for desired discretionary purchases. Awareness of financial constraints pushes people to reflect on the longevity […]
Read More… from The Overlooked Longevity of Experiential Goods
In the real world, brands are rarely seen alone. Whether on television, radio, or in print, brands are usually surrounded by other brands — numerous advertisements fill the pages of a magazine, or a seemingly endless block of commercials interrupts our favourite TV program. In academic terms, these other brands are called ‘context’ brands, and […]
Read More… from Brand Placement on TV: The Positive Impact of Fast-forwarding
While research shows that people generally view CSR activities favourably, the question remains whether that positive attitude changes consumer behaviour. To answer this question, a team of professors from Dartmouth’s Tuck School of Business focused on one specific industry — grocery retailing — and also divided the types of corporate social responsibility in their study […]
Read More… from Do CSR Initiatives Enhance Customer Loyalty?
Customer effort research has been around since the 1940s but the debate gained momentum following a 2010 article, ‘Stop Trying to Delight Your Customers’, in the Harvard Business Review (HBR). In particular, the HBR paper raised interest in how CE and, in particular, customer effort scores (CES) could be used as an indicator of customer loyalty. […]
Consumers often have a choice between products that are convenient or easy- to-use and products that offer greater functionality but are less convenient. When making a purchase that involves a longer time frame, consumers are likely to choose functionality. They are willing, for example, to take the time to learn the sophisticated software that will let them digitize the […]
Read More… from How Price, Time and Functionality Affect Customers’ Choices
What makes a message persuasive? Marketing departments everywhere are constantly looking for the answer to this question and much research has been conducted on this subject; previous research has shown that messages that have content that is easier to process can be more persuasive. Similarly, message framing and sequencing can also influence how persuasive a […]
Read More… from Optimal Marketing Claims: The Power of Three
Outsourcing is no longer just an operational issue. As globalization takes hold and more companies shift more activities to suppliers in emerging economies, outsourcing is now a strategic concern. Slowly, a question began to emerge in the consciousness of major manufacturers: were suppliers learning too much? In other words, was it possible that by ‘learning […]
Read More… from When Supply Chain Partners Move Up the Value Chain
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?
