Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science

Marketing educators generally assume in their teaching that there is little inconsistency between adherence to the marketing concept and the stakeholder concept. Some assume that the latter is a logical extension of the former but there has been no empirical analysis of this issue. In this paper, research based on the perceptions of Fortune 500 executives is presented which focuses on this issue. Of particular concern are their views concerning the future business environment, organizational conduct and expected performance in 1995. This data is used to empirically examine the inseparability of the marketing concept and stakeholder concept. In addition, the relationship of the competitive environment upon these philosophies as well as upon perceived organizational performance is empirically investigated and discussed.

This study evaluates progress in developing a definition of marketing. A survey of marketing educators, managers, scholar-experts and students was conducted to determine elements important in a definition of marketing, a ranking of popular definitions of marketing and an evaluation of the definitions based on relevant criteria. All categories of respondents ranked the 1985 AMA definition of marketing as the definition that best represents the discipline of marketing.

Although consumer dissatisfaction is ubiquitous in the marketplace, empirical studies of dissatisfaction have been narrow in focus. This is especially true for studies of responses to dissatisfaction, for these investigations tend to ignore all dissatisfaction responses except complaint behavior. The study reported here replicates and extends an earlier investigation by concurrently examining three dissatisfaction responses—complaints, word of mouth, and brand switching intentions. Three sets of variables were examined in relationship to these responses: characteristics of the product problem, perceptions of the redress environment, and consumer characteristics. Complaint behavior and intention to switch brands showed strongest relationships with the first two types of variables. Word of mouth, on the other hand, seemed to be more heavily influenced by the consumer's level of social interaction, a consumer characteristic. Findings indicate that the three dissatisfaction responses are independent in that they share little if any common variance and they seem to be influenced in different ways by the correlates studied.

This study provides evidence that the husband-wife decision making process, just as the individual decision making process, is contingent upon the task complexity. As the task became more complex, couples used a multistage strategy more often, a smaller proportion of available information, a smaller proportion of available attributes, and a shorter time per unit of available information. In addition, this study explores differences in the information processing behavior between individuals and couples at equivalent levels of task complexity.

This research investigates the use of alternative rating procedures, familiarity, attribute importance and respondent sex on the magnitude of the halo effect present in store image measurement. The results indicate that while there was little difference in the impact of the two measurements on the halo effect, both subjects'familiarity with the store and attribute importance had an impact on the degree of halo effect present. Further, respondent sex interacted with attribute importance such that females were less subject to halo effects than males when important attributes were involved.

This study examines the effects of the methodological characteristics of research source and anonymity of response upon mail survey response behavior. Unique features of the study were that the survey sponsor was identified, and the population sampled was one that should have a certain amount of commitment to both the sponsor and the topic because of membership in the sponsoring organization.

Empirical data is used to follow the maturation and change an evoked set exhibits as the decision-maker proceeds to a final choice. Results indicate that after an evoked set has been established, a subject is more likely to include newly found brands in his evoked set versus previously rejected brands even though additional positive information had been received for the previously rejected brands.