Journal of Interactive Marketing

This study begins to fill a void in the literature by addressing three important but as yet unanswered questions. First, how much have the media covered the consumer privacy issue and how have they focused their coverage of this issue? The research reported here examines five leading newspapers’ coverage of privacy issues relating to direct marketing, from 1984 through 1992. Second, how salient is the privacy issue to the public and has that salience increased over time? The study examines available public opinion, over time, about the issue. And third, is there any evidence to suggest that media salience of the issue is leading to public salience of the issue? The findings suggest that public concern was high even before the increases in media coverage in the mid-1980s, and that the dramatic increases in frequency of coverage have little relationship to public salience. Future research should examine the role of real-world cue measures—such as the frequency of telemarketing calls and direct mail pieces. Finally, this study indicates that the direct marketing management can influence the content of press coverage through a combination of industry action to reduce consumer privacy concerns and promotion of these initiatives.

This study was designed to examine the role that perceived risk plays in consumers’ purchases of apparel from catalogs. Specifically, it investigated the relationship between frequency of purchasing apparel from catalogs, the dollar amount spent on apparel purchased from catalogs, and several independent variables. The independent variables are consumer inability to inspect apparel physically, consumer self-esteem, consumer propensity to seek information, consumer attitude toward brand name, and consumer ability to visualize him/herself in a garment. This study was exploratory, with the purpose of investigating the general question of whether perceived risk associated with these factors deterred consumers from catalog shopping for apparel. Regression analysis indicated that, of these variables, inability to physically inspect apparel and attitude toward brand name are the most reliable predictors of frequency of orders placed. Physical inspection and consumers’ self-esteem were found to contribute to the inability to predict dollar amount spent on purchases of apparel from catalogs.

This study investigated the rational and nonrational patronage motives of males and females for catalog shopping. Data was collected using a self-administered questionnaire from a national random sample of catalog shoppers. Using a value-expectancy model, consumers indicated both the importance of their rational and nonrational motives and the expectation that these motives would be satisfied through patronage of a mail catalog. Based on differences in their motives, results indicated that each gender may constitute a different market segment of catalog shoppers. Salient motives of males for catalog patronage consisted primarily of merchandise and service motives. Females, on the other hand, indicated that their salient motives were convenience oriented.

The growing perception that direct marketing results in the invasion of consumer privacy has resulted in proposals to limit marketing practices. Restrictions on practices could be avoided if direct marketers segment their markets based on consumer attitudes toward direct marketing practices. This study reports the results of a segmentation study that clusters individuals based on their attitudes toward direct mail. The results suggest there is substantial heterogeneity across groups of consumers and that paying attention to consumers’ attitudes toward direct mail could reduce the possibility of governmental intervention in direct mail practices and improve the efficiency of direct marketing.

This study argues that relationship marketing offers a strategy amenable to nonprofits interested in donor relations. A framework for operationalizing the relational extent of marketing strategy is developed based on Rogers’ interpersonal theory. The framework specifies accessibility, accountability, commitment, enhancement, and positive regard as salient components of a relationship strategy. This framework is employed among a class of nonprofit organizations and correspondence analysis results attest to the utility of the framework.

The field of direct marketing has experienced tremendous growth in recent years offering various career options to students graduating from business schools. Although the practice of direct marketing has become more sophisticated in identifying and satisfying customer needs, educators in this field rarely make a systematic effort to measure the needs and preferences of their students and their potential employers. This article uses conjoint analysis to design an “ideal” introductory course in direct marketing based on students’ preferences. For this purpose, students’ preferences, we have obtained various course concepts based on different combinations of the levels of four salient attributes. These are: course content, teaching methods, teaching aids, and real-world experience. The results of conjoint analysis are discussed in the light of improving the teaching of direct marketing in business schools.