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Was Big Beautiful? The Rise of National Breweries in America's Pre-Prohibition Brewing Industry

Stack, M. — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:49:24 PST

In the years leading up to national Prohibition in 1920, several breweries gained national prominence. Previous authors have attributed their rise to greater productive efficiencies or to higher product quality. A more detailed review challenges these assertions and argues instead that their accomplishments have more to do with the growing late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century American preference for standardized and branded goods. The achievements of the national breweries must be examined in connection with such sweeping developments as the shift to store-bought foodstuffs, the birth of national branding campaigns, the beginning of mass packaging, and the move toward product homogeneity.

Remittances as Social Exchange: The Critical, Changing Role of Family as the Social Network

Gentry, J. W., Mittelstaedt, R. A. — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:49:24 PST

Remittances from immigrants in developed countries to their families back home constitute economic flows nearly comparable to the levels of foreign direct investment and greater than those of international aid. Even those who immigrate due to political strife (refugees) are likely to leave loved ones behind and to send money home, if it is feasible. This article looks at remittances as only one type of social exchange within the relevant social network (the family). A categorization of immigrants is presented (expatriates, sojourners, and pathfinders) based on their motives for emigrating and used, subsequently, to explain their relative propensities to remit. The article ends by discussing the implications that the changing nature of the family institution globally may have for the flow of remittances in the future.

Sharing and Owning of Musical Works: Copyright Protection from a Societal Perspective

Nill, A., Geipel, A. — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:49:23 PST

Markets for musical works are based on a compromise between sharing and owning. By empowering consumers and aspiring artists, new digital technology and the Internet threaten to change this compromise. The new technologies allow consumers to make and to disseminate—legally and illegally—copies of musical works that are virtually the same in quality as the original. Facing falling or stagnant sales, established entities of the music industry—recording companies, producers, and distributors—are fighting back with increased lobbying for ever tighter copyright laws and stricter enforcement. The authors analyze contemporary copyright protection for musical works by illuminating the interplay of new technologies, public policy, protection awarded to artists, and outcomes for all stakeholders in markets for musical works throughout history from a societal, jurisprudential, and ethical perspective. Little support has been found for the music industry’s call for more legal protection of the status quo. A new balance between sharing and owning that shifts power from the industry and its established stars to consumers and aspiring artists is not likely to translate "to the day the music died."

Medicalization and Marketing

Brennan, R., Eagle, L., Rice, D. — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 22:49:23 PST

Medicalization is the process by which aspects of the human condition, formerly considered nonmedical, are brought within the medical realm. Medical sociologists have asserted that medicalization is a prevalent contemporary sociocultural phenomenon that is actively promoted by pharmaceutical company marketing strategies and that has widespread negative societal effects. Medicalization has not been investigated from a business, marketing management, or macromarketing perspective. One of the principal implications of the medicalization thesis is that pharmaceutical marketing frequently acts to reduce human welfare. The central purposes of this article are to explain what evidence and argumentation has been deployed in medical sociology to implicate marketing practices in medicalization and to argue for the relevance of medicalization to the field of macromarketing. Medicalization is an intellectually robust concept of potential use when conducting macromarketing investigations into ethical and quality-of-life (QOL) aspects of the health care industries and quality of death and dying issues.

A Brief History of Branding in China

Eckhardt, G. M., Bengtsson, A. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:30:30 PST

In this article, the authors explore whether brands as they currently conceive of them existed in premodernity. They trace branding practices in China from 2700 BC to contemporary times and demonstrate that China has had a sophisticated brand infrastructure with a continuous history that has no known correspondence in any other part of the world. They review previous research on the history of branding and create a systematic overview of what is currently known about branding throughout history. From an historical analysis of branding practices and consumer culture in China, they find that premodern brands were important agents of consumer culture as early as the Song dynasty (960–1127). In China, brands emerged outside of a capitalist context and served primarily social functions. They chronicle the consumer culture of the time in China, and how brands developed out of it, demonstrating that brands can develop in varying ways.

The Effects of Ethics Institutionalization on Marketing Managers: The Mediating Role of Implicit Institutionalization and the Moderating Role of Socialization

Singhapakdi, A., Sirgy, M. J., Lee, D.-J., Vitell, S. J. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:30:29 PST

Because of increasing ethical problems in business during the last two decades, many organizations have implicitly and/or explicitly institutionalized ethics. Implicit ethics institutionalization refers to a work climate where ethical behavior is either implied or understood to be crucial to the functioning of the firm (e.g., informal expectations that all employees demonstrate a high level of professionalism, honesty, and integrity). In contrast, explicit ethics institutionalization refers to the formal codification of ethical behavior in terms of policy manuals, orientation programs, and ethics committees. It has been argued that the upsurge of ethics institutionalization was a result of the Federal Sentencing Guidelines first approved by Congress in the early 1990s, which essentially provides for reduced penalties for organizations that demonstrate an adequate degree of ethics compliance. Specifically, the main objective of this research is to empirically demonstrate the direct and indirect effects of different forms of ethics institutionalization (implicit and explicit) on marketing managers' behavioral responses, such as perceived importance of ethics, quality of work life (QWL), job satisfaction, esprit de corps, and organizational commitment. Demonstrating the significant effects of ethics institutionalization is important from a macromarketing perspective, because findings highlight the moral premise that institutionalizing ethics in the organization (thus benefiting society at large) is likely to influence employee behavioral responses that are traditionally related to the financial health of the organization.

Marketplace Vulnerability of Limited English Proficient Consumers: Opportunities to Increase Knowledge in Macromarketing

Adkins, N. R., Jae, H. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:30:29 PST

Important macromarketing issues in the twenty-first century include consumer vulnerability, consumer empowerment, immigration, and acculturation. In the United States, the absolute number and percentage of the foreign-born population continues to increase as does the number of people, indicating a non-English primary language spoken in their homes. This large, growing population segment with limited English language abilities faces higher chances of encountering marketplace imbalances. Accordingly, we expand the model of Baker, Gentry, and Rittenburg of consumer vulnerability to capture a dynamic, reflexive marketplace experienced by limited English proficient (LEP) consumers. The integration of a pivotal piece of acculturation research by Berry et al. drives the development of generalized systems diagrams depicting how LEP consumer vulnerability is enacted and facilitates increased understanding of the emergent phenomenon. Potential research questions are identified and organized using the framework of Layton and Grossbart to better position and inform future macromarketing and public policy research.

Toward a Better Understanding of Volunteering for Nonprofit Organizations: Explaining Volunteers' Pro-Social Attitudes

Briggs, E., Peterson, M., Gregory, G. — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 23:30:29 PST

In addition to currently fueling the nonprofit sector of the economy, volunteering is a key ingredient in community-based or cooperative models of economic exchange, including customer coproduction. The purpose of this study is to develop knowledge about pro-social attitudes of volunteers. Behavioral Reasoning Theory (BRT) provides a framework for understanding how volunteers' values and reasons for volunteering influence volunteers' pro-social attitudes. Gender, experience, and age are controlled for in the analysis. Using large-scale survey data from four distinct nonprofit organizations in Australia, structural equation modeling results suggest that the BRT framework is a valuable one for understanding important influencers of volunteers' pro-social attitudes. In sum, values and reasons that are other-oriented appear to be much more influential than values and reasons for volunteering that are self-focused. Additionally, our results suggest that being a younger volunteer is positively correlated with higher levels of values and reasons for volunteering that are self-focused.

Sociopolitical Foundations of Food Safety Regulation and the Governance of Global Agrifood Systems

Charlebois, S., Labrecque, J. — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 05:43:30 PDT

The discovery of the first domestically originating North American bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) case dominated discussions concerning the marketing development prospects of an entire industry. By considering the industry as a political economy, the concept of the task environment paradigm, as recognized in marketing literature, is integrated with the political economy framework. Marketing activities in the cattle industry pervade the framework presented in this article. Dimensions of environmental uncertainty are also presented. Personal testimony from beef producers is considered to add a human element to the theoretical discussion. Furthermore, this article provides an empirical perspective on the means by which sudden effects from the macroenvironment of a marketing channel create uncertainty, which is intensified in today’s increasingly complex and turbulent agrifood markets.

Ingraining Product-Relevant Social Good into Business Processes in Subsistence Marketplaces: The Sustainable Market Orientation

Viswanathan, M., Seth, A., Gau, R., Chaturvedi, A. — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 00:44:46 PDT

This article uses insights gained from the unique context of subsistence marketplaces, or the base of the pyramid, to put forth a sustainable market orientation for businesses. Using qualitative research and case studies of businesses, ingraining social good in a product-relevant sense is argued to be central and essential for businesses in subsistence contexts to be successful. This analysis is unique in taking a bottom-up in orientation and begins at the microlevel, drawing on psychological and sociological aspects of subsistence marketplaces to derive macrolevel implications.

Food or Fuel? An Analysis of Systems in Conflict

Burkink, T. J., Marquardt, R. — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 02:01:47 PDT

Ethanol, a petroleum-alternative fuel produced in the United States primarily from corn, is being heralded as a remedy for global warming, geopolitical instability, and rural economic malaise. However, there are potential negative repercussions from increasing ethanol production, including pressure on the world food supply. Stakeholder performance and interconnections among stakeholders are explored in this examination of the sustainability of the corn-based ethanol system at a critical juncture. The most likely winners and losers from a growing ethanol industry and directions for future research are identified.

On Economic Growth, Marketing Systems, and the Quality of Life

Layton, R. A. — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 02:01:47 PDT

In addition to favorable institutions and knowledge accumulation, there is a third significant set of factors that could and should be taken into the analysis of economic growth. Where there is specialization there must also be trade, and, overtime, where there is trade there will also emerge the specialized roles and market structures needed to handle trade efficiently. These specialized roles and market structures, identified as marketing systems, together with institutions and technology constitute the three essential sets of factors needed for growth to occur. While institutional change tends to be long term, and technological change is often discontinuous and medium term, marketing system changes leading to improvements in either or both of effectiveness and efficiency in trade have a much more immediate impact on the well-being of the community. If the marketing systems that play such a central role are poorly adapted to the environments in which they operate, or lack in health, resilience or responsiveness, for structural or functional reasons, then growth and ultimately the quality of life will be directly affected. An understanding of marketing systems, their emergence, and their role in influencing economic growth is a necessary first step toward the "constructive engagement" of marketing with society envisaged by Shultz.