Journal of Macromarketing recent issues

Ad Hoc Reviewers--September 2008

Twede, D., Thompson, C. J. — 2008-07-31

In this Issue

Shultz, C. J., Witkowski, T. H., Kilbourne, W. — 2008-07-31

The Search for a Dominant Logic: A Macromarketing Perspective

Layton, R. A. — 2008-07-31

This paper suggests an extension to the Vargo and Lusch (2004) proposal where the fundamental unit of analysis is not the exchange itself but a marketing system within which the service dominant exchange is embedded. The relevant marketing system could range from a micro-system in which the reciprocal creation of value through a single transaction between a buyer and seller is considered, to purposeful, structured, or emergent systems (such as supply chains, business ecosystems, or shopping malls), to the aggregate marketing system. Five criteria are suggested that should be met by any proposed dominant logic or world view. The system-embedded service-dominant (SESD) logic meets all five criteria and may reverse the growing fragmentation occurring in both micro- and macromarketing. It redefines the relationship between micro- and macromarketing and in focusing attention on a meso level of analysis it opens up new horizons for research. In a multidisciplinary setting it highlights what is intrinsic to marketing—exchange within a marketing systems framework.

Rethinking Macro-level Theories of Consumption: Research Findings from Nazi Concentration Camps

Klein, J. G., Hill, R. P. — 2008-07-31

This research seeks to inform the developing macromarketing theme of restricted consumer behavior. Nazi concentration camps were selected because they provide an extreme example of external control and constraint. Multidisciplinary scholarship is reviewed, with an emphasis on relevance to the understanding of consumer restrictions. A brief description of the qualitative methodology follows, and the results as thematic categories come next. The thematic categories of forced dispossession, survival strategies, reconfiguration of the self, and reemerging into society are used to provide implications for the majority of world citizens who face significant limitations in their lived experiences as consumers. Closing remarks discuss the opportunities such a shift in emphasis may have on the viability of theoretical constructions about consumption.

An Extension and Further Validation of a Community-based Consumer Well-being Measure

2008-07-31

The goal of this study is to extend the research and further validation of Lee and colleagues' measure of community-based consumer well-being. The measure is based on the notion that consumers experience well-being to the extent that they are satisfied with local marketplace experiences related to (1) shopping for desired consumer goods and services in the local area, (2) preparing locally purchased consumer durables for personal use, (3) consuming locally purchased goods and services, (4) owning consumer durables purchased in the local area, (5) using repair and maintenance services in the local area, and (6) using selling, trading-in, and disposal services in the local area. Data were collected from ten localities in nine countries/states (California, Minnesota, Canada, Australia, Spain, Germany, Switzerland, Turkey, Egypt, and China) using the mall intercept method. The data provided support for the predictive/nomological validity of the measure by providing empirical support for the relationship between the consumer well-being construct and other well-being constructs such as life satisfaction.

A Rose by Any Other Name? The Influence of Brand Name versus Chemical Differences in the Prescription of Antidepressants: The Role of Expertise

Ward, S., Pecotich, A., O'Cass, A., Julian, C. C. — 2008-07-31

The effect that marketing has had on the prescription decisions of the medical profession is an area of great social and governmental concern and has been the subject of substantial international debate. In this study, the importance of brand name as a factor influencing the prescription habits of general practitioners and psychiatrists is examined. Data on antidepressant prescriptions supplied by the Australian Governments Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme and results derived from MANOVA and ANOVA analyses suggest that the brand name as much as chemical differences influenced the prescription of choice of antidepressants by both general practitioners and psychiatrists. The use of a well-promoted brand name may be an important evaluation shortcut by both groups regardless of detailed training resulting in medical practices, which may undermine the social imperative of affordable medical care for all. The authors suggest that clinical appropriateness of prescriptions for antidepressants by brand name needs further investigation.

Frankincense, Myrrh, and Spices: The Oldest Global Supply Chain?

Hull, B. Z. — 2008-07-31

Frankincense, myrrh, and spices were highly coveted and highly expensive necessities of life in the ancient world. They were transported from distant corners of the world to their Mediterranean customers, and their routes crossed the Arabian Peninsula by camel caravan. An Arabian tribe, the Nabataeans, monopolized this trade nearly two thousand years ago. Their supply chain, with a hub-and-spoke structure, partnerships, value-added services, innovative packaging, and early adoption of technology, bears striking resemblance to those of today. It differed though, in its elaborate and painstaking security precautions. This tight security was mandated by the lawlessness of the era and the high value of the merchandise. The Nabataean supply chain maintained its competitive advantage for more than five centuries. This article compares it with those of today and examines the Nabataeans, a nomadic tribe that shaped the basic concepts of supply chain management.

Hidden Mountain: The Social Avoidance of Waste

de Coverly, E., McDonagh, P., O'Malley, L., Patterson, M. — 2008-07-31

This article considers the neglected area of disposition, the nature of our relationship with waste. Marketing tactics are complicit in a throwaway culture, so how can we better theorize our relationship to waste? The authors submit that to maintain control, we are encouraged to keep waste in its place—out of sight and out of mind. This is achieved through systemic smoothing mechanisms such as our socialization against waste, the role of trash cans, and the work of garbage collectors. By exposing the detritus of consumption, the "waste mountain," a macromarketing analysis helps us confront the systemic avoidance of waste. As such, this constitutes an initial contribution to marketing as social engagement and also to future policy development. We connect the rendering invisible or hidden aspect of waste to what Bauman has termed the economics of deception prevalent within consumer society.

Gregory T. Gundlach, Lauren G. Block, and William L. Wilkie, Editors. Explorations of Marketing in Society. Mason, OH: Thomson, 2007

Shapiro, S. J. — 2008-07-31

Special Issue on Environmental Sustainability: Journal of Macromarketing June, 2010

Kilbourne, W. E. — 2008-07-31

In This Issue

Shultz, C. J. — 2008-05-01

The Dominant Social Paradigm, Consumption, and Environmental Attitudes: Can Macromarketing Education Help?

Kilbourne, W. E., Carlson, L. — 2008-05-01

It has been argued that the dominant social paradigm (DSP) of Western industrial societies is complicit in environmental decline. In the present research, the DSP and its elements and their relation to consumption behavior are first addressed in classes on social responsibility that are taught in a business school. Two quasi-experiments are then conducted using an after-only with control group design (Study 1) and a before—after with control group design (Study 2). In both studies, attitudes of students in the social responsibility classes are compared to control groups of marketing students to determine the effects of instruction on the DSP and environmental attitudes. Findings suggest that lower scores on the DSP for the experimental group result in increased measures of environmental attitudes and perception of change necessary to ameliorate environmental degradation. However, in neither experiment does willingness to change one's own behavior materialize.

Can Health Care Organizations Better Contribute to Quality of Life by Focusing on Preventive Health Knowledge?

Rahtz, D. R., Szykman, L. R. — 2008-05-01

In recent years, there has been an increasing number of programs developed by health care providers and public domain entities to enlighten consumers about the benefits of learning more about healthy behaviors. In this study, the authors share a model developed and tested to explore the relationships among an individual's health knowledge, health, and overall quality of life (QOL) assessment. Data were collected as part of a large mail survey. Results support the relationships hypothesized and provide preliminary support for the notion of improving QOL by creating "expert" patients. These results have implications for public policy and future research.

Evaluating the Social Value of Charitable Organizations: A Conceptual Foundation

Polonsky, M. J., Grau, S. L. — 2008-05-01

Charities are becoming more businesslike in their quest to address competitive pressures and funding reductions. However, this shift may have unintended consequences. For example, the best-marketed charities are not necessarily the ones with the greatest potential for social benefit. There is currently no mechanism that attempts to evaluate the social value of charities. Borrowing from social investing and corporate social responsibility literature, the authors argue that despite the difficulties inherent in this task, there are several issues that must be considered to assess a charity's social value, and each stakeholder will consider some dimensions of social value differently. Assessing a charity's social value has several ethical and policy implications, especially given the level of governmental and foundational support for charity organizations.

Embedded Markets, Communities, and the Invisible Hand of Social Norms

Varman, R., Costa, J. A. — 2008-05-01

The authors'ethnographic work on social norms is intended to unravel the noninstrumental core of embedded markets. In offering a theory of "the invisible hand of social norms," the authors show that consumer and seller behavior have expressive, moral, and emotional underpinnings that cannot be understood without a broader conceptualization of human motives and actions. This ethnography provides a rich understanding of the role of community and the behavioral dimensions of markets, which in turn helps deconstruct the current axiomatic treatment of transaction-centric markets and to reconstruct the market as a socially embedded institution in which community ties are formed and sustained.

Predicting the Emergence of Innovations from Technological Convergence: Lessons from the Twentieth Century

Schnaars, S., Thomas, G., Irmak, C. — 2008-05-01

This article takes a historical perspective to examine technological convergences that occurred throughout the twentieth century in an attempt to gain insights that may be helpful today. It analyzes five case histories where experts predicted that two or more existing technologies would converge to create an entirely new product and market. The cases are studied for their unique points of difference as well as for their commonalities. They lead to the conclusion that despite the confidence and enthusiasm in the forecasts, the convergences typically took decades longer than expected and often materialized in forms that bore little resemblance to the original predictions. Failures occurred for a variety of reasons, ranging from a lack of market acceptance to a waning of one of the original technologies prior to the convergence. The results have implications for businesses and consumers concerned with current predictions of new technological convergences.

Relationship Marketing at Wanamaker's in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

Tadajewski, M. — 2008-05-01

The current interest in relationship marketing is undisputed. Although many profess the recent emergence of this phenomenon, others are more reticent and suggest that the tenets of relationship marketing can be found in earlier examples of business-to-consumer relationships. This article argues that relationship marketing as it relates to consumer markets is not a new phenomenon. Given the apparent paucity of studies that demonstrate the historical existence of relationship marketing, this study aims to rectify this using John Wanamaker's business philosophy and practice as a case study to highlight his subscription to the tenets of relationship marketing.

An Enlargement of the Notion of Consumer Vulnerability

Commuri, S., Ekici, A. — 2008-05-01

Consumer vulnerability has long been an important issue in public policy and macromarketing. The focus of a special issue of the Journal of Macromarketing (vol. 26, issue 1) underscores this importance. The articles in that special issue lend both conceptual and methodological clarity to the subject of consumer vulnerability, thus bringing to the fore the hitherto overlooked importance of this construct. The purpose of this article is to extend this renewed interest by introducing an integrative view of consumer vulnerability that is a sum of two components: a transient, state-based component dominant in some of the articles in the special issue, and a systemic, class-based component. The proposition is that such an integrative view provides a proactive tool for macromarketers and policy makers in their efforts to safeguard and to empower vulnerable consumers.

An Introduction to the Invited Commentaries on Macromarketing Education

Radford, S. K., Hunt, D. M. — 2008-05-01

The 2007 International Society on Marketing and Development and Macromarketing Society joint conference included a special session addressing issues involved in incorporating macromarketing courses into business curricula. The session featured five marketing educators with experience teaching macromarketing courses. Each speaker was asked to prepare a commentary in response to the following three questions: (1) Are macromarketing courses well suited for helping students build critical thinking and logical argument skills? (2) Should macromarketing courses be electives, required courses, or some combination of both? (3) What benefits to students and to other college stakeholders stem from incorporating macromarketing education into marketing curricula? The following essays summarize the talks presented during the 2007 special session.

How Macro Should Macromarketing Be?

Kilbourne, W. E. — 2008-05-01

Because macromarketing is macro, its domain is necessarily broad. The question of how broad it is has not been adequately answered. This article proposes an institutional approach to the teaching of macromarketing. Although markets are, themselves, institutions, what is proposed here is examining the antecedent institutions for the development of markets. The set of antecedents proposed here includes economic, political, and technological institutions. The role of each in the development of market societies and the sustainability of such societies is critically examined. In each of the texts used in the course, it is argued that sustainability is tied directly to the economic, political, and technological institutions that underlie the market institutions that evolve. This approach expands the domain of macromarketing from agorology, the study of the market as an institution, to thesmology, the study of institutions.

Marketing, Society, and Government: Reflections on an Undergraduate Elective

Radford, S. K., Hunt, D. M. — 2008-05-01

The authors explore the value of incorporating macromarketing as an elective course in managerial marketing curricula. Authors review a course, Marketing, Society, and Government, that is framed by the philosophy that market forces, regulations, and economic conditions that impact businesses, society, and government are characterized by a constant state of change. Developing the skills necessary for analyzing these issues—identifying critical components, interpreting the effect on various publics, and so on—is as important as learning about the issues themselves. As such, the course emphasizes the development of critical thinking skills by exploring a holistic, macromarket view of marketing theory and practice. Students are challenged to revise their own worldview and their preconceived notions of marketing, society, and government. The course combines textbook readings, readings in market theory, case analysis, and written assignments.

Marketing, Society, and Controversy: An Online Course from a Macromarketing Perspective

Shapiro, S. J. — 2008-05-01

This article discusses the nature, scope, content, and evaluation methods that could be employed either in an entirely online macromarketing course or in a mixed mode or face-to-face course with readings drawn exclusively from online sources. That course is built around a critical thinking evaluation of controversial macromarketing topics. However, many of the assigned readings are drawn from other academic disciplines. The central macromarketing concerns explored include negative externalities, the politics of distribution, distributive justice, marketing, and the quality of life, globalization, socioeconomic development, and sustainability. The specific controversies on which students must take a position include a possible market for human body organs, the negative externalities associated with advertising, what— if anything—should be done about the Wal-Mart effect, the pricing of AIDS drugs in Developing Nations and the best way of meeting the UN's Millennium Development Goals.

A Macromarketing Seminar

Mittelstaedt, R. A. — 2008-05-01

A syllabus is described including twelve general topics. Topics were not chosen to represent the entire breadth of concerns that engage macromarketing scholars, nor were they intended to be "currently topical," although they have changed often over the years the seminar has been offered. Rather, they are a set of topics that can be developed to illustrate the macromarketing perspective while meeting the seminar's collateral goal of exposing its participants to a wide range of research traditions and literatures. No reading list is included.

New Books Board

Belk, R., Holbrook, M., Dickinson, R., O'Shaughnessy, J., Liebrenz-Himes, M. — 2008-05-01

From the Editor

Shultz, C. J. — 2008-01-30

Distributive Justice: Pressing Questions, Emerging Directions, and the Promise of Rawlsian Analysis

Laczniak, G. R., Murphy, P. E. — 2008-01-30

A Theory of the Firm Perspective on Marketing and Distributive Justice

Crul, L., Zinkhan, G. M. — 2008-01-30

This article applies a theory-of-the-firm perspective to gain insights about a just allocation of economic resources by the marketing system. It discusses three groups of firm perspectives (i.e., economic theories, contingency theories, and marketing-oriented theories of the firm) and their implications for (1) the definition of distributive justice; (2) the sources, frequency, and intensity of conflict; and (3) approaches to conflict resolution. Finally, the authors argue that a stakeholder perspective of the firm is the most appropriate theory to avoid conflict and promote cooperation between the firm and its stakeholders because of both its instrumental and normative foundation.

A Macromarketing Ethics Framework: Stakeholder Orientation and Distributive Justice

Ferrell, O.C., Ferrell, L. — 2008-01-30

This article develops a framework for macromarketing ethics. Macromarketing ethics is concerned with the economic and social impact of the fair distribution of products and other resources through the marketing system. The framework is based on organizational culture, stakeholder orientation, and distributive justice. This work is grounded on research that positions stakeholder orientation as an operational approach to address the issues and concerns of participants, and other parties of interest, in the marketing system. Distributive justice is defended as a normative philosophy to provide principles that can contribute to an organizational culture supportive of macromarketing ethics.

Assessing Distributive Justice in Marketing: A Benefit-Cost Approach

Klein, T. A. — 2008-01-30

Distributive justice, the fair apportioning of benefits and costs, is a social performance criterion in marketing and in organizational and other social contexts. In determining what is more or less just or fair, conflicts arise because of differing perspectives. Benefit-cost analysis offers an appropriate framework and method for evaluating and resolving these conflicts. This article examines several macromarketing issues, and policy alternatives are identified and evaluated. Some correctives that intuitively promise better outcomes, after more careful analysis, may not be more just. However, the principal contribution here is to demonstrate how the lens of benefit-cost analysis can aid in assessing both existing inequities and the effects of interventions intended to correct them. Finally, the limitations and implications of this approach to addressing this aspect of market performance are discussed.

Fair Trade--Just How "Fair" Are the Exchanges?

Beji-Becheur, A., Diaz Pedregal, V., Ozcaglar-Toulouse, N. — 2008-01-30

Fair trade has become increasingly recognized and studied since the late 1990s. It purports to be an example of a "fairer" exchange than conventional trade between South producers and North purchasers. Beyond the controversial definition of a "fair trade," it is important to query stake-holder practices: To what extent do fair trade stakeholders actually practice the principles of justice in exchanges? How do they perceive fairness? Given these questions, the authors of this article analyze both specialized and labeled commodity chains, using the Laotian organization Lao Farmers Product as a case study. Based on documentary and netnographic research, as well as semistructured interviews, the study identifies impediments to the emergence of a consensus on the notion of fairness in exchange. The theories of Kant, Habermas, Walzer, and Elster help to explain why.

Improving Income Positions of Primary Producers in International Marketing Channels: The Lake Victoria--EU Nile Perch Case

Kambewa, E., Ingenbleek, P., van Tilburg, A. — 2008-01-30

Although fair distribution of incomes within marketing channels and systems receives increasing attention in companies' corporate social responsibility policies, the marketing literature offers few insights that may be helpful to initiate projects that improve incomes of primary producers in mainstream marketing channels. This article deals with the question of how projects that aim at increasing primary producers' incomes can be initiated in mainstream marketing channels: Who is the channel member that is best suited to take initiative, and why should it be this partner? The study analyzes problems at primary levels of a fresh fish channel from East Africa to the European Union, and it examines from downstream whether channel partners are aware of the problems and how responsible they feel for them, and it assesses their willingness to take action. Propositions on the initiation of projects that improve primary producers' incomes are developed and implications are discussed.

Buyer-Seller Information Asymmetry: Challenges to Distributive and Corrective Justice

Mascarenhas, O. A., Kesavan, R., Bernacchi, M. — 2008-01-30

Buyer—seller information asymmetry (BSIA) is a growing problem despite electronic modes of free global communications. The authors investigate this BSIA phenomenon from a macromarketing perspective. They first identify the defective structures and outcomes of BSIA and then examine the underlying structures of injustice that BSIA implies from a distributive justice view. Although distributive justice focuses on a universal mission of distributing burdens and benefits among all stakeholders, a complementary system, corrective justice, is needed to rectify specific injustices inherent in individual exchanges. Accordingly, the authors propose a BSIA reduction protocol based on both distributive and corrective justice principles so that the risks and causes of consumer harm inherent in BSIA will be progressively reduced. Finally, the authors discuss managerial implications of this combined justice approach and the BSIA reduction protocol it grounds.

Abstracts of the 13th Conference on Historical Analysis & Research in Marketing (CHARM): Marketing History at the Center

2008-01-30

From the Editor

Shultz, C. J. — 2007-11-12

Research on Consumer Well-Being (CWB): Overview of the Field and Introduction to the Special Issue

Sirgy, M. J., Lee, D.-J., Rahtz, D. — 2007-11-12

In this article, the authors introduce the concept of consumer well-being (CWB), address the distinction between consumer satisfaction and CWB, identify several conceptualizations of CWB, and briefly describe the five articles making up this special issue on CWB.

Consumer Attitude toward Marketing and Subjective Quality of Life in the Context of a Developing Country

Peterson, M., Ekici, A. — 2007-11-12

The purpose of this research is to better understand Consumer Attitude toward Marketing (CATM) and how it relates to quality of life (QOL) in a developing country. Such sentiments toward marketing practice are core indicators of the marketing system's performance in delivering well-being to consumers during the first stage of the consumption process—acquisition. In this stage, the activities of businesses are set in high relief for consumers. As Douglas and Craig (2006) have noted how marketing is sadly neglected in developing countries, the Consumer Attitude toward Marketing (CATM) measures suggest how QOL-marketing might correlate with QOL in developing countries. Measures used in Gaski and Etzel's (1986) Index of Consumer Sentiments toward Marketing (ICSM) are enhanced and refined in this study of Turkish consumers. Using a confirmatory-factor-analysis approach, these measures are then used to derive a second-order factor representing CATM and to assess its nomological relationship with subjective quality of life (QOL).

The Subjective Well-Being of Nations: A Role for Marketing?

Yue Pan, , Zinkhan, G. M., Shibin Sheng, — 2007-11-12

In this study, the authors test a conceptual model that explains the subjective well-being (SWB) of nations. The authors include traditional predictors (e.g., human rights) and marketing variables (e.g., advertising expenditure, retailing indexes) in their model. They are especially interested to see to what extent marketing activities are associated with citizens' welfare or happiness. Using data from fifty-five countries, the authors find that one marketing variable (advertising expenditure per capita) strongly correlates with SWB, while another (number of retail outlet per capita) does not show a strong relationship with SWB. However, the strong relation fades away when other e fects are partialed out. The authors' model accounts for a large amount of variance in SWB. However, the e fect of marketing variables in a multivariate setting is not particularly strong.

International Human Rights and Consumer Quality of Life: An Ethical Perspective

Hill, R. P., Felice, W. F., Ainscough, T. — 2007-11-12

This article represents an attempt to expand understanding of and dedication to global social justice through presentation and extension of the Rawlsian philosophical tenets regarding the definition and provision of basic commodities. The first section provides a literature review of Rawl's outlook on distributive justice, modifying his conceptual frame to avoid pitfalls regarding the duties of nations. Following a discussion of these obligations, the current status of the global community is described using data collected by the United Nations Development Program. The last section is designed to show how additional progress can be made, with an emphasis on solutions that must be implemented across nations. It is the authors' hope that macromarketing researchers will take a leadership role defining, disseminating, and evaluating the moral obligations that significantly impact the quality of people's consumer lives.

Developing a Quality of Life Measure to Assess the Impact of Community Services: The Case of Australian Community Banks

Walker, R. H., Byrne, G., Johnson, L. W. — 2007-11-12

This article reports on findings of a study designed to develop and test measures suitable to assessing the perceived comparative contribution of Australian community banks and other more conventional banks to communities served, and the perceived impact of these banks on the well-being and quality of life of individuals who reside in those communities. Findings reveal that perceptions of the contribution of community banks to the sense of community and individual well being are significantly more favorable than those of more conventional banks.

Household Life-Cycle Effects on Consumer Wealth and Well-Being for the Recently Retired

Bearden, W. O., Wilder, R. P. — 2007-11-12

The present research tests a series of predicted relationships regarding the e fects of household life-cycle variables, as well as other important consumer characteristics, on both wealth and perceived well-being among retired households. Toward that objective, separate samples of retired married households (n = 1,938) and retired single-person households (n = 855) from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) of the University of Michigan were analyzed in an investigation of the e fects of household marital and parenthood characteristics on both accumulated wealth and perceived well-being. After controlling for education, race, gender, and health e fects, the results demonstrate significant life-cycle e fects of marital status and number of children on consumer wealth. In addition, wealth at retirement age is found to be a significant predictor of overall well-being. The implications of these findings, as well as a series of suggestions for future research regarding the study of important changes in life-cycle circumstances, are discussed.

Review: An Argument for Mind Jerome Kagan New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2006

O'Shaughnessy, J. — 2007-11-12

Review: Ethical Marketing Patrick E. Murphy, Gene R. Laczniak, Norman E. Bowie and Thomas A. Klein Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005

Langrehr, F. W. — 2007-11-12

Review: For Business Ethics Campbell Jones, Martin Parker and Rene ten Bos New York: Routledge, 2005

Healy, J. C. — 2007-11-12

Abstracts from the 2007 Joint Conference of The International Society of Markets and Development and the Macromarketing Society

2007-11-12