| A
Collaborative Value Creation Model for Strategic Marketing
--
M
J Xavier, R Krishnan and Norm Borin
Marketing
is criticized for not keeping pace with the changes in the way firms discover,
design and deliver value to its stakeholders. In the networked environment, firms
typically build ecosystems on the operations side as well as the market side by
collaborating with suppliers, customers, complementors and even competitors to
create value for their customers and shareholders. This paper presents a conceptual
framework for collaborative value creation and demonstrates the use of the same
for marketing strategy formulation with the help of a retail automation case study.
The implications of market ecosystem for customer value creation and marketing
are explored in detail here. A new collaborative value creation framework for
strategic marketing is presented in the paper that has the customer at the core
with the value creation processes and the players revolving around the customer.
Though customers occupy the center stage of organizations, marketing as a function
has been steadily loosing its sheen. It is envisaged that the adoption of the
new collaborative value creation framework for strategic marketing should help
marketing regain its rightful place in organizations. ©
2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Targeting Ethnic
Consumers in the New Millennium: Strategies
for Marketing Managers
-- J
R Smith, Lydia McKinley-Floyd and Alisa L Mosley
The
US marketplace is extremely diverse. While there is evidence of a substantial
national culture, sub-cultural and ethnic differences significantly impact the
behavior of the US consumers. Domestic and global marketers wishing to successfully
segment the US marketplace must be cognizant of this diversity and of the strength
in numbers and buying power of the country's ethnic consumers. This paper identifies
some of the research and practices targeted towards African-American, Hispanic-American
and Asian-American consumer segments and calls for continuing efforts in this
area, particularly among inner-city food retailers. ©
2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Consumer Exploratory
Behavior and
its Implications on Marketing: A Theoretical Investigation
--
Surajit
Ghosh Dastidar and Biplab Datta
Consumer
Exploratory Behavior (CEB) and its significant implications on marketing have
received considerable attention in consumer psychology and buyer behavioral research.
In this paper, the authors establish a comprehensive theoretical framework of
CEB and its implications on marketing. It is enunciated that CEB is an important
construct, which can be used by marketing practitioners and academicians to understand
the psychological motivations underlying consumer buying behavior. This will enable
the designing of targeted marketing plans that envisage greater effectiveness. ©
2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Analyzing
Influence of Brand vis-à-vis Price in Indian Mobile Industry
-- Subhasis Ray and Avishek Sarkar
The
mobile telecom industry is experiencing tough competition amongst all the Mobile
Service Providers (MSPs), each providing cheaper and innovative service to get
the better of the other. In the backdrop of this scenario, this study is conducted
to understand the customers' perspective. It aims to identify the important factors
that influence customers' decision while purchasing a prepaid mobile service.
Further, the paper evaluates the top-of-the-mind status for the existing brands
of MSPs and the comparative influence of the `brand vis-à-vis economy of
the offer' on customer decision-making while choosing a service. ©
2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Services,
the `Grey Revolution': Prime Path to Prosperity
-- K
Srinivasan
A
nation's development is reflected in the `Quality of Life' (QoL) enjoyed by its
citizens. Developed countries have proved that a strong service industry is required
to better the QoL. All developing nations exhibit a strong growth rate in the
service sector. As a consequence, the contribution of the service sector to the
GDP of a country is reckoned to be immense. India is no exception to this trend.
The service sector is not only growing fast but is also facilitating the development
of other sectors in the economy. The author states that the service sector acts
as a base for the other sectors in the business world, although this sector is
called as tertiary sector; and terms the growth of the service industry and the
resulting quality of life as `Grey Revolution'. In India, it would take a full
shape by the year 2025, considering the size of population, nature and quality
of workforce, and industry trends. The service industry would be the chief facilitator
and a pre-requisite for competition among industries leading to overall prosperity. ©
2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Cost
of Drug Procurement: Role of Pharmacists in Dispensing Drugs
--
Palakodeti Ratnakar, M S Bhat and Ratnaja Gogula
Pharmacists
play a pivotal role in promoting the rational use of drugs. The increasing price
of drugs compels pharmacists to counsel/prescribe alternative cheaper drugs to
patients. The paper investigates the issue of increasing the quality of drugs
through the Over The Counter (OTC) concept, and making it available to the common
man at affordable prices. The study explores the role of pharmacists from the
time of procurement of drugs to distribution, prescription, and monitoring of
drugs, while communicating with the physician and ensuring the compliance of treatment
guidelines to consumers. Based on a detailed survey on the twin cities of Hyderabad
and Secunderabad, the paper enunciates that pharmacists provide substantial aid
to pharmaceutical companies, doctors, patients and towards the society, at large. ©
2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved.
Case
Study City
Branding: Cases and Lessons Across the Globe
-- T
Venkat Ram Raj
Branding,
the oft-practiced phenomenon in today's marketing scenario, attracts customers.
The idea and the process of giving a brand name to a city implies city branding,
which calls for a huge social, economical and political recognition globally.
There is a gamut of horizontal and vertical benefits regarding the product, city
values, foreign investments, etc. This paper highlights different branding strategies
of a city by the brand sponsors and stakeholders. This paper investigates city
branding cases and lessons of cities like Hong Kong, Dubai, Birmingham, Chandigarh
and Hyderabad, and concludes that branding is the need of the hour to compete
in the modern world market. ©
2006 IUP . All Rights Reserved. | 
