Mobile technologies enable marketers to target consumers by time and location. This study builds on a large-scale randomized experiment of short message service (SMS) texts sent to 12,265 mobile ...users. We draw on contextual marketing theory to hypothesize how different combinations of mobile targeting determine consumer responses to mobile promotions. We identify that temporal targeting and geographical targeting individually increase sales purchases. Surprisingly, the sales effects of employing these two strategies simultaneously are not straightforward. When targeting proximal mobile users, our findings reveal a negative sales-lead time relationship; sending same-day mobile promotions yields an increase in the odds of consumer purchases compared with sending them two days prior to the promoted event. However, when targeting nonproximal mobile users, there is an inverted-U, curvilinear relationship. Sending one-day prior SMSs yields an increase in the odds of consumer purchases by 9.5 times compared with same-day SMSs and an increase in the odds of consumer purchases by 71% compared with two-day prior SMSs. These results are robust to unobserved heterogeneity, alternative estimation models, bootstrapped resamples, randomization checks, consumer mobile usage behavior, and segmentation of consumer scenarios. In addition, we conducted follow-up surveys to delve into the psychological mechanisms explaining the findings in our field experiment. In line with consumer construal arguments, consumers who received SMSs close (far) in time and location formed a more (less) concrete mental construal, which in turn, increased their involvement and purchase intent. These findings suggest that understanding the when, where, and how of mobile targeting strategies is crucial. Marketers can save money by carefully designing their mobile targeting campaigns.
This paper was accepted by Sandra Slaughter, information systems.
Purpose
– The purpose of this study is to examine the decision-making process for entrepreneurial firms when entering foreign markets and how and why they entered those markets.
...Design/methodology/approach
– A nascent theory in entrepreneurship called effectuation is combined with internationalization process theory as the conceptual framework to study decision-making under uncertainty. The central concept in both these theories is relationships and how they can be used to gain knowledge and thus reduce uncertainty and in the case of effectuation to co-create opportunities to enter foreign markets. The research design involves a multiple case study of software firms from Finland and New Zealand.
Findings
– It was found that entrepreneurs differentiate between foreign market selection and foreign market entry during their internationalization process, potentially using different decision-making processes in them. They tend to interweave effectuation and causation logics as substitutes in their decision-making. Uncertainty during foreign market entry is not always a barrier because it can provide opportunities depending on the logic used. In addition, there is evidence that entrepreneurs who have existing relationships in foreign markets tend to use effectuation to select and enter foreign markets.
Originality/value
– This paper transposes effectuation from its original field of entrepreneurship research to the context of internationalizing entrepreneurial firms. Consequently, it contributes toward understanding the decision-making process for selecting and entering foreign markets.
Existing consumer innovativeness scales ignore the multitude of motivation sources of buying innovations. The objective of this paper is to incorporate different motivations into a multi-dimensional ...innovativeness scale to better account for the consumer–product relationship. An extensive literature review and five studies (with about 2600 respondents in total) indicate that four types of motivation underlie consumer innovativeness: functional, hedonic, social, and cognitive. The proposed 20-item four-dimensional Motivated Consumer Innovativeness (MCI) scale proves to be reliable and internally valid and does not seem to suffer from social desirability bias. Moreover, the results of the studies indicate the predictive validity of every MCI dimension. This new scale proves to measure more than existing consumer innovativeness scales; the different MCI dimensions predict innovative purchase intentions better than both traditional and recently developed innovativeness scales, and they disprove the general consensus that older people are always significantly less innovative than younger people. This MCI scale can serve as a tool for future research on efficiently and effectively segmenting and targeting (motivated innovative) consumers.
Abstract
Data mining (DM) is the process of extracting knowledge from data. Knowledge from customer behaviour segmentation is useful for companies in setting the target market and developing a ...marketing strategy. Recency Frequency Monetary (RFM) model is the most behaviour segmentation used. Many customer-segmentation studies in various application areas use the RFM model that collaborates with DM. With many methods in DM, the selection of appropriate methods can reveal useful hidden patterns in customer segments. This paper aims to analyse DM methods that collaborate with the RFM model and synthesize them to propose a customer segmentation framework. This study uses a comprehensive literature review published in 2015-2020. The most widely used methods are clustering and visualization from seven DM methods analysed. Due to the increased visualization function and the need for customers’ geo-demographic data to be considered in the analysis, this study presents a new framework for using DM methods with the RFM based segmentation in the Geographic Information Systems (GIS) environment. This framework helps analysts utilize DM methods to uncover and understand customer characteristics, so companies can set the target market and develop a marketing strategy to increase their competitive advantage.
Impact of social media on small businesses Jones, Nory; Borgman, Richard; Ulusoy, Ebru
Journal of small business and enterprise development,
11/2015, Volume:
22, Issue:
4
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to explore the role and economic impact that the internet, specifically websites and social media, have on small businesses. It aims to investigate the benefits ...available from the use of the internet and social media sites for small businesses that operate in underserved regions.
Design/methodology/approach
– The research utilizes a case study methodology based on two surveys and semi-structured interviews with the owners or managers of five small companies in the western mountain region of Maine, a region described as underserved by the state departments of tourism and economic development – generally economically depressed, where the businesses are often struggling to survive.
Findings
– Benefits from the use of websites and social media sites include an increase in awareness and inquiries, enhanced relationships with customers, an increase in the number of new customers, enhanced ability to reach customers on a global scale, and co-promotion of local businesses that enhance the image of small businesses in the region.
Research limitations/implications
– The small number of firms from a specific region in the USA limits generalizations from this study’s findings. However, the findings offer preliminary insights for future studies on the use of the internet and social media sites for small businesses.
Practical implications
– The research provides evidence of potential advantages of utilizing web pages and social media sites for small businesses in underserved locations. The findings show that a web presence integrated with meaningful and sustained social media promotion can have a positive impact on business success in terms of increased traffic, awareness and revenues. This study has the potential to shed light on how internet technologies and social media can help struggling small businesses to communicate cost effectively with customers on a global scale, opening new opportunities for sales and growth.
Social implications
– By exploring the value of social media to small businesses, the authors hope to contribute to enhancement of the quality of life in small business and society as a whole.
Originality/value
– This paper is among the few reports on how small businesses learn about, utilize, and benefit from the web pages and social media sites.
On September 13, the Census Bureau released its annual "Income and Poverty in the United States: 2015" and "Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2015" reports, announcing that between 2014 ...and 2015, 3.5 million fewer people were living in poverty and 4 million more people gained health insurance, resulting in the lowest uninsurance rate on record.
Purpose - This paper deals with the importance of residents within place branding. The aim of this paper is to examine the different roles that residents play in the formation and communication of ...place brands and explores the implications for place brand management. Design/methodology/approach - The paper is based on theoretical insights drawn from the combination of the distinct literatures on place branding, general marketing, tourism, human geography, and collaborative governance. To support its arguments, the paper discusses the participation of citizens in governance processes as highlighted in the urban governance literature as well as the debate among marketing scholars over participatory marketing and branding. Findings - The paper arrive at three different roles played by the residents: as an integral part of the place brand through their characteristics and behavior; as ambassadors for their place brand who grant credibility to any communicated message; and as citizens and voters who are vital for the political legitimization of place branding. These three roles make the residents a very significant target group of place branding. Originality/value - Residents are largely neglected by place branding practice and their priorities are often misunderstood, even though they are not passive beneficiaries but are active partners and co-producers of public goods, services and policies. This paper highlights that only meaningful participation and consultation can produce a more effective and sustainable place branding strengthening the brand communication and avoiding the pitfall of developing "artificial" place brands.
Media scholars and non‐scholars alike have long sought to discern and describe the differences between alternative media and mainstream media — a task that became harder in the digital age, as online ...communications blurred boundaries. This essay examines how theorists and researchers have attempted to clarify the term ‘alternative media’ and to explain why this category remains relevant in a networked society. Academics largely reject the alternative–mainstream dichotomy and view these media on a continuum, featuring many hybrids and few pure instances. While differences between the two forms are less apparent in liberal democracies than in authoritarian regimes, alternative media persist in being less commercial, producing more critical content and being more committed to social change than their mainstream counterparts. In a converged context, the idea of ‘alternative media’ with a dialectical, interdependent relationship to the mainstream remains important to many producers, users and scholars.
We propose a data mining approach to predict human wine taste preferences that is based on easily available analytical tests at the certification step. A large dataset (when compared to other studies ...in this domain) is considered, with white and red
vinho verde samples (from Portugal). Three regression techniques were applied, under a computationally efficient procedure that performs simultaneous variable and model selection. The support vector machine achieved promising results, outperforming the multiple regression and neural network methods. Such model is useful to support the oenologist wine tasting evaluations and improve wine production. Furthermore, similar techniques can help in target marketing by modeling consumer tastes from niche markets.
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