There have been a number of published measures of generalized consumer attitudes, perhaps the most familiar being the Index of Consumer Sentiment of the University of Michigan's Survey Research Center. What this article proposes is an “index of consumer sentiment toward marketing,” which is intended to be a validated, longitudinal, aggregate measure of national consumer sentiment toward marketing practice, to be reported at regular intervals to the marketing and consumer research communities. The article describes the measure and measurement procedure and provides validation evidence. Since this study also involved replication of prior research on this issue, information on the recent evolution of consumer sentiment toward marketing is presented.
Despite an extensive literature on novelty-seeking and the intuitive appeal of vacation behavior as a setting for its observation, the significance of a pleasure trip that is familiar or "commonplace" as opposed to one that is "novel" has not been investigated. The purpose of this study is to describe novel versus commonplace trips and to explore behavioral and demographic differences between travelers who experience different levels of novelty.Pleasure trips are taken in anticipation of a set of benefits that apparently vary among individuals. For example, some travelers select trips that involve only minor behavioral changes from their daily routine; others opt for more radical activities such as above normal expenditures, exposure to unfamiliar environments and new social contacts. Although some of this variation is certainly due to individual differences, the variability among the activities people describe as pleasure trips suggests that other factors may be operating. The novelty drive may provide a potentially useful explanation.Despite an extensive literature on novelty-seeking and the intuitive appeal of vacation behavior as a setting for its observation, the significance of a pleasure trip that is familiar or &dquo;commonplace&dquo; as opposed to one that is &dquo;novel&dquo; has not been investigated. Novel travel is defined as a trip characterized by new, unfamiliar experiences that differ from prior life experiences (Faison 1977). Commonplace travel is characterized by familiar experiences. As will be shown, novel and commonplace travel are related to other touristic dimensions and the nature of an individuals home and work environment.The purpose of the present study is to describe novel versus commonplace trips and to explore behavioral and demographic differences between travelers who experience different levels of novelty. To accomplish this, the travel motivation literature is first briefly reviewed and the relationship of novelty to other travel motives is identified. Next, the theoretical basis underlying the novelty motive is presented. Finally, hypothesized differences in the travel behavior of novel and commonplace travelers are presented and tested. The results provide insights into travel behavior of
The typical view of a marketing channel is that of a manufacturer-designed and -controlled distribution system. However, today, marketing functions, as well as market power, are more evenly distributed in the channel. In organizing and managing the modern channel, it is important to understand the business circumstances and priorities confronting channel members. This article studies how reseller firms establish their goal hierarchies and how these goals are related to performance. It hypothesizes that goal priorities emerge in relation to the environmental imperatives faced by the firm. The article develops hypotheses that are tested on survey data collected from a sample of franchisee firms, using structural equation models. The results support all the hypotheses about the effects of primary goals on performance. The effects of secondary goals are not unequivocal but informative nevertheless. Overall, the study points to interesting theoretical and managerial conclusions.
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