Category: Marketing

Marketers using new media: Brands can be defined by the interactive experience

With consumers increasingly comfortable with interactive technologies such as online social networks, high-speed connections and new media tools, it’s now easier than ever for marketers to connect with their customers. It is also easier than ever for consumers to ignore brand messages. But while consumers may be fed up with one-way messages and annoying interruptions, they are willing to be entertained and engaged, and may choose to participate in an experience that communicates the brand’s message. This new approach to marketing was the subject of a presentation at the recent American Marketing Association Consortium, hosted by the W. P. Carey School of Business.

The British are coming: How Tesco plans to cater to the U.S. market

Mark Barratt wants to see Tesco succeed in America. The British expatriate and assistant professor of supply chain management at the W. P. Carey School and his wife have lived in the U.S. for five years, and they still haven’t found a one-store replacement for the U.K.’s monster chain. Tesco’s five-year, $2 billion commitment to the U.S. is beginning with the opening of 58 stores in California, 31 in Arizona and 13 in Las Vegas, bringing a taste of what’s made it the world’s third-largest retailer.

Give a little, sell a lot: How free samples influence shoppers’ buying behavior

The supermarket sample is a familiar ploy, but those tasty bites appear to have more impact than marketers imagined. New research from W. P. Carey marketing Professor Stephen Nowlis shows that customers who sample something pleasant subsequently desire more — more of anything good — than those who did not have the treat. Conversely, customers who are exposed to something unappealing end up wanting less. The study has broad implications for retailers.

All the job’s a stage: Role-playing in the services industry

People who work in service positions — police officers, hair stylists, dentists, real estate agents — are aware that they are on stage, playing a role, while on the job. Playing a role involves knowing when and how that role’s being played, and setting some boundaries between you and your clients or customers. In a recent study published in Group & Organization Management, Blake E. Ashforth, management professor at the W. P. Carey School of Business, and his co-authors interviewed 105 different "service agents" about the ways in which they manage the line between who they "really are" and their working role.

Scalping goes upscale: The secondary ticket market’s online revolution

The Internet has revolutionized ticket scalping, turning it into an electronic extension of the box office, driven by sleek advances in computer hardware and software and by a spate of clever, aggressive online ticketing companies. Experts at the W. P. Carey School of Business discuss the transformation of the secondary ticket market from a seedy, backstreet operation to a sophisticated white-collar trade.

Service as innovation: China’s coming service revolution

Soon, innovation in China will take the form of a move from a primarily manufacturing economy to a more service-oriented one, according to experts gathered at the Fourth Annual Executive Forum in Shanghai. The forum is part of graduation exercises for the W. P. Carey MBA Shanghai, an executive MBA program delivered by the W. P. Carey School of Business and the Shanghai National Accounting Institute.