Category: Marketing

Changing channels: It’s all about what clicks with customers

When Dell Computer Corp. announced in May that it is opening two retail stores, retail industry observers took note. Dell, with $56 billion in revenue this year, was a pioneer in developing the online model of retailing. Brick-and-mortar retailers have followed, creating their own online stores. So why is Dell increasingly interested in the mall? It’s an experiment to see if the company can reach a less tech-savvy segment of the market. Marketing experts at the W. P. Carey School of Business comment that Dell’s move into a traditional retail setting, like the online ventures of the storefront retailers, is an example of a company experimenting with sales channels. Adding channels helps companies target groups of consumers. What’s not clear is whether more channels increase sales.

How may I help you? Revolutionizing service in China

Service is the next frontier in the Chinese economy. As China’s biggest cities begin their transformation from manufacturing to service centers, Chinese corporations must relax and adapt their management style if they are to compete in the global service sector, according to panelists at the recent Third Annual Executive Forum in Shanghai hosted by the W. P. Carey School of Business and the Shanghai National Accounting Institute. The requirements of a successful service sector include flexibility, the ability to move and invest ahead of the growth curve, and careful human resources management — all new concepts for Chinese managers accustomed to the mindset of a command economy.

Advice to U.S. tourism and hospitality industry: Learn some Mandarin

As China’s economy grows and stringent travel restrictions are relaxed, urban middle- to upper-class Chinese are increasing looking beyond their borders for travel. While a staggering 31 million Chinese traveled abroad in 2005, only 100,000 visited the United States. One reason is political — the U.S. has yet to apply to the Chinese government for “approved destinations status,” a bilateral agreement allowing Chinese tourists to bypass consular formalities by allowing travel agents to handle all visa applications. Another reason is cultural: U.S. hotel, airline, and tourism industries should prepare for the new wave of Chinese tourists by studying up on their preferences — or risk losing out on the 50 million Chinese tourists expected to be traveling abroad annually by 2010.

Picky, picky: Consumers tend to reject ‘contaminated’ merchandise

Did you ever notice how shoppers often thumb through magazines, but when it comes to making a purchase, they never pick the one at the front of the rack? The reason is perceived "product contamination." A W. P. Carey School of Business marketing professor was among a group of researchers interested in exploring the phenomenon of product contamination and the costs to retailers. Their findings confirmed that consumers are significantly less likely to buy an item they believe was touched by other consumers. The results, the researchers say, should hold obvious interest for retailers and merchandisers, who probably lose an untold amount of money each year due to product contamination.

Beauty and the sales commission: Looks can boost performance

You wouldn’t expect to see a scrawny, spectacled, beak-nosed Chippendale dancer any more than you’d expect Hooters to hire an obese waitress. But, surely, looks don’t matter for the highly educated and trained sales professionals that pharmaceutical companies send to doctors’ offices. Or do they? As it turns out, research co-authored by a W. P. Carey School marketing professor shows that looks do make a difference — even when the salesperson is selling something as serious as medication to someone as scientifically-minded as a physician.

(B)2B or not (B)2B? To move from products to services is the question

Ever since industry powerhouses like General Electric launched enormously successful services divisions in the mid-1990s, an increasing number of goods-producing companies have attempted to make the jump into services as well. They have good reason. Launching such a division can not only generate profits, but also give old-school manufacturing companies a leg up on competition that may not yet be in the services game. But some have not have enjoyed business-to-business success — some, in fact, have failed miserably when attempting to get into the services game. A paper co-written by the director of the W. P. Carey School’s Center for Services Leadership titled “Forming Successful Business-to-Business Services in Goods-Dominant Firms” offers valuable insights for companies eyeing a move into B2B services.