Research traditions in marketing

458 Pages·1994·11.43 MB·English

by  Gary L. Lilien (auth.), Gilles Laurent, Gary L. Lilien, Bernard Pras (eds.)

Research traditions in marketing
INTERNATIONAL SERIES
IN QUANTITATIVE MARKETING
Editor:
Jehoshua Eliashberg
The Wharton School
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
Other books in the series:
Cooper, L. and Nakanishi, M:
Market Share Analysis
Hanssens, D., Parsons, L., and Schultz, R.:
Market Response Models: Econometric
and Time Series Analysis
McCann, J. and Gallagher, J.:
Expert Systems for Scanner Data Environments
Erickson, G.:
Dynamic Models of Advertising Competition
Research traditions
in marketing
Edited by
Gilles Laurent
Groupe HEC
Gary L. Lilien
Pennsylvania State University
Bernard Pras
University of Paris Dauphine
and ESSEC
~.
"
Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
Co-sponsor
European Institute for Advanced
Studies in Management (EIASM)
Ubrary ot Congreaa Cataloglng-In-Publlcatlon Date
Research tradHions in marketing I edited by Gilles Laurent, Gary L.
Ulien, Bemard Pres.
p. cm.-(Intemational series in quantitative marketing)
ISBN 978-94-010-4615-2 ISBN 978-94-011-1402-8 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-94-011-1402-8
,. Marketing research-Congresses. 2. Marketing research
Europe-Congresses. 3. Marketing research-UnHed States
Congresses.
I. Laurent, Gilles. 11. Lilien, Gary L., 1946-a-. 111. Pres,
Bemard. IV. Series.
HF5415.2. R44 1993
658.8'3-dc20 93-14432
CIP
Copyright © 1994 by Springer Scienc:e+Business Media New York
Originally published by Kluwer Academic Publishers in 1994
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1s t edition 1994
All rights reserved. No part ot this publication may be reproduced,
stored in aretrieval system or lransmitted in any form or by any means,
mechanical, photo-copylng, recording, or otherwise, without Ihe prior
written parmission of Ihe publisher, Springer Scienc:e+Business Media,
LLC.
Prin/ed on acid-frse paper.
Contents
Foreword ix
Divergence: A Source of Creative Thinking
Alain Bultez
Preface xiii
The Conference and the Genesis of this Book
Gilles Laurent, Gary L. Lilien, and Bernard Pras
Quantitative Papers
1
Marketing Models: Past, Present and Future
Gary L. Lilien
Commentary by Donald G. Morrison 21
Commentary by A. S. C. Ehrenberg 24
Author's Reply by Gary L. Lilien 26
2
Marketing Science's Pilgrimage to the Ivory Tower 27
Hermann Simon
Commentary by John D. C. Little, Leonard M. Lodish, John R. Hauser, 44
and Glen L. Urban
Commentary by Leonard J. Parsons, Els Gijsbrechts, Peter S. H. Leeflang, 52
and Dick R. Wittink
Marketing Science, Econometrics, and Managerial Contributions
3
Theory or Well-Based Results: Which Comes First? 79
A. S. C. Ehrenberg
v
vi CONTENTS
Commentary by Albert C. Bemmaor 109
Commentary by John R. Rossiter 116
Commentary by David C. Schmittlein 123
Marketing Science and Marketing Engineering 128
Author's Reply by A. S. C. Ehrenberg
4
Diagnosing Competition: Developments and Findings 133
Peter S. H. Leeflang and Dick R. Wittink
Commentary by Piet Vanden Abeele 157
Commentary by Robin Wensley 163
On a Clear Day You Can See the Market
5
Productivity Versus Relative Efficiency in Marketing: Past and Future? 169
Leonard J. Parsons
Commentary by A. Roy Thurik 197
Applied Econometrics and Productivity Analysis in Marketing
6
Modeling the Diffusion of New Durable Goods: Word-ot-Mouth Effect 201
Versus Consumer Heterogeneity
Albert C. Bemmaor
Commentary by Frank M. Bass 224
Heterogeneity in Purchase Intention, Diffusion, and Exogenous Influence
Commentary by Vijay Mahajan 227
New Product Diffusion Models: Some Reflections on Their Practical Utility
and Applications
7
Research on Modeling Industrial Markets 231
Maryse J. Brand and Peter S. H. Leetlang
Commentary by Gary L. Lilien 262
Qualitative Papers
8
Scholarly Traditions and European Roots ot American Consumer Research 265
Harold H. Kassarjian
Commentary by Christian Derbaix 280
Commentary by Sidney J. Levy 283
CONTENTS vii
9
Cross-National Consumer Research Traditions 289
Susan P. Douglas, Maureen A. Morrin, and C. Samuel Craig
Commentary by David Midgley 307
Commentary by Joseph C. Miller 314
10
The Markets-as-Networks Tradition in Sweden 321
Jan Johanson and Lars-Gunnar Mattsson
Commentary by David T. Wilson 343
11
Interorganizational Marketing Exchange: Metatheoretical Analysis of 347
Current Research Approaches
K. E. Kristian Moller
Commentary by Geoff Easton 373
Commentary by Gary L. Frazier 378
A Perspective on Interorganizational Exchange in Channels of
Distribution
12
The Emerging Tradition of Historical Research in Marketing: History of 383
Marketing and Marketing of History
Franck Cochoy
Commentary by Terence Nevett 398
Author's Reply Understanding the Marketing of History in Marketing 402
Discipline by Franck Cochoy
13
Metaphor at Work 405
Christophe Van den Bulte
Commentary by Shelby D. Hunt and Ani! Menon 426
Is it "Metaphor at Work" or Is it "Metaphors, Theories, and Models at
Work"?
Author's Reply by Christophe Van den Bulte 433
Can Literal Truth Safeguard Models and Theories from Metaphor?
Contributing Authors 435
Foreword
Divergence: A Source of Creative
Thinking
The outstanding job accomplished by Bernard, Gary, and Gilles is really
praiseworthy: not only did they succeed in completing within a remark
ably short span of time the editing of the contributions to the conference
that marked the 20th Anniversary of the European Institute for Ad
vanced Studies in Management; they have also managed to elicit numerous
insightful comments from a host of dashing young scholars as well as from
the fortunate few established authorities whose findings have long be
come leading articles in the best academic journals, who now chair those
journals' editorial boards, and after whom great scientific awards have
been named.
In so doing, our dedicated triumvirate has blended together pieces of
diverse research traditions-some of them quite puzzling-and mixed
significantly differentiated styles of expression. The controversial display
of self-confidence by some distinguished colleagues, the amazingly emo
tional "good old" memories revived by their peers, the scapegoat-finding
and moralizing confessions produced by some of their disciples together
with the detached systematic rigidity of some others all combine to pro
duce a multivarious patchwork that may well prove the existence of a
marketing scholar lifecycle. This cartoon-like four-class typology might
even make it worth the reader's while to indulge in some guesswork to
discover the sequence of the four stages as an exercise and then partition
the author population accordingly.
Such heterogeneity is bound to fuel this book with bold reflections on
our profession. On the face of it, some authors might sound overly self
confident or complacent or seem overinspired by their own (naturally)
successful experience without due regard to fellow-academics' ap
proaches. But even the most sharply biased judgments have their
ix
x FOREWORD
merits: at least, they shake up readers' potential inelasticity (a substitute
for indifference) with respect to issues of relevance to other yet bordering
circles, a side-benefit that the editors will no doubt value in view of their
concern for exchange of ideas (albeit resulting from conflicting opinions)
and cross-fertilization between areas. We should beware, however, of a
potential direct impact that would lead us, in some instances, to idolize
self-appointed figureheads; visits to celebrity museums hold the risk of
shaping our traditions.
As pointed out by Laurent, Lilien, and Pras, some chapters are no
more than elaborated softened versions of far more radical stances taken
during the conference. For those who missed the excitement of the event,
I hope it will take just a little bit of imagination to extrapolate from those
readings the liveliness of our discussions.
As the director of the European Institute for Advanced Studies in
Management, I greatly enjoyed the rare privilege of acting as a trainee
taking lessons for the future. The prevailing tone was reminiscent of the
happy days when I joined EIASM as a doctoral student, one who already
did not care a great deal about academic precedence. I could not stand
just sitting quietly listening to some of my workmates' parables or ser
mons.
Despite the fact that I had the opportunity to voice my opinions - as
biased and subjective as others-during the course of this unique
celebration, the editors urged me to write a few lines to put the event into
its proper perspective.
Two options were open to me: to present a historical review, unavoid
ably praising EIASM's role in fostering European management research
and spinning networks of management scholars (which would mean focus
ing on the European Marketing Academy and its International Journal for
Research in Marketing); or alternatively, to describe the conference itself
in a way that would complement the editors' preface. I chose the latter,
because I felt an irrepressible need to compliment our trio on their hard
and relentless work, which has ultimately resulted in the publication of a
book that is certain to become a household name, if not the ultimate stan
dard, for some time to come. I wish I had been able to revise my own
manuscript and make it part of this advertising vehicle.
Having the privilege of being associated with their undertaking, I
should like to back their pleas for broader interaction between research
areas and traditions.
Some comments on the econometric school, my own field, will be a
case in point. The econometric school has focused on the relative effec
tiveness of the marketing-mix variables. Typically, researchers obtain
FOREWORD Xl
estimates of elasticity-related parameters reflecting the response of sales
or market shares to marketing tools; then they assess the reliability and
face validity of those measures. Sometimes they subject the best-fitting
models to a test of predictive ability or bring them to bear on the question
of whether sensible normative recommendations can be derived by ana
lyzing their implications as to resource allocation.
At the outset, we were chiefly concerned with methodological break
through, and as a consequence, we experienced
increased sophistication in the specification of response functions
(for example, by incorporating dynamics and advocating more con
sistent mathematical formulations);
continual refining of evaluation procedures (such as relying on joint
GLS and FIML techniques, looking for robust estimators);
widespread use of ever more complex numerical optimization
algorithms, heuristics, or routines (for example, discrete and geo
metric programming, and stochastic control).
Partly because we ignored the appropriate economic literature, but
perhaps equally because economic theory seemed remote from our
marketing concerns, we invested little research into integrating our ad
vanced empirical analyses into any kind of solid theoretical framework.
Yet during the '80s, integrative approaches explicitly linking data with
prior theoretical constructs or norms were widely released. What used to
be rather blind, fact-finding fishing expeditions or pure decision-centered
numerical formalizations mimicking or supporting managerial expertise
now tend to become systematized theory-driven explorations of the real
world.
Clearly the editors are convinced that much is to be gained from
harmonious combinations of tools and talents from all horizons. Such
mixing is possible, provided open-mindedness and communication pull
down the barriers that now separate research domains and doctoral
research programs. The EIASM's aims to facilitate such interfacing. For
this reason, we have fostered such interfacing in Europe through a series
of EDEN seminars. EDEN (EIASM's Doctoral Education Network) calls
to mind the garden of delights described in the Book of Genesis, evoking
the attractive and creative environment that EIASM offers to young
promising doctorandi. Between June 1988 (when it was introduced) and
December 1992, 354 students from all over Europe have become EDEN
fellows, and 61 professors have acted as EDEN faculty members.
Whether they believe that theoretical models may add to reality or