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Research Article: 2019 Vol: 23 Issue: 1

Keywords

Apparel, Online Shopping, Consumer Decision Making, Word Of Mouth, Social Media.

Introduction

The consumer decision journey that starts right from the awakening of the desire to the post purchase which in turn affects their future purchase and even the other around them. Even prior to the desire is ignited it is important to understand that consumers are constantly consuming content and browsing through the categories they have affinity towards. With the all-pervasive digital medium in to our lives, the way we searched for information before making purchase decisions has changed dramatically. The traditional consumer often depended on word of mouth, recommendations, touch and feel of the product before they invested into purchasing the products. At every stage of the consumer journey are thus many factors that come together and collectively contribute in a small way for facilitate the decision making for the consumer.

Marketing is a field has evolved tremendously over the last decades owing to the opening up of the market, the improved economy of the country, the growing income and growing middle class and most importantly the intervention of the digital medium into our lives. Owing to the changes that are happening consumers have evolved a great deal and are no longer shying away from buying products both online and offline. The basic concepts of the consumer decision making although remain the same but now there are a lot of factors that are playing a crucial role at every stage in the process to assist the consumer in making their mind up.

Looking at the online space right now, the retail category and specifically apparel has undergone a huge change. From how people earlier only stitched clothes which later progressed into buying clothes from trusted brands where the touch and feel of the cloth and looking at the design was considered utmost important. With the online presence, ease of purchasing has now changed a lot and consumer are now making purchases of even the most premium brands for important occasions online The online platform has changed the way people bought their apparel providing comfort, convenience, variety, cash back, trail option and many more such features.
Rationale
With the rapid growth of online shopping especially in the apparel sector in India, there is a need to address the following issues with respect to impact of digital strategies on consumer buying behavior:

1. Which of the digital strategies affect the customer journey?

2. Which stages of the consumer decision journey do these strategies impact most?

3. What are the implications for the marketers?

4. Are there any gaps in the consumer decision journey which the marketers can leverage on?

The research paper addresses all these issues specifically. Marketers would greatly benefit from such study because it helps them channelize their efforts and funds and invest only on the digital media that would help them achieve the marketing objectives.
Objectives
1. To analyze how the consumer decision journey has evolved with the digital media strategies especially in apparel sector for online shopping.

2. To Study the factors that make the most impact at the various stages of the journey for the retail category specifically apparel brands.

3. To find out the implications of these for the marketers and how they can use the consumer decision journey to communicate and market better.

Literature Review

Marketing has shifted from the exchange of goods to service, interaction and relationships. Technological advancements and changing media environments has facilitated this shift and companies are forced to think the way they interact with their customers and influence their purchase behavior. The cost efficiency and interactivity of digital platforms has motivated the companies to move towards digital marketing. Marketers can now be in touch with their customers frequently, with a higher level of personalization and interaction, impacting their purchase behavior (Dighton, 2000). But reaching to these digitally inclined target markets is not that easy. Just putting TV ads and print ads won't help them attain their goals with 3.3 billion people active social media users, companies need to redesign their digital marketing strategies. (Statista, 2018) With the upcoming dynamic trends like Influencer and micro influencer marketing, Interactive Chatbots, Voice search, Artificial Intelligence, Block chain technologies, understanding the millennial consumer decision making abd buying behavior seems challenging for the companies (Shaw, 2018).
Digital Marketing
"Digital marketing uses the internet and Information Technology to extend and improve traditional marketing functions. " (Urban, 2004) David Chaffey, CEO of Smart Insights defines "Digital Marketing as achieving marketing objectives through applying digital technologies and media." American Analytics giant, SAS institute opines that digital marketing is a tool to promote products or brands via one or more forms of electronic media and differs from traditional marketing in that it involves the use of channels and methods that enables an organization to analyze marketing campaigns and understand what is working and what isn't working-typically in real time. (Healy, 2017).
Benefits of digital marketing
The typical monotonous advertising has been replaced by digital marketing. Due to rapidly advancing technologies and fast changing market dynamics, digital marketing has grown phenomenally. (Mort, 2002) Digital marketing specifically online advertising is a very powerful tool to increase traffic and enhance brand awareness. (Song, 2001) Moreover, digital marketing allows the companies to reach their target audience in a more cost efficient and measurable way thus measuring return on investment on advertising. (Pepelnjak, 2008) So, digital marketing offers the customers a lot of benefits ranging from staying updated with latest information, comparative analysis with competitors, 24/7 shopping, instant purchase, greater customer engagement and sharing reviews about the experience. With a global reach supplemented with the touch of personalization, it allows companies to track and measure the effectiveness of their campaign using various online metric tools. (Suginraj, 2017)
Traditional Consumer Purchase Journey
One of the most influential areas in consumer behavior is consumer decision making. Consumers have a complex set of needs and they resort to different decision making processes to satisfy these needs. The complexity of the decisions depends on perception about the product and its comparison with other products. Consumer decision making involves a number of different stages and numerous theories and models have been proposed by researchers over the past years. Cox (1983) proposed a five stage model which is considered the most common model for consumer decision making. This model is more clear and precise as it focuses on motivational factors which influence the consumer purchase decision. (Blackwell, 2006) The recognition of an unsatisfied need depends on personal and situational factors. (Neal, 2006) As per Solomon (2006), the psychological needs arise out of emotional feeling whereas physical needs stem from necessity.
Consumer Buying Journey Online
Social media has revolutionized marketing practices like advertising and promotion. (Hanna, 2011) It has also influenced consumer behavior from information search to post purchase behavior about a product or accompany (Mangold, 2009).

Though the digital revolution has not altered the stages in consumer decision making process but the journey itself has changed. Rather being a traditionally linear path, it's more of a cycle or even a web ( Figure 1). Consumers move through and back between the stages and get influenced by both offline and online factors at each stage.

Figure 1: Digital Revolution.

Retail websites or online shops are the most common source of initial product awareness. But consumers do refer to physical shops too for information. So, an Omni-channel strategy goes in providing a wide range of information to consumers today. The same trend of Omni channel strategy continues at each stage from information search to post purchase behavior.
Factors Affecting Consumer Behavior in the Online Medium
Consumer behavior online is affected by a number of factors like: Personal, Psychological and Social & Cultural. Personal characteristics include age, gender, occupation, status, education and lifestyle. Young individuals have more interest towards new technologies as compared to older people and easily adopt them. Moreover, cross-shopping is more intense in this group. (Vasquez, 2009) Both gender groups are using the internet but as stated by Rodgers and Harris, the men make more online purchases. But in today's world, this gap is decreasing and an increasing number of women buy online. (Hernandes, 2011) Moreover, individuals with lower income find the online platform riskier for purchases as compared to those with higher incomes. (Hernandes, 2011) Online shoppers are generally not that educated as it is considered an easy activity (Zhou, 2007). Online consumers psychologically deal with themselves, get motivated to look for price or buy online. Perception plays a huge role and consumers assess the security and quality of the website of the product. Personality drives them to websites that best suits to their personal preferences. Attitude is the one marketer is more interested as it can be changed easily (Wu, 2003). For the online consumers, the virtual communities and their opinions play an important role in formulating their purchase decisions ( Table 1).

Table 1: Comparative Analysis Of The Factors Affecting Traditional VS. Online Shopping

S.no.

Traditional shopping

Online shopping

Changing Trends in Apparel Industry worldwide
Apparel brands are facing the challenge of shorter trend cycles and increasing consumer demand for instant gratification. The different social media platforms allow faster diffusion and adoption of new trends and fashion among digitally inclined consumers. But at the same time, platforms like Instagram and Pinterest allow companies to act upon the consumer impulse more than ever. The latest shift in E-Commerce is projecting the growth of Direct-to-consumer (D2C) fashion channels thereby increase in departmental stores. Apparel brands worldwide are using Artificial Intelligence, Big data and wearable technology to understand the consumer buying behavior online and provide a fully customized shopping experience to them (Snipp, 2018).
Indian Apparel market
In the last few years, the apparel industry in the developing countries is witnessing a robust growth. Changing consumer trends and demand, social and environmental factors are influencing drastic changes in the apparel industry with India being one of the preferred destinations. Indian apparel market is expected to grow at CAGR of 13% and is predicted to reach USD 124 billion by 2020 (Indian Apparel Market: The 2020 promises, 2017). Many global brands are entering India and at the same time the domestic brands are strengthening their positions. The support by the government is also boosting the confidence of global and domestic brands. There are some major trends that are changing the Indian apparel industry. The rise in new middle class and its soaring aspirations is leading to increase in preference of branded clothes by consumers. This trend is more visible in Tier-I cities with more population of middle class and affluent consumers but this trend is seen descending in Tier-II & Tier-II cities of India too. The role of women in family decision making is gaining prominence with the growing contribution of women in the family income. With smarter women and thus smarter kids, the Indian apparel industry is witnessing a major change in the way females demand hard core fashion brands and decide buying clothes online. One set of Indian consumers are buying apparel on the basis of their functionality like anti-stain, anti-odor or quick dry while the other are buying motivated by high order needs like sustainable clothing. This is forcing companies to think beyond the predictable consumer needs while buying apparels. There is a return of trend of custom-fit tailoring with basically either made-to-measure or bespoke tailoring.Premium brands like Raymond and Louis Philippe and luxury brands like Armani, Versace, Zegna, Cadini and Canali offer made-to-measure services. Premium brands like Van Heusen's My Fit and Creyate by Arvind group have introduced the concept of bespoke tailoring. The increasing and fast access to internet devices is enabling to opt for online shopping experience in apparels too. It gives them the benefit of exploring a wide range of products and their prices on a single platform at a time and place comfortable to them. With increasing social media engagements, customer experience and huge discounts on weekends and festivals, online shopping is definitely giving a different shopping experience with enhanced customer satisfaction and engagement. So, online apparel sales are on the rise but at the same time the need to develop digitally driven brands is also emerging in Indian apparel industry (Aggarwal, 2017).
Knowledge Gap
Looking into the rapid growth of apparel sector in India, a detailed research in this sector is of prime importance. The complexity of the consumer decision journey online will force virtually all companies to adopt new ways of measuring consumer attitudes, brand performance and the effectiveness of marketing expenditures across the whole process. The way the Indian Apparel Industry is transforming digitally, it definitely calls for a change in the online strategies adopted apparel companies by studying the changing consumption habits and trends among consumers. A lot of research has been done to study the upcoming trends in Indian Apparel Industry and the changing buying behavior of consumers online. But little research has been done to study the impact of digital strategies on consumer decision making online especially with respect to Indian apparel industry. This research paper tries to study the impact of online strategies on consumer apparel buying online. The research will have immense managerial implications for both companies and academicians. It will help the apparel companies design and change their digital strategies accordingly. It will also give academicians opportunities for future research in this area.

Methodology
Research Design
The literature review presented at the earlier reflected on the various aspects of the consumer decision making journey both take offline and online. It also opened possibilities to study the factors that had an impact on both the offline and online consideration and purchase. On a macro level marketing as a field has evolved tremendously over the last decade owing to the opening up of the market, the improved economy of the country, the growing income and growing middleclass and most importantly the intervention of the digital medium into our lives. The methodology involved was quantitative, the method taken into consideration was survey, the tool used was questionnaire and the technique involved in constructing the questionnaire was likert scaling. All the questionnaires were manually administered to the respondents with minimum interference. The male and female will more or less in equal proportions.
Sampling Technique
Simple random sampling is the technique which was used. It consisted of post graduate students across Pune; these candidates will have the same level of education, similar motivations and decision making pattern. The age group of students were in the age bracket of 22-27 and these will be students from their first to fourth semester pursuing Management studies across institutes.in Pune The sample was thus homogenous with education, lifestyle, their level of adaptability to technology, their digital habits, their motivations and thus consumer decision journey thus their purchase pattern. They will essentially be digital natives and well adept to online shopping which will be made sure from the questions in the questionnaire. This was designed using an appropriate scale preferably, Likert. The Questionnaire that will be administered to the respondents will consist of approx. 15 questions. The questions will include queries related to the their buying experience, the experience with the brands, the features of online apparel, their pre purchase considerations, their during purchase evaluation parameters and their post purchase observations related to delivery, trail, cash back, etc. will persuade the consumer to buy online as opposed to the offline medium.

The different parameters that emerge from the analysis of literature review were built into the questionnaire as valuable inputs to create the questionnaire. Through the questionnaire that will be filled by the respondents online we will try and look deeply into the factors that have affected the consumer decision making journey the most. These factors will then be prioritized according importance at each given stage in the consumer journey. After studying the factors the final step would be to analysis of the data and deriving insights from it. These would also include recommendation to both offline and online retailers to improve their offering and can be the future integrations into their business to improve their offering to the consumer depending upon the factors we explore we can also tell them about the touch points where they should maximize their interaction with the consumer and thus affect the decision making process and their purchase intent.
Data Collection
The Questionnaire was designed while internally has two parts: questions related to the hypothesis and also another set integrated to correlate with the customer journey. Questionnaire was made using Google forms online and was send to the respondents. Customer profile considered include: PG students studying MBA from the top five institutes in Pune. The sample size is 200 with 100 females & 100 males in equal gender representation has been tried to achieve.
Scale used: Likert
The responses have been collected in an excel sheet which was then imported to SPSS. The analysis from SPSS using co-relation will be carried out in the next stage.
Defining the Variables
The independent Variables involved in this research were as follows: Social media, Mega sales, Free coupons, Targeting and Retargeting and Mobile marketing.

The dependent Variables involved in this research were as follows: Trending fashion content marketing, Influencer or Celebrities, Positive reviews, Online reviews, Discounts, Online payment options, Experience with apparel or site.
Hypothesis
Below are the set of hypothesis for the research to be undertaken:
H1: Social media content and advertising have a positive effect on leading people to e-commerce apparel sites. H2: Mega Sales & Discounts encourage purchase of apparel online. H3: Retargeting has a positive effect on generating traffic to the apparel e-commerce sites. H4: Mobile advertising have positive effect on leading people to website or apps.
Results And Discussion

From the test conducted on SPSS we are trying to prove the correlation between the various digital media strategies and the consumer decision making journey. The above independent and dependent factors were run in the test. The findings are as below. The chart showing the Pearson correlation factor is attached at the end as I wanted to present the analysis and the learning from the research first.

Cronbach's alpha is 0.657, this value implies that the implemented questionnaire is reliable for running the co-relation test and the scale that is questionnaire is built on i.e. Likert scale is valid ( Table 2).

Table 2: Reliability Statistics

Cronbach's Alpha

Cronbach's Alpha Based on Standardized Items

N of Items

The above table suggested that the reliability of the operationalizing variables mentioned in the questionnaire are reliable to conduct the research since the reliability score is <0.6. Hence there is internal consistency among items in the questionnaire.

This Table 3 suggests that there is less deviation among the responses and hence coherency and consistency of responses and data is maintained.

In terms of the co-relational analysis, the finding of the study suggests:

1. Social Media has a positive impact on Word of mouth (refer to table in appendix A1)

2. Mega Sales has a positive impact on Word of mouth (refer to table in appendix A1)

3. Free coupons has a positive impact on Online Purchase-(refer to table in appendix A2)

4. Targeting has a positive impact on mobile advertising. (refer to table in appendix A3)

5. Mobile advertising has a positive impact on experience opinion (refer to table in appendix A3)

6. Mobile advertising has a positive impact on trending fashion content (refer to table in appendix A4)

From the above findings, it can be concluded that:

1. Social Media has a positive impact on Word of mouth-The more the social media presence of the brand especially on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram-The more the positive word of mouth it yields to.

2. Pearson Correlation=0.419.

3. Mega Sales has a positive impact on Word of mouth-The announcement and advertisements of mega sales, flash discounts for example the great Indian festival by Amazon lead to positive WOM and generates buzz and conversations.

4. Pearson Correlation=0.479.

5. Free coupons have a positive impact on Online Purchase-Rewarding with free coupons from other TG relevant likely needs leads to an increase in online purchases.

6. Pearson Correlation=0.390.

7. Targeting has a positive impact on mobile advertising.-This finding suggests that when a brand would want to target specific audience group, the best medium would be mobile which will be most effective in communicating the message.

8. Mobile advertising has a positive impact on experience opinion-This finding suggests that once a customer has experienced the product or the services, there should be more communication to the person through mobile messaging. This process would enable the person to remember and refer to the brand very often.

9. Mobile advertising has a positive effect on trending fashion content-This means that people are more likely to look for trending fashion content on their first screen i.e the mobile. Hence, testing the hypothesis, the results are:
H1: Facebook/Twitter/Instagram-social media content and advertising have a positive effect on leading people to e-commerce sites.
Hypothesis accepted as we have seen that social media does have a positive effect on leading to WOM and leading people to the online apparel shopping. This is related to the evaluation of alternatives stage and the. Purchase stage subsequently of the consumer decision journey as positive WOM and review have an impact on the purchase.
H2: Mega Sales & Discounts encourage purchase of apparel online.
Hypothesis is accepted as Mega sales and discounts are highly correlated to encouraging on online purchase. This thus affects the consumer decision making journey the Purchase stage. We have also seen that free perks like coupons etc lead to enhanced purchase and lead people into accepting online shopping as a lucrative option.
H3: Retargeting has a positive effect on leading users to apparel e-commerce sites. The hypothesis is accepted as retargeting mostly on mobile phones through messages will have a positive impact on consumer decision making process. H4: Mobile advertising have positive effect on leading people to website or apps Hypothesis accepted. As we can see from the test advertising on mobile has a positive impact on the trending fashion content. Thus we can say that it lead people to the apparel shopping sites and also has a positive effect on the need recognition and Information search stage of the consumer decision journey. Implications for corporate and academicians
1. For advertising the new fashion, trends, styles of apparel brands, target mobile as a medium. This the medium people are using he most to look for what's trending especially more so true for fashion.

2. To generate more positive word of mouth for apparel brands and their fashion, employ social media rigorously. This could be content or promotions on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other social media platforms. This will not only increase brand visibility but also stir conversations with the use of hash-tags and getting the brand trending. Thus if Myntra wants to trend its exclusive Deepika Padukone Tamasha movie apparel range, buzz about it must be created on all social media relevant to the TG and the brand. Content, blogs and reviews from customers should be advertised so that it generates a ripple effect spreading the good word around.

3. To create a buzz and generate conversations or word of mouth, advertising the Mega sales, discounts or other promotions of similar kind will be helpful. Thus if the client is Amazon who has to advertise its Mega sale, I would suggest that it advertises on social media and also employs SEO,SEM. This generates the curiosity among people and stirs conversations. This would then lead people to buy products which they had saved in their wishlist or to be bought in the future carts.

4. To encourage purchase online, giving away coupons (free rides with Cab services/movie tickets) is helpful. Such tie ups with other brands will be trigger purchase provided such offers are packaged in a way that it is relevant to the target audience. More so having theses coupons at the payment gateway stage or just before that could also encourage impulse purchase. Thus if a female consumer purchases an outfit at Jabong, an offer like a coupon to a free haircut at a salon or a free food coupons that can be redeemed at Dominos can be offered.

5. Retargeting by brands i.e. brands that follow consumers while they surf online is something that all consumers would like only on mobile phones. Targeting people based on the content they see like native Advertising and hyper-local targeting does seem to work in case of apparel brand and this can be said from the secondary research done from the topic. Thus if a quantitative study proves the same then the marketers should look at these two routes.

Executive Summary

Online shopping has brought about a paradigm shift in the way consumers are shopping in today's world. Consumer is the epicenter in the process of marketing. This makes it extremely important for marketers to thoroughly understand the way consumer makes decision. With the digital intervention the concept remaining the same consumer often checks the online conversations around the product he is interested in, reviews, goes through content, check the most competitive prices, delivery options, payment and tractions facilities, post purchase amenities. Internet has changed consumers and societies at large through availability of wide information, better social networking and better communication. Social networks are defined as websites that link millions of users worldwide through Blogs, YouTube, MySpace, Face book and similar other social media sites. Online shopping has brought about a paradigm shift in the way consumers are shopping in today's world. The main objective of this research paper was to analyze how digital media strategies affect the consumer decision making especially in apparel sector for online shopping. A quantitative research was done with a sample of 200 selected though simple random sampling. There was equal representation of male and female in the sample. Questionnaire as a tool was administered. Hypothesis testing was done followed by correlation analysis of several factors affecting the online purchase behavior of consumers in the apparel sector. Analysis was done using SPSS. From the discussion on the hypothesis and its correlation with the consumer decision making journey, the analysis speaks volume of the fact that digital media strategies and its dynamic ways of keeping the consumer engaged have proved to be successful especially in the apparel online shopping sector. Social media through positive word of mouth positively influences the online apparel shopping. So, every brand should work towards building positive word of mouth and strong customer relationships. Moreover, apparel brands look upon mobile medium as a powerful platform to advertise their brands.

Conclusion

The study undertaken does justice to the objective it was set out for. From the resulting correlation test we can see how digital media strategies are correlated in one way or the other (either directly or indirectly) to the customer decision journey. Each stage as described theoretically-Need recognition, Information Search, Evaluation of alternatives, Purchase and Post purchase can be seen to be impacted by the various digital media strategies being employed. It can be suggested that:

1. Mega sales and social media have positive impact on generating positive reviews and thus impact the Evaluation of alternatives and Purchase stage subsequently.

2. It can be concluded that the social media marketing is a very important tool for the marketers of apparel brands online for trending new fashion, announce sales and most importantly generate positive reviews and word of mouth as these reviews are the most looked for. One important hint here is that every apparel brand must invest in building strong CRM i.e. Customer Relationship Management.

3. Another powerful insight that emerged was that apparel brands looking to advertise new trends must look at mobile as a medium and build a strong strategy around it.

4. The number of people who responded yes to shopping online with their frequency being more that 10 purchases a year hold testimony that people especially the youth in the age group of 20-30 which was our test group have readily accepted the online medium as their preferred medium to shop.

5. The youth is spending a considerable amount of money upto 10k on online purchases and for some even more.

6. Flipkart, Myntra, jabong, Amazon emerged pout to be the most frequented site when it comes to online shopping. Thus to take the study further a research in how these companies are effectively using digital media and learning about their strategies will give further insight into this topic.

7. Laptop followed by mobile are the most preferred medium for online shopping of apparel. Thus keeping theses gadgets at the heart of the strategy should be kept in mind by the marketers.

Limitations

Few numbers of independent variables chosen by me could not cover the whole gamut of digital media strategies. In the robust world of digital media and the number of brands betting on it, apparel sector being one part of it there are many factors that affect the customer decision journey at its subsequent stages. An in depth study thus which all the burgeoning digital strategies to research to the consumer and affect his decision could not be undertaken. The time span for the study taken up also subjected to constraints. Thus in depth search of the variables and the sub-Variables could not take place.

Future Scope Of Research

Future research on the upcoming digital media strategies can be taken up. Also this kind of a study would be done best by partnering with an apparel brand having its presence online or one which is planning to sell online soon. This way the study would be much more useful with real time insights to the clients which would help them craft their strategies better. This study could be extended to the concepts of marketing other than the consumer decision journey for example the stimulus-response theory or consumer loyalty model. Another area of research related to this one could be to figure which of the social media and digital platforms will have the maximum impact on the online shopping of apparel brands.

Appendix

**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

**Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).
*Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

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Hanna-R., R.A. (2011). We are all connected: The power of the social media ecosystem. Business Horizons, 50(1), 39-48.

Hernandes, B.J. (2011). Age, gender & income: Do they really moderate online shopping behavior? Online Information Review, 35(1), 113-133.

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Neal, C. (2006). Consumer behavior: Implications for marketing strategy, (Fourth Edition). Mc Graw Hill. Pepelnjak, J.C. (2008). Measuring ROI beyond the last ad. Digital Marketing Insight.

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Impact of Digital Strategies on Consumer Decision Journey: Special

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Research Article: 2019 Vol: 23 Issue: 1 Apparel, Online Shopping, Consumer Decision Making, Word Of Mouth, Social Media. The consumer decision journey that starts right from the awakening of the desire to the post purchase which in turn affects their future purchase and even the other around them.

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Research Article: 2020 Vol: 24 Issue: 1

Keywords

Customer-Supplier relationships, Supplier perceived value, High technology product and relationship value, Relationship quality, Trust; Satisfaction.

Introduction

What makes a business relationship valuable is an important question for developing and maintaining long term exchange partnerships. Relationship value is highlighted as the prime purpose for any firm in engaging in a continuous business relationship because value cannot be realized in arm's length relationships and purely transactional exchange processes (Amine & Alaoui, 2018; Anderson & Narus, 1999; Biong et al., 1997; Chicksand & Rehme, 2018; Daugherty et al., 2006; Ganesan, 1994; Gao, 2017; Gronroos, & Helle, 2012; Park & Lee, 2018; Wilson & Jantrania, 1995). Value is linked to numerous relational factors e.g., relationship quality; customer loyalty (Ho et al., 2014; Lai, 2014). Numerous studies in the literature of business and industrial marketing explored the nature of relationship value e.g., (Lai et al., 2015; Ryssel et al., 2004; Ulaga, 2003; Walter & Ritter, 2003). However due to the differing conceptualizations, which in turn lead to differing approaches to measure relationship value, there is still a lack of understanding of the nature of this construct and what method is appropriate for its measurement. There has been a considerable discussion of customer perspective of value however only a few authors discuss supplier's perspective of value. There has not been adequate conceptual and empirical effort toward examining the impact of product technology on relationship value. The purpose of this paper is to fill the above gaps. Specifically, this paper seeks to answer the following questions to contribute to both theory and practice:

1. What is relationship value from a supplier's perspective?

2. What measures are appropriate for assessing relationship value?

3. How does the nature and role of relationship value vary by the technological level of the product?

Theoretical Background
Conceptualisation of Value
Authors propose differing conceptualizations e.g., Anderson (1995) and Wilson & Jantrania (1995) conceptualize relationship value as a function of relationship benefits (economic, strategic and behavioral benefits) received by a trading partner. This view of relationship value is supported in other studies of business and industrial marketing that various economic benefits arise value i.e., increased revenues, higher profitability due to reduced transaction costs in long-term buyer-seller relationships (Anderson & Narus, 1990; Anderson & Weitz, 1982; Dwyer et al., 1987; Ford, 1990; Hakansson, 1982; Hardwick & Ford, 1986; Kim & Frazier, 1997; Morgan & Hunt, 1994; Ritter & Walter, 2012; Ryssel et al., 2004; Sun et al., 2014; Ulaga, 2003; Walter & Ritter, 2003). However, this approach is criticized by other authors e.g., Cui & Coenen (2014) and Holm et al. (1999) and Lapierre (2000) in their studies focusing on buyer that there are a variety of costs like poor service standard; risk of opportunism; opportunity cost of alternative supplier relationships and suggest that relationship value can be better assessed by comparing benefits and costs of the business relationship. The benefit-cost tradeoff approach is consistent to the value studies in consumer marketing literature e.g., (Ravald, & Gronroos, 1996).

Amongst the studies that propose benefit-cost tradeoff approach, no consensus can be reached on which attributes to be considered to measure benefits and costs. Holm et al. (1999) and Walter et al. (2001) consider only revenue as benefit whilst some authors e.g., Eggert & Ulaga (2002) consider quality as the only benefit factor and price as the only cost factor. Lapierre (2000) consider ten types of benefits and three types of costs. Ulaga & Eggert (2006) use six relationship benefits (product quality, delivery performance, service support, personal interaction, know-how and time to market) and three costs (direct product costs, acquisition costs and operations costs). Consistent to this, Corsaro & Snehota (2010) report six benefits and three costs. Blocker's (2011) study of five different cultures identified four benefits (offer quality, personal interaction, service support and know-how) and three costs (direct product costs, acquisition costs and operations costs).
Supplier's Perspective of Value
There are only a few studies that investigate the supplier's perspective of relationship value e.g., Gadde, & Snehota (2000); Walter et al., (2001); Lai et al. (2015). No consensus found in these studies about the nature of relationship value. Walter et al. (2001) use direct and indirect functions for value creation. Direct functions comprise cost reduction, quality, volume and safeguard. Indirect functions comprise innovation, marketing, scouting and social support. Gadde & Snehota (2000) use two types of benefits (cost saving and revenue). Various studies indicate that in addition to revenue, suppliers can gain other benefits e.g., product ideas, technologies and/or market access from their customers (Wilson, 1995). Partners also receive various kinds of social value e.g., friendship developed with the partner; cooperative sentiments and a trusting environment which makes the relationship enjoyable for the parties (Lapierre, 2000; Wilson & Jantrania, 1995). Lai et al. (2015) developed and tested a scale comprising six benefits of " customer service", "relationship interaction", " cost lowering", "promotion assistance", "product sales" and "information offering" to capture a supplier's perception of relationship value. Earlier studies e.g., Anderson et al., 1994 and Hakansson & Snehota 1989 and Van Bruggen et al. (2005) discuss many benefits that suppliers obtain from customers such as product ideas, experience, technology and entry into markets. Lai et al. 2010 examined supplier's perspective of relationship value in cross-border relationships and reported benefits and sacrifices including information offering, market expansion, product innovation, network interaction and marketing cost.

However, there has not been an adequate effort to consider costs/problems/sacrifices in driving the value perceptions. Recently, Chicksand & Rehme's (2018) research highlights direct benefits and sacrifices as well as indirect benefits and sacrifices from a supplier's perspective. Direct benefits include revenue improving, operational and risk reduction whereas direct sacrifices include the cost of learning and adapting processes and keeping inventory. Indirect benefit include access to new markets and indirect sacrifices/costs associated with investing in developing and managing the relationship with the customer, as well as becoming dependent on the customer for fear of losing revenue.
Nature of the B2B Market-High or Low Technology Product
There is a limited discussion of how the technological level of the product affects value perceptions of the firm. This is a legitimate topic of inquiry as earlier studies e.g., Gardner et al. (2000) discuss that significant differences exist between high technology and low technology products and alternative strategies are required to market them. Despite the significance of technology aspect, its impact on customer-supplier relationships has not been extensively studied. Recent qualitative study of Park & Lee (2018) in Taiwanese semiconductor industry highlight the importance of value research in high-technology Industry context. High technology products e.g., telecommunication devices; electronic instruments, microprocessors are innovation focused and their manufacturing involves turbulent technology. Acceptance and usage pattern of high-technology products is unpredictable (Gardner, 2000). Manufacturing these highly sophisticated products requires a considerable involvement of the customer. This close collaboration of the customer and supplier has also been referred as value co-creation (Frow et al., 2015). Low-technology products employ familiar and accepted technology, their usage pattern is not unpredictable (Gardner, 2000) and low-technology products do not require close collaboration between customer and supplier.
Conceptualizing Direct and Indirect Relationship Value
Two types of relationship value emerge from the discussion above- direct value and indirect value. Direct value from a supplier's perspective mainly involves monetary benefit/loss e.g., revenue, operational cost and inventory cost and this type of value is relevant and important in all relationships irrespective of the product technology. Indirect value component involves nonmonetary benefit/sacrifices associated with customer-supplier relationships e.g., technical collaboration opportunities; learning benefit; access to new markets and this type of value may be more important in relationships involving high technology product.
A Relative-Value Based Concept of the Value Types
Drawing on the existing studies of value in the business and industrial marketing literature and the findings of the qualitative research this paper proposes a relative-value based conceptualization of the direct and indirect value, and develops the measures of the two types of value. A relative-value conceptualization means value determination is a subjective phenomenon. It is based not only on the presence of some relationship attributes like purchase volume or payment, but also on the relative importance of the attributes in the eyes of the supplier. This implies that value of relationship with a particular customer might be different from the point of view of different suppliers as the importance of the attributes may vary from supplier to supplier. Based on this conceptualization, a measure is developed consisting of the degree of availability of a range of attributes and the importance/weighting of the attributes. As this paper tends to investigate the supplier's perspective of relationship value, the measure is tested using 67 high technology product manufacturers and 65 low technology product manufacturers.

Earlier studies separate value drivers depending upon whether they generate a benefit and cost for the trading firm (Lapierre, 2000; Eggert & Ulaga, 2002). However, this is arguable. Benefits and costs are perceptions of the firm regarding a relationship issue and same issue may arise a benefit for one exchange partner and a problem/cost for the other partner. For example, risk of failure is taken as a sacrifice (Ravald & Gronroos, 1996). Absence of risk implies safe and secure relationship and denotes a benefit. The same driver i.e., risk generates a benefit or cost depending upon the extent to which it is present or absent in the relationship. Thus value drivers cannot be divided into categories like benefits and costs; rather the benefit and/or cost that is generated from the drivers are to be used for value assessment. In consumer marketing literature (Ravald & Gronroos, 1996) purchase price is indicated as a benefit as well as a cost to the buyer.
Qualitative Research for Relationship Value
Thirty in-depth interviews of about two hours each were conducted by the author in that the informants were given opportunity to speak freely about any relationship. A variety of different ways in which value is perceived are reflected in the respondents' comments stated below e.g., order consistency, customer assistance for new product development; price, payment pattern, reduced risk, which generate 'benefit' and 'cost' elements leading to value.
"The customer has been regularly ordering and has a consistent purchase pattern. These are the main attributes we value in the relationship. In past years we have dealt with numerous customers, most of them are unpredictable in their purchases, sometimes they order only one unit and at other times they ask for a sizable quantity at a short notice. This creates problems for our firm. So far this customer has been consistent in ordering and we don't mind that they even asked for a 10 percent drop in the price this year." "The main factors that motivates us to keep sticking to this customer is their innovative approach and collaborative attitude. This consumer electronics manufacturer targets rural population and develops new products that are affordably priced for a low income segment. They bring new ideas for developing electronic components and we work on the projects in a collaborative manner. There is a good potential in this market. In this way, we are receiving a good value from this relationship." "This customer consistently purchases and never delays payments. They provide a stable stream of revenue to our firm." "I have stopped supplying to this buyer because there is no consistency of business. Consistency is important to remain competitive in the market." "This customer is a joy to work with. They exactly know how we work. It saves a lot of time and energy."
The qualitative interviews led to identify eight drivers of value that are listed below. Payment, volume of purchase, order consistency, and cost reduction are monetary in nature driving direct value. Information and learning; Collaboration for technical advancement, ease of negotiating, coordinating and decision making, and adaptation are identified as drivers of indirect value.
Direct Value Drivers
1. Payment (timely payment)

2. Volume of purchase (order size)

3. Order consistency

4. Cost reduction (less hassles due to working with the same customer, not having to search for new customers etc.)
Indirect Value Drivers
1. Information provision and Learning benefit (information about market Intelligence, knowledge about new products/processes)

2. Collaboration for technical advancement

3. Ease of negotiating, coordinating and making decisions on relationship issues

4. Adaptation

Drawing upon the past studies of value in business-to-business marketing, the findings of qualitative interviews, and insights from the literature of organisation psychology and personal relationships, the following section discusses the conceptualization of relationship value that is developed in this study.
Relative-Value Conceptualisation of Relationship Value
In personal relationships literature, numerous authors e.g., Rusbult (1980;1983) conceptualise as well as empirically report, a two component structure of relationship value- an estimate of the relationship attributes and the importance attached to the attributes. People look for attributes in a particular relationship to satisfy their individual needs e.g., humor or liking for a particular sport. The relationship value would vary from person to person depending upon the attributes that are desired and those that are not desired. Farrell & Rusbult (1981) and Rusbult & Farrell (1983) empirically report a two-component relationship value in employee-organisational relationships also. The qualitative interviews of managers also confirmed that relationship value is evaluated by 'benefit-cost discrepancy' and 'relative importance ' of specific attributes like volume; consistent ordering. Thus, using a multiattribute model approach, a measure of relationship value is developed as it requires the estimate of the relative importance of each attribute and the estimate of benefit or cost on each attribute. Multiattribute models have been applied in the past in consumer behaviour research (Mazis et al., 1975; Wilson & Lichtenthal, 1985); in industrial buying behaviour (Moller, 1981; Moller, 1985; Wilson, 1975; Wilson & Mummalaneni, 1986); in services marketing area (Parasuraman et al., 1985).

The relationship attributes are likely to vary in terms of importance to the suppliers. The relative importance of attributes is obtained by asking the respondents to complete a constant sum importance scale (refer to Appendix A). The respondents allocated 100 points over the four attribute categories so as to reflect how important they are in providing value in a long lasting relationship with the focal trading partner. Accordingly weighted, the importance of attributes is used in the subsequent analysis (that is, weight*degree of presence or absence of attribute).
Mathematically:
Direct (indirect) value for the trading partner =  (percentage importance of attribute I)* (benefit from I - cost incurred of problem faced on I) where I varied from 1 to 4 (refer to the previous section for value attributes).
Relationship Quality
The present study seeks to investigate the role of relationship value in strengthening the relationship. In buyer-seller relationships literature, authors e.g., Smith (1998) view relationship quality as an important construct reflecting strength of a particular business relationship. Relationship quality is viewed as a higher order construct composed of trust and satisfaction (Crosby et al., 1990; Cui & Coenen, 2014). Existing studies of value and satisfaction differ in their view of these constructs. In services marketing, McDougall & Levesque (2000) discuss difficulty of distinguishing perceived value and satisfaction due to common characteristics these constructs possess. Spreng & Mackoy (1996) reported that customers subjectively evaluate performance attributes based on a set of standards they observe when developing judgments on quality. Similar to this, Powers & Dawn (2008) evaluate the perceived value of various alternatives relative to a multi-attribute reference point. However, numerous authors view relationship value and quality as distinct constructs (Cui & Coenen, 2014; Iacobucci et al., 1995; Ostrom & Iacobucci, 1995). According to the empirical research in this field, relationship value can be considered as an antecedent of relationship quality (Ulaga & Eggert, 2006a).
Trust
Trust is said to be a vital component of business relationships (Anderson & Narus, 1990; Doney & Canon, 1997; Dertouzous et al., 1989; Eriksson & Hallen, 1995; Ferro et al., 2016; Hau & Ngo, 2012; Jiang et al., 2011; Jukka et al., 2017; Morgan & Hunt, 1994; Mpinganjira et al., 2017; Young, 2006). Anderson & Narus (1990) refer trust as the firm's belief that another company will perform actions that will result in positive outcomes for the firm, as well as not take unexpected actions that would result in negative outcomes for the firm. A similar view is adopted by Moorman et al. (1993) that trust is a willingness to rely on an exchange partner in whom one has confidence (based on " a belief, sentiment or an expectation about an exchange partner that results from the partner's expertise, reliability, and intentionality."
Satisfaction
Satisfaction is an important construct in Business marketing literature. Numerous authors define satisfaction as an affective state developed based on the evaluation of the relationship with a particular exchange partner or the degree of fulfilment of the expectations of each partner in an exchange relationship (Anderson & Narus, 1990; Frazier & Summers, 1986; Han et al., 1993). Various studies of satisfaction link this construct to other relationship factors. Eggert & Ulaga, 2002; Ravald & Gronroos, 1996 discuss the positive effect of satisfaction on repeat purchase or loyalty. According to Yi (1990), satisfaction can be defined as the customer's response to the evaluation of the perceived discrepancy between some comparison standard and the perceived performance. Following Crosby et al. (1990), Cui & Coenen (2014), and Wray et al. (1994), relationship quality construct in the present study is composed of trust and satisfaction.
Hypotheses Development
Figure 1 presents the hypothesised linkages.

An exchange partner does some evaluation of integrity and reliability to ensure that a potential partner's word is taken as credible before trust is established (Doney & Cannon, 1997). Williamson's (1993) view of calculativeness associated with relationship continuation reflects that there is a value assessment underlying relationship development. A positive link exists between relationship value and trust because when firms realize that it is beneficial to maintain the exchange relationship, feeling of risk in dealing with the partner decreases and a confidence develops in the capabilities and motivation of the partner (Young, 2006). Economic gain is seen as a form of value in B2B relationships literature. Trusting parties do not have to engage extensively in activities such as monitoring the partner or building safeguards (through contracts) in the relationship. The reduction of such costs increases the value of the relationship (Walter et al., 2000). Indirect value arising from the relationship such as information; referrals; resource access (Walter et al., 2003; Walter et al., 2001; Wiley et al., 2005). Partners look for opportunities for relationship enhancement by exchanging strategic information, joint product development projects, or by integrating some of the business functions (Selnes, 1998). A positive link between value co-creation and relationship quality is also reported in recent studies (e.g., Chang et al., 2017; Day & Chuang, 2016; He et al., 2018, Sánchez & Santos-Vijande, 2015; Tsai, 2015). Hence hypothesis 1a and hypothesis 1b:
H1a. Supplier's perception of direct value will positively impact upon trust in the customer. H1b. Supplier's perception of indirect value will positively impact upon trust in the customer.
In customer-supplier relationships, various studies have reported a positive link between the value perceived by the customer and satisfaction experienced within a particular customer-supplier relationship (Blocker, 2011; Eggert & Ulaga, 2002; Ruiz-Molina et al., 2015; Gil-Saura et al., 2018; Ulaga & Eggert, 2006a; Woodruff, 1997). Some authors report adding value to the basic market offer may improve customer satisfaction (Walter et al., 2003). Grönroos (1997) suggests that the success of a relationship that is mutually profitable for the supplier and buyer depends on the ability to continuously provide episode value and relationship value. Episode value is improved by increasing the benefits and/or reducing the sacrifice for the buyer. This will improve satisfaction of the buyer and stimulate repurchasing. Grounded in the conceptualisation of relationship marketing, this study supposes that supplier's higher perception of value in a particular exchange relationship leads to higher degree of satisfaction. Hence:
H2a: Supplier's perception of direct value will positively impact upon satisfaction with the relationship. H2b: Supplier's perception of indirect value will positively impact upon satisfaction with the relationship.
Low technology products e.g., stationery; office furniture; industrial supplies; tools and accessories; packaging equipment; sports goods do not require much customer involvement and collaboration in manufacturing. These goods are purchased by straight rebuy approach and the supplier's perceived value is mostly driven by the quantity ordered, and order and payment consistency. Indirect value e.g., ease of working with the customer may also play some role in developing trust and satisfaction, however as compared to direct value their impact would be much less. Hence:
H3: For a supplier of low technology product, direct value will have a stronger impact on trust than indirect value. H4: For a supplier of low technology product, direct value will have a stronger impact on satisfaction than indirect value.
The role of indirect value varies according to the technology of the product. High technology industries e.g., semiconductors; information technology; medical instruments; robotic equipment rely a lot on the information received from the customer in regards to designing and customising the products to meet their expectation. This arises opportunities for joint research and development for innovating products and technologies, and the participation in these projects demonstrates customer's interest. Resources of time; technical expertise and infrastructure are invested by both sides for realizing rewards in future years. Supplier's trust in customer grows stronger due to the commitments demonstrated by the customer. In low technology industries there is a limited opportunity for developing new products and processes. Products are generally standardized and the value is mostly driven by units sold and payments. Therefore, in low technology product, indirect value is limited and its effect on developing trust and satisfaction will be relatively lesser than that in a high technology product. Hence:
H5: The effect of indirect value on trust is greater in high technology product rather than a low-technology product. H6: The effect of indirect value will be greater on satisfaction in a high technology product rather than a low-technology product.
There is no consensus regarding the link between trust and satisfaction. There are studies that position satisfaction as an outcome of trust (Ruekert & Churchill, 1984; Svensson et al., 2010). Whereas other authors view that satisfaction precedes trust (Geyskens et al., 1999; Moliner et al., 2007). Ferro et al. (2016) found a positive impact of trust on satisfaction in manufacturer-supplier relationships. Following Ferro et al. (2016) a positive effect of trust on satisfaction is hypothesised.
H7: Trust will have a positive impact on satisfaction.
Research Methodology
Item Generation, Sample and Data Collection
Table 1 presents the fourteen industries identified for the study: seven in the low technology category and seven in the high-technology category. The low technology industries were office furniture, stationery, building materials, textiles, industrial supplies, food and beverage, and sport goods, and the high-technology industries selected were electronic components, robotic equipment, medical devices, information technology products, telecommunication equipment, industrial machinery, and automobile components. Past studies e.g., Lucas (1986) assessing innovative effort in high vs. low technology used a similar approach in categorizing industries.

Appendix a presents the study measures. The measures of direct and indirect relationship value are listed based on the method described in the qualitative research section. Trust measures were adapted from (Svensson et al., 2006; The IMP project Group, 1982). Satisfaction measures adapted from (Andaleeb, 1996; Ferro et al., 2016). The field work was conducted in India. The selection of firms for data collection started by contacting various industrial organizations in India e.g., Chambers of Commerce, Industrial Development Banks and Corporations, Industrial Credit Corporations and Business councils and Indian importers and exporters association which provided a list of members 100 firms based in the metropolitan cities were selected from each category. The respondents were told that they should focus the interview on a particular business relationship which they considered important for their firm and they would not disclose the name of the other firm they were describing. It was ensured that the informant was the person in the firm who most frequently interacted with the customer firm and consequently the most knowledgeable about the relationship. When contacted, 25 of these refused to participate further in the study. Out of the 175 firms left, 67 high technology suppliers and 65 low technology supplier were finally selected as the volume of purchase was large and/or the product traded was significant to the production process of the customer business. As would be expected in preferred customer relationships, a majority of the respondent firms (67%) are selling a substantial portion of (60-100%) of the business to their customers. The questionnaire was pretested and amended as per the suggestions received from pre-test respondents and experts in business-to-business marketing. The questionnaire was largely self-completed but in the presence of a field staff so that any queries of the respondent could be answered. Five field staff with high levels of marketing expertise including academics and experienced marketing professionals were recruited and trained to assist in the data collection. The author organized and supervised the fieldwork as well as participated in the data collection. Senior marketing executives were asked to self-select a current relationship with a particular buyer the company had for a period of at least 5 years. The informant was generally a senior marketing manager who possessed a university degree, significantly involved in the selling and was a direct participant in the relationship with the trading partner. The respondents were also asked to report profitability, criticality and volume of product traded, and some demographic questions about themselves, their company, and their trading partner. The range of the respondent's age was 34 to 48 years and the mean experience in purchasing was 16 years.
Data Analysis
The distribution properties for each item were assessed using histograms and normal probability plots. No item appeared to have a serious departure from the normal distribution. Convergent validity of direct and indirect value was examined by assessing the benefit and cost experienced over the four attributes identified for each type of value. A strong correlation was found in the ratings representing perceived benefit experienced over the four attributes for each type of value. Similarly, the ratings representing the cost incurred/problem experienced were also strongly correlated. Together the benefit and the cost ensured convergent validity of direct value and indirect value. For trust and satisfaction, first a principal components factor analysis with verimax rotation was performed on the measures and the items were examined following (Hair et al., 1998 & Churchill, 1979). Using Nunnally (1978) a minimum lower threshold of 0.7 for Cronbach Alpha was set. The factor loadings in the principal components factor analysis are high (ranging from 0.82 to 0.84) showing only one factor to be present in the items measuring one construct. Table 2 and Table 3 present the results of confirmatory factor analysis of trust and satisfaction in high technology and low technology sample respectively. High factor loadings (0.81 to 0.85) demonstrate unidimensional nature of the scales of trust and satisfaction. The composite reliability (CR) was high (ranging from 0.82 to 0.84), and the average variance extracted (AVE) (ranging from 0.70 to 0.72) confirmed good association between the items measuring a particular construct (Fornell & Larcker, 1981).

CR= composite reliability AVE = average variance extracted

Table 3: Confirmatory Factor Analysis Of Trust And Satisfaction (Lowtechnology)

Construct

Indicators

Standardized Loading

Reliability measures

CR= composite reliability AVE = average variance extracted.

For examining discriminant validity, using the guidelines suggested by Anderson & Gerbing (1988), the study first assessed measurement model using AMOS version 24.0 (IBM SPSS AMOS) before testing hypothesised linkages presented in the Figure 2. The model fit indices provided evidence of solid and reliable measures of all study constructs. For low technology sample, Chi square was (42.24) at degrees of freedom 36 (chi sq./df=1.17), goodness of fit index (GFI)=0.95, comparative fit index (CFI)=0.95, incremental fit index (IFI)=0.96, Tucker Lewis index (TLI)=0.93, root mean square residual (RMR)=0.05 and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA) =0.06. For high technology sample, Chi square was (38.56) at degrees of freedom 36 (chi sq./df=1.07), goodness of fit index (GFI)=0.95, comparative fit index (CFI)=0.93, incremental fit index (IFI)=0.95, Tucker Lewis index (TLI)=0.92, root mean square residual (RMR)= 0.05 and root mean square error of approximation (RMSEA)=0.05. To further test the discriminant validity and unidimensionality, the value of the correlation between pairs of constructs was equated to unity by presuming that the two latent constructs were alike (Bagozzi & Philips, 1982). The measurement model was re-estimated after so constraining each pair of constructs. Following the sequential chi square differential method (Anderson & Gerbing, 1988). The chi square differential was obtained to ensure that the constructs are unique. The discrimination of all constructs is supported as in all cases, the chi square statistic of the constrained model was significantly higher than the unconstrained model indicating a poorer fit for the constrained model. The lower goodness of fit index and a greater root mean square of approximation of the constrained models further support the discriminant validity of the constructs. Following Gaski (1984), to even further test discriminant validity, the alpha coefficient of the scales was compared with their correlation coefficients with the other constructs (refer to Table 10 and Table 11 for correlation coefficients in the high and low technology samples). Cronbach alpha was found to be always higher than inter-construct correlation coefficients. As the size of both samples was less than 200, structural equation modeling was not considered suitable for hypotheses testing (Garver & Mentzer, 1999; Hoelter, 1983).

Results

Table 4 presents mean ratings (out of a possible 100 points) of the four relationship attributes for each value type and the differences in mean importance of attributes in high technology and low technology segments, the first part of value. The results indicate that on an average, the greatest importance is attached to payment in the direct value with an average of 45.38 out of 100 points assigned to it in the low technology sample and 38.21 in the high technology sample. The second most important attribute of direct value is volume that has an average of 22.46 out of 100 points in the low technology sample and 24.48 in the high technology sample. Order consistency and cost reduction have a similar averages in both samples. There are no significant differences in the averages in the two samples as shown by the results of analysis of variance.

High technology and low technology samples show a significant difference in the importance of all of the four attributes of indirect value. Technical advancement has the greatest importance for the high technology sample 38.91 out of 100 points whereas only 15.64 in the low technology sample. Ease of negotiation is similar in weighting to information and learning in the high technology sample but there is a significant difference in these two attributes in the low technology sample. While information and learning benefit shows low importance in the two samples (an average of 16.10 out of 100 in the high technology sample and 8.62 in the low technology sample), the two weightings are significantly different. Overall, these results are line with expectations as high technology suppliers and low technology suppliers associate different importance to relationship attributes. Table 5 presents a comparative view of the most and the least important attribute in both the two samples.

The second component of relationship value is benefit and/or cost ratings assigned to each relationship attribute. The respondents were asked to consider the amount of benefit delivered by their trading partner on each relationship attribute. Table 6 presents the average benefit ratings given by all respondents. It is interesting to note that all the attributes are rated above the mid-point of the scale i.e. 2.5 for the scale anchored at 1 (no benefit at all) and 5 (large benefit) by both high technology and low technology samples.

A comparison of Table 6 with Table 4 provides some useful insights to the trading relationships surveyed. Payment is the most important attribute re Table 4 and it is delivering the maximum benefit (4.04). However in high technology sample, technical advancement is the most important attribute of indirect value (38.91/100 re Table 4) the benefit delivered on this attribute is not the maximum (4.43 compared to 4.50 for information benefit). Adaptation was the second most important in the high technology sample (29.85) but it is delivering the least benefit (4.22). Overall these results indicate that supplier's expectations in regards to the most important attributes are not met by the customer. Several differences emerged between the high technology and low technology segments as the benefit received on the indirect value attributes is significantly different.

Table 4: Mean Importance (Relative Weighting) Associated With Value Drivers

Attribute

Mean importance
(High technology suppliers 67)

Mean importance
(Low technology suppliers 65)

Anova sig.

To measure the second component of relationship value i.e. problems faced by the respondent firm in dealing with the exchange partner, the respondents were asked to rate the problem faced or the amount of cost incurred on the relationship issues on a scale ranging from 1 to 5, with 1 being no problem or cost incurred and 5 being large problem or heavy cost incurred. The differences of mean problem ratings in the high technology and low technology segments were also tested. Table 7 reproduces the results of relationship problems. None of the attributes were rated high on the problem scale with the highest rating for the sample as a whole being 1.59 for order consistency. This reflects the nature of the sample. Good quality, important relationships have led to evaluations of relationships high in benefit and low in cost.

Table 5: The Most And The Least Important Relationship Attribute In High And Low Technology Industry

Technology/attribute

Most important attribute

Least important attribute

Scale: 5=large benefit, 1=no benefit at all.

Combining the above components to represent relationship value, the weighted values of the four issues were computed for direct value in the high technology and low technology samples, and then average weighted value was also computed for each issue for both samples. Weightings of relationship attributes were computed by dividing the assigned points (Refer Table 4) by 100 and taking the average across all respondents in the high technology sample and the low technology sample. The difference between the benefit and cost ratings was obtained for each value attribute and was multiplied by the importance to compute mean weighted value of that attribute. Table 8 indicates that the weighted value associated with payment was greater than the other three issues (1.06 and 1.10 in the high technology sample and the low technology sample respectively) implying that payment delivers more direct value than any other relationship attribute. It is noteworthy that in the high technology sample, the weighted value associated with technical advancement (1.17) was greater than all the issues of direct value and the other three issues of indirect value. It was also significantly greater than the technical advancement (0.37) in the low technology sample. This means technical advancement is delivering more value to a high technology product supplier than to a low technology product supplier. A comparison of the results in Table 8 with Table 4 indicates that the same attribute- payment is influential in generating benefit (4.06 and 4.02 in high technology sample and low technology respectively) and weighted value (1.06 and 1.10 in high technology and low technology respectively). Probably this is due to the fact that the cost incurred in the relationship (1.29 and 1.56 as per Table 3) are quite low and do not provide much discrimination. The benefit on information and learning attribute is rated the highest (4.50) in the high technology sample. Interestingly the cost/problem on this attribute is low (1.36) yet the weighted value is low (0.50). The reason for the low weighted value is low importance associated with this attribute (16.10).

Direct value was computed by summing the four weighted values of payment, volume, order consistency and cost reduction in the two samples. Mean direct value is 2.61 for the high technology product sample and 2.20 for the low technology product sample. An analysis of variance test revealed that direct value was greater for the high technology product sample than for the low technology product sample at 0.01 level of significance. Similarly the indirect value was computed by summing the weighted values of information and learning benefit, technical advancement, ease of negotiation and coordination, and adaptation in each sample. Indirect value for the high technology sample is 2.96 and the low technology sample is 2.30. There is a significant difference in the indirect value in the two samples at 0.01 level of significance. It is noteworthy that the high technology product suppliers are receiving a higher indirect value as compared to direct value (2.96 and 2.61 respectively). For the low technology suppliers, the indirect value and direct value are approximately equal (2.3 and 2.2 respectively).
Test of Hypotheses
Hypotheses were tested by analysing the structural model shown in Figure 1 for the high technology sample and low technology sample. The model fit indices of the path model suggested a reasonable fit of data in the high technology sample (chi square=26.38 at 22 df; chi sq/df=0.96), GFI=0.94, CFI=0.96, NFI=0.96, IFI=0.95, TLI=0.92, standardized root mean square residual (SRMR)=0.06, and RMSEA=0.05. The model fit indices of the path model in the low technology sample (chi square=29.56 at 21 df; chi sq/df=0.91), GFI=0.95, CFI=0.95, NFI=0.95, IFI=0.94, TLI=0.93, standardized root mean square residual (SRMR)=0.05, and RMSEA=0.05. Based on the standardized coefficients (refer to Table 9), it is possible to accept hypothesis 1a that the higher the direct value, the higher the trust in the customer (standardized coefficient 0.57 and 0.55 in the high technology sample and the low technology sample respectively, p <.01). Hypothesis 1b is also supported as the standardized coefficient for the effect of indirect value on trust is positive and significant in both samples (0.66 and 0.49 for the high technology sample and low technology sample respectively, p<0.01 for both). Results also support hypotheses 2a that the higher the direct value, the higher the satisfaction (standardized coefficient 0.45 and 0.37 in the high technology sample and low technology sample respectively, p<0.01). There is adequate support for hypothesis 2b that the higher the indirect value, the higher the satisfaction (standardized coefficient 0.48 and 0.22 in the high technology sample and low technology sample respectively, p<0.01). As stated above, for the low technology sample, the standardized coefficient for direct value on trust (0.55) is higher than that of indirect value (0.49) supporting hypothesis 3. Consistent to this, the standardized coefficient of direct value on satisfaction is higher (.37) than that of indirect value (0.22), supporting hypothesis 4. Hypothesis 5 is supported by comparing the standardized beta coefficients of indirect value on trust in the two samples. As expected, for the high technology sample, the standardized coefficient is higher (0.66) than that in the low technology sample (0.49). The results also supports Hypothesis 6 as the effect of indirect value on satisfaction is stronger in the high technology sample (0.48) than that in the low technology sample (0.22). Hypothesis 7 is supported as trust has positive standardized coefficient for satisfaction in both samples (0.35 and 0.29 for the high technology sample and the low technology sample respectively, p<0.01).

Figure 1: The Conceptual Model.

Figure 2 presents a comparative view of the strength of links between the constructs. The coefficient inside the parentheses are for the low technology sample and outside the parentheses are for the high technology sample.

Table 9: Standardized Coefficients Of Structural Model

Hypothesis

High technology Sample

Low technology sample

Significant at ** 0.01 levels

Significant at ** 0.01 levels

Discussion

Despite a continuous research to explore the nature and role of relationship value for the past two decades there are issues requiring attention. Past research of relationship value in the literature of business and industrial marketing uses differing approaches and conceptualisations of this construct, and the nature of its association with relationship quality is disputed. This study is a step forward in understanding the concept as two types of relationship value are conceptualised based on the monetary benefits/costs (direct value) and nonmonetary benefits/costs (or indirect value). While the extant research has identified numerous values creating attributes there has been a lack of the knowledge of how the attributes form perceptions of relationship value. Drawing on the work that considers the nature and role of value (in the literatures of interpersonal psychology, organisational psychology and behaviour, economics, consumer marketing, and business and industrial marketing) and integrating this with the findings of the qualitative research, a relative-value based conceptualisation of each type of relationship value is developed. The evaluation of relative-value involves two aspects: a benefit-cost discrepancy regarding relationship issues e.g., payment, cost reduction etc. and the relative importance of each relationship issue to the supplier for maintaining an effective relationship with the customer (Norris & Mcneilly, 1995).

An important contribution of this study is that perceived relationship value varies according to the nature of the product traded. Suppliers of high technology products are more concerned about receiving ideas from their customers regarding new products and technologies; information about market; collaborative projects for innovating products; and adaptations made by customer to accommodate their products. This finding is consistent to the study of Covin et al. (1990) that firms in high-technology industries, relative to those in low-technology industries, place more emphasis on new product development. This study found that suppliers of low technology products are more concerned about payment; volume of sales; regularity of order. The sum-total of relative-values for the relationship issues is equivalent to relationship value. The results of direct value and indirect value using the relative-values support the conceptualisation developed in this paper. The results show that payment delivers more value than the other three attributes driving the direct value for a low technology supplier, and technical advancement delivers more value than any of the issues for a high technology supplier.

In this way this research has produced useful insights by explaining how a particular attribute of value generates a relationship benefit or a relationship sacrifice and thus it is a unique contribution of this research. The literature of business marketing reports the benefit-cost discrepancy as a constituent of value (Cui & Conen, 2014; Eggert & Ulaga, 2002). The previous work, however, has not considered necessary to weight different attributes. The analysis presented in this paper shows that relationship value involves more than just a trade-off of benefits and cost/sacrifices, as relative weighting assigned by respondents to various attributes emerged as a significant component of the direct as well as indirect type of relationship value. Recent studies e.g., Cui & Conen (2014) found positive association between price and relationship value. This is contrary to the conceptualisations of previous studies that recognise price as a relationship cost. The present study can explain the positive association of price (payment) and value as the relative-value of price could be positively contributing if the firm perceives a benefit on this attribute. Using the relative-value framework it could be explained how an attribute could generate a benefit in one relationship context and a sacrifice in another relationship. This is because relationship value is differently evaluated by different firms as per the importance attached to a range of relationship attributes. This proves that presence of some attributes could be preferred to a greater extent to the others. The present study constructs a reliable and valid measurement instrument focusing on the mechanism of creation of value from the perspective of suppliers.

The findings contribute to the existing knowledge regarding the role of relationship value in developing trust and satisfaction perceptions of the supplier as the nature of linkages between the constructs are considered more explicitly in this study. Direct value and indirect value play a crucial role in driving relationship quality due to having a strong impact on trust as well as satisfaction. This study is the first to investigate the effect of product technology on the link between relationship value, and the two aspects of relationship quality-trust and satisfaction. Interestingly, for a high technology product supplier, indirect value is more effective for generating supplier's trust and satisfaction than direct value. The nature of the link between value and quality reverses for a low technology supplier as direct value is found to be more effective than indirect value for developing trust and satisfaction. The findings also further the existing knowledge of relationship quality as direct and indirect value showed a stronger impact on trust than satisfaction. Trust showed a positive impact on satisfaction in both segments consistent with the earlier studies (e.g., Ferro et al., 2016).
Implications
In contrast to much of the past research, this research has a wider scope as it considers suppliers in a variety of industries including automobiles, medical devices, robotic equipment, electronics, telecommunications, engineering, textiles, food & beverages, building material, stationery etc. The findings suggest that relationship value is a major driving force in developing trust and satisfaction of a supplier in the business relationship. Therefore, the aim of those managing the trading relationship must be to enquire what values are the most cherished by the supplier. The nature and structure of relationship value depends upon the presence/absence of specific attributes and their relative importance for the supplier, as mentioned in the previous section. Attributes are not generalizable and care must be taken in including them in value calculation. The usefulness of the proposed conceptualisation of relationship value depends on the firm's ability to identify the relevant attributes for analysis of relationship value. The attributes used in this study can serve as a guide but there may be other relationship issues that are important to exchange partners. Firms should consider using such research techniques as vendor surveys to identify the relevant attributes.

The relationship value tool makes it simple to assess value from a supplier's perspective. This is possible as an important aspect of the tool is relative importance of value attributes. Customers of high technology products as well as low technology products can give relative importance ranking to the attributes appropriate to their situation. The direct value and indirect value scales showed good reliability and construct validity. The scale could be considerably useful in the future research of customer-supplier relationships.

The establishment of trust is of paramount importance as trust increases satisfaction with the existing customer through more open communication, higher quality decision making, risk taking, and cooperation. Managers must assess supplier's perceptions of trust and ensure that a high degree of trust exists.

Conclusion
Limitations and Future Research
This study suggests several important research avenues. As the respondents were given freedom to nominate any trading relation for the purpose of this study, this may have affected the results to some extent as firms are inclined to pick good quality relationships (as stated in Young & Wilkinson, 1997). Additional investigation of the study constructs should employ samples involving different type of relationships e.g., good, poor and average.

The number of firms in the high technology and low technology segment was not sufficient to separately perform sophisticated structural modelling. A larger sample can be employed in future to facilitate structural models separately for high technology suppliers and low technology suppliers to investigate the inter-construct linkages. Future research is advised to use random sampling to increase the sample size and to expand generalization. There is also a need to conduct longitudinal studies to provide useful information about whether a change in the level of relationship value precedes or follows a change in the level of relationship quality.

The generalisability of the findings was constrained by the nature of the sample. The sample was drawn from one country alone. Additional investigation of the study constructs is required by employing samples of different countries. This study is unilateral as it explored only one side of the relationship. In future researchers may investigate relationship value generated in cross border relationships from a bilateral perspective.

This research considered only eight attributes to evaluate relationship value. However, more attributes may be influential in generating/diluting relationship value. Additional research could be conducted to investigate the nature and importance of other attributes in determining relationship value.

Additional constructs could also be added to the conceptual model to enrich the present findings. The sample size did not allow the application of sophisticated modelling techniques to analyse various rival models of the present conceptual model e.g., model in which relationship value could be solely composed of benefit-cost discrepancy, the model in which relationship value could be solely composed of benefits. Testing rival models would tell which model explains the nature of customer-supplier relationships in industrial exchanges the best.

There is also a need to consider non-linearity in business relationships. It is likely that many aspects of relationships are not linear in nature. Recent research e.g., Thompson & Young (2012) considers ways that the inevitable non-linearity in business relationships can be better explored. There is a need more quantitative and qualitative longitudinal studies of relations that show how relationship value is realized over time and how this is linked to trust and satisfaction. In this way, a greater knowledge of the causal sequences could be developed.

Appendix a
Study Measures
Trust (Svensson et al., 2006; International Marketing and Purchasing Group, 1982)

1. We feel we can trust this customer completely.

2. We have full confidence in the information provided to us by this customer.

3. We can rely on this customer to keep promises made to us.

4. We are not hesitant to do business with this customer even when the situation is vague.

Satisfaction (Andaleeb, 1996; Ferro et al., 2016)

1. The relationship between this customer and us is satisfying.

2. Our company regrets the decision to work with this customer. (reverse coded item)

3. The relationship between this customer and us is positive.

4. Our firm is content about its relationship with this customer.
Relationship Values
Indicate how important you think each issue is to your firm in ensuring or impeding an effective and valuable relationship with the customer being discussed here. Please allocate 100 points between the four issues in Part a and another 100 points between the four issues in Part b, giving a larger amount of points to more important issues and smaller amount of points to less important issues. If an issue is not important at all, write n/a for it and/or assign 0 points to it.
Part a Issue points (/100)
1. Payment (how quickly the payment is made, terms of payment)

2. Volume of purchase

3. Order consistency

4. Cost reduction (due to working with the same customer, not having to search for new customers etc.)
Part b Issue points (/100)
1. Information provision and Learning benefit (information about market intelligence, knowledge about new products/processes).

2. Collaboration for technical advancement.

3. Ease of negotiating, coordinating and making decisions on relationship issues.

4. Adaptation.

For each of the issues, consider how much benefit your customer provides to your firm. Payment large benefit 5 4 3 2 1 No benefit at all does not apply Considering these issues again, tell me the extent to which your firm faces problems or incurs costs. Payment large problem (costs) 5 4 3 2 1 No problem at all does not apply.

References

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high technology product and relationship value

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An Examination of Customer Relationship Value in high vs low Technology Industries

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Research Article: 2020 Vol: 24 Issue: 1 Customer-Supplier relationships, Supplier perceived value, High technology product and relationship value, Relationship quality, Trust; Satisfaction. What makes a business relationship valuable is an important question for developing and maintaining long term exchange partnerships.

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Research Article: 2020 Vol: 24 Issue: 3

Keywords

Affective Priming, Indian Advertisements, Emotional Advertising, FMCG.

Introduction

In today's busy world where the first impression is the last impression and the first impression comes from stimuli around us, right advertising plays a major role in the success of products in the market. Advertising is an important part of the promotional mix. As per content, an advertisement can make either a rational appeal or an emotional appeal. Advertisements using rational appeal try to influence consumers by providing information about and advantages of the product concerned while advertisements using emotional appeal focus on the emotional side of using the product and feel of the product.

Affective priming is a process wherein the perception of an emotion provoking stimulus affects the perception of the consecutive stimulus. For example, when someone is exposed to a strong emotion and immediately after that a neutral object is shown the person may associate that object with that strong emotion and develop negative/positive feelings towards the object. This phenomenon is being used in advertising to garner positive emotions towards brands. The current study focuses on FMCG sector as this sector accounts for continuous long-term small value purchases which add up to be a huge amount. FMCG is the 4th largest sector in Indian economy. Financial Express (January 23, 2019) reports that FMCG sector brands spend 33% of their digital advertising budget on digital video advertising, which is far higher than other sectors. This study explores how Affective priming and Emotional advertising techniques are being used in the FMCG sector in Indian video Advertisements.

Review of Literature

There has been ample evidence available both supporting and negating the impact of advertising in general and the implications of using emotional appeal in the advertisement in particular. Nielsen in their 2016 study reported that use of emotion arousing techniques in advertising led to 23% lift in sales volume. Wood (2012) stated that effectiveness of an advertisement is best measured using emotional measures as humans react to advertisements and purchase using a thinking process which is highly emotional. One of the techniques that could be used in emotional advertising is use of Affective Priming. Affective Priming and emotional advertising techniques have great possibilities for use in advertising. Affective priming and emotional advertising techniques in advertisements are growing in popularity among advertisers as these techniques help in increasing brand popularity and profitability. Batra et al. (1986) found that emotional responses evoked by an advertisement appear to be antecedents of the attitude towards the advertisement and it has a weak but significant impact on attitude towards the brand.

Albers-Miller & Stafford (1999) found that there were much more emotional appeals found in the scientific literature, than the rational appeals. Singh (2017) thoroughly observed 130 TV advertisements of 23 products from Food & Beverages, Household care and Personal care/ Hygiene products category and found emotions such as Humor, Amazement and Love & Affection. Pringle (2008) in his popular book ' Brand Immortality ' mentions that his study of 1400 advertisement campaigns lead to a finding that Ads with purely emotional content generated 31% profit while those with rational content generated only 16% profit. As the power of television is on decline due to media fragmentation, mobile advertising assumes greater significance. To make advertising appeals more distinctive and persuasive, advertisers frequently use dramatic emotional ad-messages (Panda et al., 2013). Copeland way back in 1924 contended that individual customers buy products and services for either a rational or emotional reason. Rational advertising assumes that consumers purchase goods and services based on logical or/and utilitarian decisions. Batra et al. (1990) in an experimental study with print ads found that if readers are in a state of positive mood then it contributes favourably to brand attitude. This supports the use of affective priming as affective priming helps establish a positive mood.

According to Hartmann et al. (2005) emotional positioning strategies are as important as functional strategies for brand positioning. This study was conducted in context of green branding and it revealed the importance of emotional techniques in advertisements to change the attitude of consumers towards brands. Ferreira et al. (2011) found that negative emotion conveying words, when used in advertisements in websites, lead to more attention towards the advertisement than when positive or neutral words were used. This is in the context where previous studies have reported that people avoid paying attention to advertisement on the web in general. Joshi et al. (2015) found that emotional branding and using of emotional advertising leads to improved brand loyalty. This study was specifically done in context of Indian FMCG sector. According to Wood (2012) an emotional model and emotional measurement of advertising will be more effective than traditional model of advertising. Empirical data is used to drive home this point. Mahapatra (2013) found that emotional advertising is more effective than rational advertising in terms of leading to action.

Yi (1990) conducted an experiment to investigate the cognitive and affective priming of the contact for print advertisements and found that cognitive priming influences the attitude towards the brand, while affective priming influences the attitude towards the advertisement. Yi (1993) also examined the moderating effect of prior knowledge on contextual priming influences the evaluations of an ambiguous product and concluded that Contextual priming impacts brand evaluations among moderate-knowledge subjects. Earlier advertising theories believed more in functional messaging than in the power of emotional bond for causing favourable brand associations (Panda et al, 2013). Aaker & Norris (1982) found that informational appeals resulted in higher effectiveness ratings than emotional appeals. Roozen (2013) contended that advertisers deliberately use emotion to reach to the consumer's heart expecting a positive attitude and favourable buying decision. The intensity of each individual's emotional response to the advertisement is different, and this level may also significantly influence the attitude formation (Panda et al., 2013).

Kumar et al. (2015) explored the purchase behaviour of poor consumers with reference to fast moving consumer goods and found that they are conscious about price, quality, brand, loyal to the brands. It was further found that they purchase well known national brands in FMCGs and their main information sources of these brands are TV advertising and family members. Vieceli & Shaw, (2010) proposed and tested a model of brand salience for fast-moving consumer goods, which incorporates knowledge, media consumption, and brand image as antecedents leading to purchase likelihood and found positive association. The empirical evidence supports building a brand in a primary category, in order to build the depth and breadth of the brand's associations in consumer memory. Vyas (2005) examined the nature of schemes offered in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) category, the ratio of incentive and outlay (which the consumer is expected to make/pay to avail sales promotion offers) and found that the schemes are more aggressive for non-food items than food items, and non-food category exhibited more variation than the items in food category.

Researchers have paid adequate attention to phenomenon of promotion of products through social media. Mogaji & Wright (2016) investigated how Facebook users express their emotions towards advertisements of brand. Analysing over 250 comments by Facebook users of Lloyds Bank on its 250th anniversary, they found that the advertisement prompted different emotions such as love, pride and in some cases anger. The use of images like the black horse, the cover music and the background music aroused positive emotions. Enginkayaa & Cinar (2014) contended that social media has become a major factor in influencing various aspects of consumer behaviour including awareness, information acquisition, opinions, attitudes, purchase behaviour and post-purchase communication and evaluation. They further mentioned that digital advertising can mould consumer preferences, helps to build a positive attitude and influence purchase decisions about the advertised products/services, and thus plays an important role. Digital ads are increasingly becoming more appealing tools of marketing communication to reach targeted consumers. Digital advertising includes search or display advertisements and also all types of marketing communication that is executed through web, social media and/or mobile technology (Takemura, 2012).

Mobile advertising is the transmission of a message related to products, services and opinions for promotional purposes via mobile devices (Li & Brian, 2007). The higher penetration rate of mobile phones has resulted in the increased reach of advertisements for products and services. With the declining persuasive Social Media facilitates the companies to engage in timely and direct end-consumer contact at much lower costs and higher levels of efficiency compared to conventional tools of communication, and thus makes it relevant and affordable not only for large multinational firms, but also for small and medium sized enterprises (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010).

Among the online ads, video ads are growing phenomenally owing to fast growth of video traffic and the vast variety of video content providers on the internet. Advertisers now have a much better access than ever before to a large amount of personal and context data from consumers by the use cookies, location tracking and the like so that they can better target their audiences and customise the advertising messages, which may increase their effectiveness (Hudders et al., 2019).

The companies get significant share of their top line from young consumers and provide a sizeable sales potential as future "adult' consumers (Magin et al., 2015). Therefore, teenagers have become an interesting target group for companies. Armstrong (2010) and Lantos (2015) argued that emotional appeals are more relevant for hedonic products, while rational appeals are more relevant for utilitarian products. Studies reinforced the importance of emotional appeal in advertising. Affective priming is a technique which can be used for emotional advertising. Use of this technique in digital video advertisements need to be probed further. Also, previous studies have not accounted for baseline attitude towards the product or product category which may be an important factor in such studies.

Methodology
Sample
The study used convenience/judgmental sampling technique. The sample group consisted of 122 undergraduate students of which 60 were females and 62 were males. They ranged in age from 18 years to 25 years with 88.52% in the range of 19-21 years of age. Average age of the sample group was 20.189 years. The sample group was drawn from a particular college in Mumbai, a metropolitan city in India and it was selected such that it could somewhat mimic the diversity of states, languages and cultures of India. This particular age group was chosen as this age group is a voracious consumer of FMCG products like chocolates, packaged snacks, cosmetics and soft drinks.
Procedure of study
The advertisements were selected with the help of a video search engine such that both emotional as well as rational appeal advertisements were available for the same products. The products were selected such that the products are ones which are frequently bought by the sample and thus they are consumers of the products. The products belonged to category of chocolates, packaged snacks, cosmetics and soft drinks. Some of the advertisements were edited to make them more geared towards either rational appeal or emotional appeal. The advertisements with emotional appeal were the ones which used affective priming technique by first featuring an emotional story and then introducing the product (Grigaliunaite & Pileliene, 2016).

The sample group was first administered a questionnaire to measure their baseline buying intention and general opinion of 4 selected branded products. Repeated measures design being used; the sample was first exposed to a set of rational appeal advertisements for the same selected branded products and then a questionnaire to measure the impression and memorability of the advertisements from their viewpoint as well as their intention to buy the product after watching the advertisement. Later they were exposed to a set of emotional appeal advertisements (using affective priming technique) for the same selected branded products and a questionnaire to measure the impression and memorability of the advertisements from their viewpoint as well as their intention to buy the product after watching the advertisement. Lastly the sample was administered a questionnaire which included general profiling questions to understand their shopping behaviour and preferred brands in the FMCG category.

Specific to buying intention, a repeated measures experimental design with two levels of independent variable and one dependent variable was used and also baseline of independent variable was measured to adjust for its effect on dependent variable. Here type of appeal was the independent variable with its two levels being use of rational appeal and use of emotional appeal (using affective priming technique). The dependent variable was buying intention reported by each one in the sample group on a scale of 1 to 10. General impression and memorability of the advertisement were also measured on a scale of 1 to 10 ( Figure 1).

Figure 1: Statistical Analysis
Plan of Statistical Analysis of Data
All the statistical analysis was performed using R statistical programming language (R Core Team, 2019).
Hypotheses H1: Mean Ratings on impression are significantly higher for emotional appeal (using affective priming technique) advertisements than for rational appeal advertisements for each of the four products. H2: Mean Ratings on memorability are significantly higher for emotional appeal (using affective priming technique) advertisements than for rational appeal advertisements for each of the four products. H3: Mean buying intention is significantly higher for emotional appeal (using affective priming technique) advertisements than for rational appeal advertisements for each of the four products adjusting for the mean baseline buying intention. H4: Impression of advertisement is positively correlated with memorability of advertisement for each of the four products in emotional appeal condition. H5: Memorability of advertisement is positively correlated with buying intention for each of the four products in emotional appeal condition. Scope of the study
1. The study analyses the effect of type of appeal on buying intention adjusting for baseline intention to buy the product with respect to 4 branded FMCG brands such as Pepsi Cola Drink (Product 1), Ponds Cold Cream (Product 2), LaysChips (Product 3) and Cadbury's Celebrations Chocolate (Product 4).
2. The study reveals patterns of correlation between impression of an advertisement, its memorability and buying intention.
3. The study compares the memorability and impression of advertisements between the types of appeal.
Limitations
1. The study is limited to young adults (aged 18-25) and thus to be generalized with caution.
2. Limited sample size and sampling error could probably limit the validity of findings.
3. As the study is limited to Indian FMCG sector and further limited to only four branded products, its applicability in other sectors and geographical areas may be limited.

Despite limitations, the authors exercised due diligence in picking the respondents and soliciting responses from the target respondents.

Results and Interpretation

The following Table 1 provides results of paired samples t test for comparing means of impression of advertisements between rational and emotional appeal conditions:

Interpretation and discussion: Paired samples t test results indicate that data for product 1 and product 3 are in line with hypothesis I, showing significant difference at 95% and 99% confidence levels respectively. While data for product 2 and product 4 are not in line with hypothesis I. Further analysis would bring out the reasons for this discrepancy among products ( Table 2).

Results of paired samples t test for comparing means of memorability of advertisements between rational and emotional appeal show a similar trend of mean scores for impression. The data for product 1 and product 3 are in line with hypothesis II while, data for product 2 and product 4 are not in line with hypothesis II. Further analysis would bring out the reasons for this discrepancy among products.

Results of ANCOVA to determine effect of type of appeal on buying intention with baseline buying intention as the covariate:

In Table 3A, level of association between a): Type of Appeal and response buying intention and b): baseline buying intention and response buying intention was studied, and both turned out to be highly significant at 99% confidence level. As the type of appeal has significant effect on the buying intention, a further analysis can be done using paired samples t test.

t = -6.1914, df = 121, p-value = 0.000

Table 3B shows buying intention with emotional message is significantly higher than the same with rational message.

Table 3B: Result Of T Test Showing Mean Buying Intention With Rational And Emotional Message

Mean response buying intention (rational message)

Mean response buying intention (emotional message)

Tables 4-6 show that there exists significant difference between response buying intention and baseline buying intention with respect to Products 2, 3 and 4.
Correlations
The r values in Table 7A show that there is strong positive correlation between impression and memorability in emotional appeal condition. Here the data is in line with hypothesis IV. The correlations were calculated only for emotional appeal condition so as to maintain consistency.

Table 7A: Correlation Between Impression And Memorability For Emotional Appeal

The r values in Table 7B show that there is moderate to strong positive correlation between memorability and buying intention in emotional appeal condition. Here the data is in line with hypothesis V. The correlations were calculated only for emotional appeal condition so as to maintain consistency.

Table 7B: Correlations Between Memorability And Buying Intention For Emotional Appeal

Discussion

The study provides significant insights for marketers while designing and executing promotional strategies. Though the consumers' response varied slightly for each type of product, the implications of using affective priming technique in advertising are quite evident. For product 1 both, type of appeal as well as baseline intention have significant effect on the buying intention after exposure to advertisements. Further t test shows that the data for product 1 is in line with the hypothesis III. But, in case of products 2, 3 and 4 only the base line buying intention has significant effect on buying intention after exposure to both types of advertisements (rational as well as emotional appeal). On 10-point scale the average baseline buying intention for products 2, 3 and 4 are 3.590, 7.557 and 6.819 respectively. Here the general opinion about the product on a 10-point scale is 4.303, 7.770 and 7.106 respectively. Here the trend shows that sample group has a very unfavourable attitude towards product 2 while highly favourable attitudes towards products 3 and 4. The attitudes are so strong that the type of appeal fails to show effects on it. This also explains the discrepancies in the analysis that Table 1 and Table 2 of the results section (Bytyci, 2014).

The low favourability toward product 2 could be understood better from the profiling questions. Product 2 was a cosmetic cream and most of the subjects generally did not buy the particular product. Some of the subjects also mentioned not using any cosmetics. Also products 3 and 4 were packaged chips and packaged chocolate respectively and the entire sample group was regular consumers of the product. This could explain highly favourable attitude towards product 3 and 4.

Existence of strong positive correlation between impression and memorability, and a moderate to strong positive correlation between memorability and buying intention for emotional appeal underpins the need for use of emotional appeal in advertising.

Conclusion and Future Research Orientations

The study, in the context of FMCG sector in India, provides at least partial evidence that use of affective priming and emotional advertising techniques increase buying intention which may lead to increased sales. The study shows that the type of appeal generally tends to have an impact on buying intention but only when there is no prior strong attitude towards the brand or product. In case of presence of strong prior attitude, this attitude will prevail irrespective of which type of appeal is used in the advertisement. Further the study also gathers some evidence that use of emotional advertising techniques increase impression and memorability of advertisements. The study finds positive correlation between impression, memorability and buying intention after being exposed to emotional advertisements. This indicates the importance capturing attention of audience to create a strong impression which will lead to memorability and buying intention.

Advertisements with rational appeal play a vital role in the promotion of utilitarian products, whereas emotional advertising is more relevant for products or brands based on experiential services. Acquiring new customers through emotional appeal also helps in reducing post-purchase dissonance, but the same cannot be used across the board (Panda et al, 2013). Further studies in area are required which would throw light on the phenomena of use of affective priming technique in emotional advertising in the context of varied sectors (other than FMCG) and varied brands and products with a vaster geographical area.

References

Aaker, D., & Norris, D. (1982). Characteristics of TV Commercials Perceived as Informative, Journal of Advertising Research, 22, 66-70.

Albers-Miller, N.D., & Stafford, M.R. (1999). An International Analysis of Emotional and Rational Appeals in Services Vs Goods Advertising. Journal of Consumer Marketing, 16(1), 42-57.

Armstrong, J.S. (2010). Persuasive Advertising. Evidence-based Principles: Palgrave Macmillan.

Batra, R., & Ray, M.L. (1986). Affective Responses Mediating Acceptance of Advertising. Journal of Consumer Research, 13(2), 234-249.

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Bytyci, R. (2014). Understanding the Effectiveness of Video Ads: A Measurement Study. Working paper. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/270960398.

Copeland, M.T. (1924). Principles of Merchandising, Aano Press, NY.

Enginkayaa, E., & Cinar, D. (2014). The Impact of Digital Advertising on Consumer Purchase Decisions. Available from:https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304181571_The_Impact_Of_Digital_Advertising_On_Consumer_Purchase_Decisions [accessed Apr 11 2020].

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Grigaliunaite, V., & Pileliene, L. (2016). Emotional or Rational? The Determination of the Influence of Advertising Appeal on Advertising Effectiveness, Scientific Annals of Economics and Business, 63(3), 391-414.

Hartmann, P., Ibáñez, V.A., & Sainz, F.J.F. (2005). Green Branding Effects on Attitude: Functional Versus Emotional Positioning Strategies. Marketing Intelligence & Planning.

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Wood, O. (2012). How Emotional Tugs Trump Rational Pushes: The Time Has Come to Abandon A 100-Year-Old Advertising Model. Journal of Advertising Research, 52(1), 31-39.

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Affective Priming Technique in Advertising - An Empirical Study with Reference to Fast Moving Consumer Goods Sector

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Research Article: 2020 Vol: 24 Issue: 3 Affective Priming, Indian Advertisements, Emotional Advertising, FMCG. In today's busy world where the first impression is the last impression and the first impression comes from stimuli around us, right advertising plays a major role in the success of products in the market.

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Academy of marketing studies journal (AMSJ) is a globally renowned business and marketing journal that offers an open access forum for the professionals, practitioners, academicians, researchers, and students to share and discuss the latest trends and developments in this field from across the world.

Affiliated to the allied business academy publications, AMSJ adheres to stringent double peer review to enhance the research quality and originality. With 30% of acceptance, AMSJ invites authors and professional to contribute their live and current marketing experiences as theoretical or empirical studies. More details on the types of manuscripts published and the categories of research accepted are displayed in the journal matrix section of this website.

Sponsored by the academy of marketing studies, AMSJ includes a broad category of themes in the field of marketing, including but not limited to foreign market network, market opportunities, network competence, branding strategies, personalized e-commerce, e-satisfaction and e-loyalty buying attributes, e-marketing and online fraud, marketing in banking sector, efficient marketing plan, consumer satisfaction and eccentric business communication for study.

Authors who would like to discuss the potential interest in a manuscript may contact editorial staff.

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Academy of marketing studies journal (AMSJ) is a globally renowned business and marketing journal that offers an open access forum for the professionals, practitioners, academicians, researchers, and students to share and discuss the latest trends and developments in this field from across the world.

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Research Article: 2020 Vol: 24 Issue: 1

Keywords

Online Shopping, Offline Shopping, Buying Behaviour, Purchase, Anova and Customers.

Introduction

The increase in technology provides good opportunities to the seller to reach the customer in much faster, easier and in economic way. Online shopping is emerging very fast in recent years. Now a day the internet holds the attention of retail market. Millions and millions of people shop online. On the other hand the purchasing of product from traditional market is continuing since years (Lu et al., 2011). Many customers go for purchasing offline so as to examine the product and hold the possession of the product just after the payment for the product. In this contemporary world customer's loyalty depends upon the consistent ability to deliver quality, value and satisfaction. Some go for offline shopping, some for online and many go for both kind of shopping. The focus of the study is on the consumer's choice to shop on internet and at the traditional stores at the information gaining period. However online shopping is easier for the people and less price than the offline shopping (Chu et al., 2010; Mehta et al., 2013). While making any purchase decision consumer should know the medium to purchase whether online shopping or the offline shopping. Consumer should decide the channel for them which can best suit to their need and wants and which can satisfy them. In this competitive world how consumer can decide the particular medium for their purchase of goods is very important to understand in a managerial point of view (Sivanesan et al., 2017).

Statement Of Problem

This research may fill the gap between the choice of online shopping and offline shopping. This study reflect the problems and factors of online and offline shopping (Levin et al., 2005). There are certain problems, why people do not do online shopping and go for market to shop things? What are the major reasons behind the online and offline shopping? This study helps the consumer to get an idea about the online shopping (Iyer & Jacqueline, 2014; Koo & Lee, 2011). In Coimbatore, there is less number of people who do shopping online as compared to the other districts. The study makes the consumer clear about which option should be taken by the consumer to get more benefit out of it and that has been taken as problem towards the study (Sinha et al., 2002).

Objectives Of The Study

1.To study about the demographic variables of the respondents.

2.To evaluate the perception of customers towards online and offline shopping based on their buying decision.

3.To find out the impact of buying decision towards online and offline shopping.
Scope of the Study
The consumers in today's era have not only many stores choice, but they also have a wide variety of channels to choose from. Pauwels et al. (2013) with the start of numerous channels (e.g. Mobile Commerce, E-Commerce) and a continuous increase in the competition among channels, the understanding of what incites consumers to purchase from one channel rather than another becomes progressively important channel design and management (Kar, 2010). The main scope of the study is to it will be useful for the companies to know about the perception and their shopping behaviour towards online and offline.

Research Methodology

Type of research: Descriptive research has been used analyzing the customers buying decision towards shopping online and offline.

Type of methodology used: As the population is undefined stratified random sampling has been used towards the study.
Data Collection
Primary data: The primary data is been using questionnaire method.

Secondary data: The secondary data has been collected from Journals, websites and Articles.

Sample size: The sample size for the study was 150 and the data was collected from the respondents who are residing in Coimbatore city.

Tools used for the study: Percentage analysis, Descriptive statistics, Multiple regression and Oneway Anova.

Limitations Of The Study

1.The sample size is limited to 150 respondents.

2.The study area is limited to Coimbatore city.

3.There may be a bias towards the primary data collected from the respondents.
Analysis and Interpretation
In the Table 1 out of 150 respondents taken for the study 56% are male and 44% are female. 92% are from the age group between 15-35, 8% are from the age group between 36-55. 6% have completed their school level, 72% have completed their UG and PG, 4% have completed their M.phil and PhD and 20% have completed other courses. 4% are students, 24% are self-employed and 72% are private employee. 64% are earning monthly income less than Rs. 20,000, 24% are earning between Rs.20,001-40,000, 4% are earning between Rs.40,000 - 60,000 and 8% are earning between Rs. 60000 - 80000. 68% of the consumers taken for the study are single and 32% are married. 60% are preferring offline shopping and 40% are preferring online shopping.

In the Table 2 out of 150 respondents taken for the study 28% are frequently and occasionally shopping with online, 8% re shopping at festival time, 12% are shopping during for celebrations and 24% are shopping online based on their need. With offline shopping 44% are shopping frequently, 28% are shopping occasionally, 12% are shopping during festival time, 4% are shopping during for celebrations and 12% are shopping offline based on their need.

In the Table 3 out of 150 respondents taken for the study 8% said that they are shopping only with offline rather than preferring online, 8% said that they are preferring online rather than preferring offline, 24% said that they are preferring 50% online and 50% offline, 32% said that they are preferring 70% online and 30% offline and 28% said that they are preferring 30% online and 28% offline.

It depicts that the respondents agree towards convenience in seeing and feeling the product when purchasing offline (1.40), convenience in seeing and accessing to variety of products and brands on online screen (1.72), instant delivery of their choice making them feel happy with offline than planning for online shopping previously and waiting for the product (1.40), shopping online for good brands and for good price increasing the respect to their volume of purchase with their budget which makes them happy (1.56) and returning of goods having a very minimum chances as they check and buy through offline than online (1.56) in Table 4.

The respondents agree towards accessing any brands with online and offline store (1.44), Preferring familiar brands (1.24), preferring known sellers for trust ability (1.64), recognizing the new brands on advertisement and trying it (1.80) and recommending their friends and relatives about the new brand used (1.48) in Table 5.

The respondents agree towards Instant purchasing of any brand at their budget (1.64), instant purchasing of any brand to their need (1.28), purchasing what impress them than the brands and price (1.60), purchasing only preferred and selective brands (1.72), looking more choices over their preference (1.64) in Table 6.

The respondents agree towards reviews influencing and ensuring their confidence in brands (1.60), reviews influencing and ensuring the confidence in shops (1.52), preferring with good review and feedback easing their decision (1.60), review and suggestions recommending new brands and new shops (1.56) and Review & feed backs saving time in process of decision making (1.64) in Table 7.

The R square change describes that there is a low relationship between the compared variables as the value is less than 0.3 at 0.175. It also depicts that there is relationship between preference towards shopping online and offline and convenience towards shopping (0.512), recognition (0.268) and shopping based on reviews and feedback (0.256) in Figure 1.
H1: There is a significant difference between age and dimensions related to shopping online and offline.
There is no significant difference between age and personalization of shopping online and offline (0.000) and shopping based on reviews and feedback (0.000). There is a significant difference between age and convenience towards shopping (0.137) and recognition towards shopping online and offline (0.362) in Table 8.
Personalization
The respondents who are from the age group between 15-35 (1.54), 36-55 (1.90) agree towards personalization on online and offline shopping.
Reviews and Feedback
The respondents who are from the age group between 15-35 (1.54) agree and the respondents from the age group between 36-55 (2.0) are neutral towards purchasing online and offline based on reviews and feedback.
Findings
1.Maximum of the respondents are male.

2.Maximum of the respondents are between 15-35 years of age.

3.Maximum of the respondents have completed their under graduation and post-graduation

4.Majority of the respondents are working as private employees.

5.Majority of the respondents are earning less than Rs.20,000.

6.Maximum of the respondents are preferring offline shopping than online shopping.

7.Maximum of the respondents are frequently making purchase with both online and offline shopping.

8.Maximum of the respondents are preferring 70% online and 30% offline shopping.

9.There is relationship between preference towards shopping online and offline and convenience towards shopping, recognition and shopping based on reviews and feedback.

10.The respondents who are from the age group between 15-35, between 36-55 agree towards personalization on online and offline shopping. Whereas, the respondents who are from the age group between 15-35 agree and the respondents from the age group between 36-55 are neutral towards purchasing online and offline based on reviews and feedback.
Suggestions
It is suggested for marketers that the major benefit of online and offline retailing is the ability to attain consumers over many geographical locations, in a very short amount of time. So marketers should take advantage of this by using various promotional methods to increase sales all over the world. They can also market themselves by positive word-of-mouth through creating loyal customers. Different source of advertisement can be used to create customer loyalty by providing consistent promotions through not only their website, but also social media sites. Lastly, marketers should maintain a system to provide sufficient and easily attainable product information to guide online and offline transactions.

Conclusion

The conclusion is that the consumers are often purchasing from online and offline sources because of the revolution in the technology and most of them are purchasing to their need towards a particular product. More effort can be initiated towards influencing the buying behavior of customers by promoting a product both in online as well as offline so that the companies can satisfy the consumers based on convenience, Personalization and making the consumers purchase through reviews and feedback.

References

Chu, J., Arce-Urriza, M., Cebollada-Calvo, J.J., & Chintagunta, P.K. (2010). An empirical analysis of shopping behavior across online and offline channels for grocery products: the moderating effects of household and product characteristics. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 24(4), 251-268.

Iyer, R., & Jacqueline, E. (2014). The Elderly and Their Attitude Toward s the Internet: The Impact of Internet use, Purchases, and Comparison Shopping. Journal of Marketing Theory and Practice, 14(1), 213-223.

Kar, M. (2010). Consumer behaviour over the last 25 years. The Retail Digest, 46-53.

Koo, D.M., & Lee, J.H. (2011). Inter-relationships among dominance, energetic and tense arousal, and pleasure, and differences in their impacts under online vs. offline environment. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(5), 1740-1750.

Levin, A.M., Levin, I.P., & Weller, J.A. (2005). A multi-attribute analysis of preferences for online and offline shopping: Differences across products, consumers, and shopping stages. Journal of Electronic Commerce Research, 6(4).

Lu, Y., Cao, Y., Wang, B., & Yang, S. (2011). A study on factors that affect users' behavioral intention to transfer usage from the offline to the online channel. Computers in Human Behavior, 27(1), 355-364.

Mehta, D., Soni, S., Mehta, N.K., & Yadav D.S. (2013). Review of Literature on Online Consumer Behavior, Innovative business practices for creating value in global reedited by S. Singh, A. Gwal and J. K. Sharma, published by acropolice Academy, Indore.11-15,

Pauwels, K., Leeflang, P.S., Teerling, M.L., & Huizingh, K.E. (2011). Does online information drive offline revenues?: Only for specific products and consumer segments!. Journal of Retailing, 87(1), 1-17.

Sinha, P.K., Banerjee, A., & Uniyal, D.P. (2002). Deciding where to buy: Store choice behaviour of Indian shoppers. Vikalpa, 27(2), 13-28.

Sivanesan, R., Monisha, C., Babisha, P.V., & Abisha, S.A. (2017). Comparative Study on Factors Influencing Online and Offline Shopping, International Journal of Research in Management & Business Studies, 4(3), 26-34.

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Factors Influencing Customers Buying Decision towards Shopping Online and Offline with Reference to Coimbatore City

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Research Article: 2020 Vol: 24 Issue: 1 Online Shopping, Offline Shopping, Buying Behaviour, Purchase, Anova and Customers. The increase in technology provides good opportunities to the seller to reach the customer in much faster, easier and in economic way. Online shopping is emerging very fast in recent years.

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Research Article: 2020 Vol: 24 Issue: 3

Keywords

Affective Priming, Indian Advertisements, Emotional Advertising, FMCG.

Introduction

In today's busy world where the first impression is the last impression and the first impression comes from stimuli around us, right advertising plays a major role in the success of products in the market. Advertising is an important part of the promotional mix. As per content, an advertisement can make either a rational appeal or an emotional appeal. Advertisements using rational appeal try to influence consumers by providing information about and advantages of the product concerned while advertisements using emotional appeal focus on the emotional side of using the product and feel of the product.

Affective priming is a process wherein the perception of an emotion provoking stimulus affects the perception of the consecutive stimulus. For example, when someone is exposed to a strong emotion and immediately after that a neutral object is shown the person may associate that object with that strong emotion and develop negative/positive feelings towards the object. This phenomenon is being used in advertising to garner positive emotions towards brands. The current study focuses on FMCG sector as this sector accounts for continuous long-term small value purchases which add up to be a huge amount. FMCG is the 4th largest sector in Indian economy. Financial Express (January 23, 2019) reports that FMCG sector brands spend 33% of their digital advertising budget on digital video advertising, which is far higher than other sectors. This study explores how Affective priming and Emotional advertising techniques are being used in the FMCG sector in Indian video Advertisements.

Review of Literature

There has been ample evidence available both supporting and negating the impact of advertising in general and the implications of using emotional appeal in the advertisement in particular. Nielsen in their 2016 study reported that use of emotion arousing techniques in advertising led to 23% lift in sales volume. Wood (2012) stated that effectiveness of an advertisement is best measured using emotional measures as humans react to advertisements and purchase using a thinking process which is highly emotional. One of the techniques that could be used in emotional advertising is use of Affective Priming. Affective Priming and emotional advertising techniques have great possibilities for use in advertising. Affective priming and emotional advertising techniques in advertisements are growing in popularity among advertisers as these techniques help in increasing brand popularity and profitability. Batra et al. (1986) found that emotional responses evoked by an advertisement appear to be antecedents of the attitude towards the advertisement and it has a weak but significant impact on attitude towards the brand.

Albers-Miller & Stafford (1999) found that there were much more emotional appeals found in the scientific literature, than the rational appeals. Singh (2017) thoroughly observed 130 TV advertisements of 23 products from Food & Beverages, Household care and Personal care/ Hygiene products category and found emotions such as Humor, Amazement and Love & Affection. Pringle (2008) in his popular book ' Brand Immortality ' mentions that his study of 1400 advertisement campaigns lead to a finding that Ads with purely emotional content generated 31% profit while those with rational content generated only 16% profit. As the power of television is on decline due to media fragmentation, mobile advertising assumes greater significance. To make advertising appeals more distinctive and persuasive, advertisers frequently use dramatic emotional ad-messages (Panda et al., 2013). Copeland way back in 1924 contended that individual customers buy products and services for either a rational or emotional reason. Rational advertising assumes that consumers purchase goods and services based on logical or/and utilitarian decisions. Batra et al. (1990) in an experimental study with print ads found that if readers are in a state of positive mood then it contributes favourably to brand attitude. This supports the use of affective priming as affective priming helps establish a positive mood.

According to Hartmann et al. (2005) emotional positioning strategies are as important as functional strategies for brand positioning. This study was conducted in context of green branding and it revealed the importance of emotional techniques in advertisements to change the attitude of consumers towards brands. Ferreira et al. (2011) found that negative emotion conveying words, when used in advertisements in websites, lead to more attention towards the advertisement than when positive or neutral words were used. This is in the context where previous studies have reported that people avoid paying attention to advertisement on the web in general. Joshi et al. (2015) found that emotional branding and using of emotional advertising leads to improved brand loyalty. This study was specifically done in context of Indian FMCG sector. According to Wood (2012) an emotional model and emotional measurement of advertising will be more effective than traditional model of advertising. Empirical data is used to drive home this point. Mahapatra (2013) found that emotional advertising is more effective than rational advertising in terms of leading to action.

Yi (1990) conducted an experiment to investigate the cognitive and affective priming of the contact for print advertisements and found that cognitive priming influences the attitude towards the brand, while affective priming influences the attitude towards the advertisement. Yi (1993) also examined the moderating effect of prior knowledge on contextual priming influences the evaluations of an ambiguous product and concluded that Contextual priming impacts brand evaluations among moderate-knowledge subjects. Earlier advertising theories believed more in functional messaging than in the power of emotional bond for causing favourable brand associations (Panda et al, 2013). Aaker & Norris (1982) found that informational appeals resulted in higher effectiveness ratings than emotional appeals. Roozen (2013) contended that advertisers deliberately use emotion to reach to the consumer's heart expecting a positive attitude and favourable buying decision. The intensity of each individual's emotional response to the advertisement is different, and this level may also significantly influence the attitude formation (Panda et al., 2013).

Kumar et al. (2015) explored the purchase behaviour of poor consumers with reference to fast moving consumer goods and found that they are conscious about price, quality, brand, loyal to the brands. It was further found that they purchase well known national brands in FMCGs and their main information sources of these brands are TV advertising and family members. Vieceli & Shaw, (2010) proposed and tested a model of brand salience for fast-moving consumer goods, which incorporates knowledge, media consumption, and brand image as antecedents leading to purchase likelihood and found positive association. The empirical evidence supports building a brand in a primary category, in order to build the depth and breadth of the brand's associations in consumer memory. Vyas (2005) examined the nature of schemes offered in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) category, the ratio of incentive and outlay (which the consumer is expected to make/pay to avail sales promotion offers) and found that the schemes are more aggressive for non-food items than food items, and non-food category exhibited more variation than the items in food category.

Researchers have paid adequate attention to phenomenon of promotion of products through social media. Mogaji & Wright (2016) investigated how Facebook users express their emotions towards advertisements of brand. Analysing over 250 comments by Facebook users of Lloyds Bank on its 250th anniversary, they found that the advertisement prompted different emotions such as love, pride and in some cases anger. The use of images like the black horse, the cover music and the background music aroused positive emotions. Enginkayaa & Cinar (2014) contended that social media has become a major factor in influencing various aspects of consumer behaviour including awareness, information acquisition, opinions, attitudes, purchase behaviour and post-purchase communication and evaluation. They further mentioned that digital advertising can mould consumer preferences, helps to build a positive attitude and influence purchase decisions about the advertised products/services, and thus plays an important role. Digital ads are increasingly becoming more appealing tools of marketing communication to reach targeted consumers. Digital advertising includes search or display advertisements and also all types of marketing communication that is executed through web, social media and/or mobile technology (Takemura, 2012).

Mobile advertising is the transmission of a message related to products, services and opinions for promotional purposes via mobile devices (Li & Brian, 2007). The higher penetration rate of mobile phones has resulted in the increased reach of advertisements for products and services. With the declining persuasive Social Media facilitates the companies to engage in timely and direct end-consumer contact at much lower costs and higher levels of efficiency compared to conventional tools of communication, and thus makes it relevant and affordable not only for large multinational firms, but also for small and medium sized enterprises (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010).

Among the online ads, video ads are growing phenomenally owing to fast growth of video traffic and the vast variety of video content providers on the internet. Advertisers now have a much better access than ever before to a large amount of personal and context data from consumers by the use cookies, location tracking and the like so that they can better target their audiences and customise the advertising messages, which may increase their effectiveness (Hudders et al., 2019).

The companies get significant share of their top line from young consumers and provide a sizeable sales potential as future "adult' consumers (Magin et al., 2015). Therefore, teenagers have become an interesting target group for companies. Armstrong (2010) and Lantos (2015) argued that emotional appeals are more relevant for hedonic products, while rational appeals are more relevant for utilitarian products. Studies reinforced the importance of emotional appeal in advertising. Affective priming is a technique which can be used for emotional advertising. Use of this technique in digital video advertisements need to be probed further. Also, previous studies have not accounted for baseline attitude towards the product or product category which may be an important factor in such studies.

Methodology
Sample
The study used convenience/judgmental sampling technique. The sample group consisted of 122 undergraduate students of which 60 were females and 62 were males. They ranged in age from 18 years to 25 years with 88.52% in the range of 19-21 years of age. Average age of the sample group was 20.189 years. The sample group was drawn from a particular college in Mumbai, a metropolitan city in India and it was selected such that it could somewhat mimic the diversity of states, languages and cultures of India. This particular age group was chosen as this age group is a voracious consumer of FMCG products like chocolates, packaged snacks, cosmetics and soft drinks.
Procedure of study
The advertisements were selected with the help of a video search engine such that both emotional as well as rational appeal advertisements were available for the same products. The products were selected such that the products are ones which are frequently bought by the sample and thus they are consumers of the products. The products belonged to category of chocolates, packaged snacks, cosmetics and soft drinks. Some of the advertisements were edited to make them more geared towards either rational appeal or emotional appeal. The advertisements with emotional appeal were the ones which used affective priming technique by first featuring an emotional story and then introducing the product (Grigaliunaite & Pileliene, 2016).

The sample group was first administered a questionnaire to measure their baseline buying intention and general opinion of 4 selected branded products. Repeated measures design being used; the sample was first exposed to a set of rational appeal advertisements for the same selected branded products and then a questionnaire to measure the impression and memorability of the advertisements from their viewpoint as well as their intention to buy the product after watching the advertisement. Later they were exposed to a set of emotional appeal advertisements (using affective priming technique) for the same selected branded products and a questionnaire to measure the impression and memorability of the advertisements from their viewpoint as well as their intention to buy the product after watching the advertisement. Lastly the sample was administered a questionnaire which included general profiling questions to understand their shopping behaviour and preferred brands in the FMCG category.

Specific to buying intention, a repeated measures experimental design with two levels of independent variable and one dependent variable was used and also baseline of independent variable was measured to adjust for its effect on dependent variable. Here type of appeal was the independent variable with its two levels being use of rational appeal and use of emotional appeal (using affective priming technique). The dependent variable was buying intention reported by each one in the sample group on a scale of 1 to 10. General impression and memorability of the advertisement were also measured on a scale of 1 to 10 ( Figure 1).

Figure 1: Statistical Analysis
Plan of Statistical Analysis of Data
All the statistical analysis was performed using R statistical programming language (R Core Team, 2019).
Hypotheses H1: Mean Ratings on impression are significantly higher for emotional appeal (using affective priming technique) advertisements than for rational appeal advertisements for each of the four products. H2: Mean Ratings on memorability are significantly higher for emotional appeal (using affective priming technique) advertisements than for rational appeal advertisements for each of the four products. H3: Mean buying intention is significantly higher for emotional appeal (using affective priming technique) advertisements than for rational appeal advertisements for each of the four products adjusting for the mean baseline buying intention. H4: Impression of advertisement is positively correlated with memorability of advertisement for each of the four products in emotional appeal condition. H5: Memorability of advertisement is positively correlated with buying intention for each of the four products in emotional appeal condition. Scope of the study
1. The study analyses the effect of type of appeal on buying intention adjusting for baseline intention to buy the product with respect to 4 branded FMCG brands such as Pepsi Cola Drink (Product 1), Ponds Cold Cream (Product 2), LaysChips (Product 3) and Cadbury's Celebrations Chocolate (Product 4).
2. The study reveals patterns of correlation between impression of an advertisement, its memorability and buying intention.
3. The study compares the memorability and impression of advertisements between the types of appeal.
Limitations
1. The study is limited to young adults (aged 18-25) and thus to be generalized with caution.
2. Limited sample size and sampling error could probably limit the validity of findings.
3. As the study is limited to Indian FMCG sector and further limited to only four branded products, its applicability in other sectors and geographical areas may be limited.

Despite limitations, the authors exercised due diligence in picking the respondents and soliciting responses from the target respondents.

Results and Interpretation

The following Table 1 provides results of paired samples t test for comparing means of impression of advertisements between rational and emotional appeal conditions:

Interpretation and discussion: Paired samples t test results indicate that data for product 1 and product 3 are in line with hypothesis I, showing significant difference at 95% and 99% confidence levels respectively. While data for product 2 and product 4 are not in line with hypothesis I. Further analysis would bring out the reasons for this discrepancy among products ( Table 2).

Results of paired samples t test for comparing means of memorability of advertisements between rational and emotional appeal show a similar trend of mean scores for impression. The data for product 1 and product 3 are in line with hypothesis II while, data for product 2 and product 4 are not in line with hypothesis II. Further analysis would bring out the reasons for this discrepancy among products.

Results of ANCOVA to determine effect of type of appeal on buying intention with baseline buying intention as the covariate:

In Table 3A, level of association between a): Type of Appeal and response buying intention and b): baseline buying intention and response buying intention was studied, and both turned out to be highly significant at 99% confidence level. As the type of appeal has significant effect on the buying intention, a further analysis can be done using paired samples t test.

t = -6.1914, df = 121, p-value = 0.000

Table 3B shows buying intention with emotional message is significantly higher than the same with rational message.

Table 3B: Result Of T Test Showing Mean Buying Intention With Rational And Emotional Message

Mean response buying intention (rational message)

Mean response buying intention (emotional message)

Tables 4-6 show that there exists significant difference between response buying intention and baseline buying intention with respect to Products 2, 3 and 4.
Correlations
The r values in Table 7A show that there is strong positive correlation between impression and memorability in emotional appeal condition. Here the data is in line with hypothesis IV. The correlations were calculated only for emotional appeal condition so as to maintain consistency.

Table 7A: Correlation Between Impression And Memorability For Emotional Appeal

The r values in Table 7B show that there is moderate to strong positive correlation between memorability and buying intention in emotional appeal condition. Here the data is in line with hypothesis V. The correlations were calculated only for emotional appeal condition so as to maintain consistency.

Table 7B: Correlations Between Memorability And Buying Intention For Emotional Appeal

Discussion

The study provides significant insights for marketers while designing and executing promotional strategies. Though the consumers' response varied slightly for each type of product, the implications of using affective priming technique in advertising are quite evident. For product 1 both, type of appeal as well as baseline intention have significant effect on the buying intention after exposure to advertisements. Further t test shows that the data for product 1 is in line with the hypothesis III. But, in case of products 2, 3 and 4 only the base line buying intention has significant effect on buying intention after exposure to both types of advertisements (rational as well as emotional appeal). On 10-point scale the average baseline buying intention for products 2, 3 and 4 are 3.590, 7.557 and 6.819 respectively. Here the general opinion about the product on a 10-point scale is 4.303, 7.770 and 7.106 respectively. Here the trend shows that sample group has a very unfavourable attitude towards product 2 while highly favourable attitudes towards products 3 and 4. The attitudes are so strong that the type of appeal fails to show effects on it. This also explains the discrepancies in the analysis that Table 1 and Table 2 of the results section (Bytyci, 2014).

The low favourability toward product 2 could be understood better from the profiling questions. Product 2 was a cosmetic cream and most of the subjects generally did not buy the particular product. Some of the subjects also mentioned not using any cosmetics. Also products 3 and 4 were packaged chips and packaged chocolate respectively and the entire sample group was regular consumers of the product. This could explain highly favourable attitude towards product 3 and 4.

Existence of strong positive correlation between impression and memorability, and a moderate to strong positive correlation between memorability and buying intention for emotional appeal underpins the need for use of emotional appeal in advertising.

Conclusion and Future Research Orientations

The study, in the context of FMCG sector in India, provides at least partial evidence that use of affective priming and emotional advertising techniques increase buying intention which may lead to increased sales. The study shows that the type of appeal generally tends to have an impact on buying intention but only when there is no prior strong attitude towards the brand or product. In case of presence of strong prior attitude, this attitude will prevail irrespective of which type of appeal is used in the advertisement. Further the study also gathers some evidence that use of emotional advertising techniques increase impression and memorability of advertisements. The study finds positive correlation between impression, memorability and buying intention after being exposed to emotional advertisements. This indicates the importance capturing attention of audience to create a strong impression which will lead to memorability and buying intention.

Advertisements with rational appeal play a vital role in the promotion of utilitarian products, whereas emotional advertising is more relevant for products or brands based on experiential services. Acquiring new customers through emotional appeal also helps in reducing post-purchase dissonance, but the same cannot be used across the board (Panda et al, 2013). Further studies in area are required which would throw light on the phenomena of use of affective priming technique in emotional advertising in the context of varied sectors (other than FMCG) and varied brands and products with a vaster geographical area.

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Affective Priming Technique in Advertising - An Empirical Study with Reference to Fast Moving Consumer Goods Sector

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Research Article: 2020 Vol: 24 Issue: 3 Affective Priming, Indian Advertisements, Emotional Advertising, FMCG. In today's busy world where the first impression is the last impression and the first impression comes from stimuli around us, right advertising plays a major role in the success of products in the market.

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20 years of marketing: how B2B marketing has changed - and what the changes can teach you
If your marketing strategy hasn't changed in the last 20 years, you may have a problem. Your marketing should be evolving, in order to make the most of a changing business landscape.
Picture the scene: You have a new product to launch, so it's time for a launch event. The champagne's flowing and editors from 50 of the best trade publications are in attendance to see your product unveiled. Such huge attendance from the trade media results in an avalanche of press coverage. The event is an unrivalled marketing success. Unfortunately, the year is 1995, not 2015.

Back in the 90s, the budgets were big and the marketing was easy. Things have changed dramatically. Marketing budgets have been cut to the bone (while still being expected to deliver meaty results). Opportunities in the trade press are narrowing - and good luck trying to get a harried editor, who is juggling a bigger workload than ever, to attend your event. Yet, despite all of these changes, the 90s remains the blueprint for marketing in the B2B world.
Press coverage... but only for those who can pay
"I started my PR career in the mid-nineties and, for many companies, their marketing hasn't changed much in the last twenty years," comments Joanna Watchman, Managing Director of Content Communications. "Most companies are continuing to do things the old-fashioned way: press releases and case studies aimed at the hard-copy trade press. This is a tried-and-true process and, despite diminishing returns, it does deliver for some companies. But the blunt truth is that this type of marketing strategy only works for those that are spending big money on advertising."

"It's an unspoken, but increasingly prevalent rule of thumb that only the companies that are supporting the magazines commercially will get the best coverage," she adds. "My background is in trade publishing and I'm well aware of how much it costs to print a magazine, so my sympathies go out to the trade media, which is now running to stand still. But the reality is that smaller companies without big advertising budgets can't expect the traditional model of PR to work for them anymore."
Looking to the consumer market
For those without deep pockets, today's marketing landscape may look bleak. However, instead of lamenting the days gone by, those in the B2B space need to be looking at other models of marketing - those that are delivering returns. The B2C market, for example, has flourished, even as traditional media continues to struggle. Why? It has embraced the Internet as a platform for a new style of marketing...

"Hard-copy magazines may be a great way to get your messages out there, but they are inevitably limited in scope," says Joanna. "The Internet, by contrast, is vast and multi-dimensional. This lends itself to communicating in new ways."

Blogging and tweeting are the younger siblings of traditional articles. Web videos and webinars make PR communication visual and interactive. E-blasts and magazine-style microsites emulate traditional publishing, but hand over the publishing reins to the company itself. This is what consumer giants like Coca-Cola are doing with their marketing - and the B2B world would be wise to follow suit.
The world is now online
Marketing's move online tallies with a general shift towards the Internet being the first (and often only) stop for information. End users have always looked for solutions to problems, and one of the most effective modes of marketing has been to offer clear, coherent answers. This remains the case. However, whereas before, end users looked to find these answers in trade magazines, now they're typing their questions straight into the Google search bar.

This offers businesses an invaluable opportunity to 'speak' directly to the idle Googler - to offer answers to their questions. And all of this can be done without using a trade magazine as an intermediary. Instead, businesses are becoming their own publishers, sharing good-quality online content, in order to communicate with potential customers - a strategy known as content marketing.
A Hub of activity
"A Content Coms project that provides a good example of this shift from PR to content marketing is the ESOS Hub," comments Joanna Watchman. "Energy consultant NIFES was keen to position itself as an authority on the new Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS). In the past, this would have involved a PR campaign. However, Content Coms instead created for NIFES a magazine-style portal of content: the ESOS Hub, a one-stop hub of information dedicated to understanding the legislation."

Instead of generating press coverage from a few articles in trade magazines - articles that may go unread by the target audience - NIFES ended up with a raft of content, including a whole suite of guides, articles and blog posts aimed at different types of readers.

Using this type of sophisticated content strategy, which positions NIFES as an 'honest broker' in the market, the company is making a direct connection with potential customers. The website is averaging more than 2,000 unique visitors a month, and riding high as the first non-government-related result when you search for 'ESOS' on Google.
Trackable, traceable
It is wrong to think that the changes of the last 20 years have all been negative. Whereas 1995 PR was limited in scope, 2015 content marketing provides a wealth of different ways to engage your potential customers. Good content isn't static like a page of a magazine - it begs to be shared. Sharing with colleagues - through business-focused social media like 2Degrees and LinkedIn - gives online content a much longer shelf life than a hard-copy article, which typically lands in the recycling bin a week after it's printed.

Another positive change to the marketing landscape lies in the fact that web-based communications are all fully traceable, too. With the right analytics tools, you can track which key words people are using to find your site; which content is proving most popular; where the website referrals are coming from. In short, you can see what's working - and what's not. This provides a level of clarity that simply wasn't available 20 years ago.
PR... but not as we know it
"PR as we knew it in the 90s is over," says Joanna. "But what drove good PR twenty years ago remains the same: strong messages; quality writing. The only difference lies in how you get those strong messages out into the marketplace. The smart companies are retaining what was good about 90s PR, while also embracing the range of possibilities offered by marketing in 2015."

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20 years of marketing: how B2B marketing has changed - and what the changes can teach you - Content Communications

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If your marketing strategy hasn't changed in the last 20 years, you may have a problem. Your marketing should be evolving, in order to make the most of a changing business landscape. Picture the scene: You have a new product to launch, so it's time...

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Journal of Social Marketing available volumes and issues

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To, P.L., Liao, C. and Lin, T.H. (2007) Shopping Motivations on Internet: A Study Based on Utilitarian and Hedonic Value. Technovation, 27, 774-787.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.technovation.2007.01.001

has been cited by the following article:

TITLE: Empirical Study of Influential Factors of Online Customers' Repurchase Intention

KEYWORDS: Perceived Ease of Use, Perceived Usefulness, Customer Satisfaction, Customer Trust, Perceived Enjoyment

JOURNAL NAME: iBusiness, Vol.8 No.3, September 13, 2016

ABSTRACT: There is not a unanimous conclusion about the influential elements of online customers' repurchase intention. We established a concept model and discussed how utilitarian values (perceived ease of use and perceived usefulness), social values (satisfaction and trust) and the hedonic value (perceived enjoyment) directly and indirectly influenced customers' repurchase intention in the context of online shopping. It adapted questionnaire to collect data and testified the hypothesis by structural equation model. The results showed that perceived usefulness, online customers' satisfaction and perceived enjoyment had significantly positive impact on online customers' repurchase intention. Moreover, we found that compared with utilitarian factors, the hedonic factor had a stronger positive impact on repurchase intention.

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t.h. (2007) shopping motivations on internet a study based on utilitarian and hedonic value. technovation

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
To, P.L., Liao, C. and Lin, T.H. (2007) Shopping Motivations on Internet A Study Based on Utilitarian and Hedonic Value. Technovation, 27, 774-787. - References - Scientific Research Publishing

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
To, P.L., Liao, C. and Lin, T.H. (2007) Shopping Motivations on Internet: A Study Based on Utilitarian and Hedonic Value. Technovation, 27, 774-787.

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This article from the McKinsey Quarterly archive analyzes six major changes that promised to transform future marketing efforts. These forces have largely proved to be as influential as predicted and continue to shape today's challenges.

Change is the dominant fact of life in every business today. And the ability to master and exploit change has become one of the most sought-after management skills. This is particularly true in marketing, where the very tempo of change is constantly quickening.

Today's chief executive faces a baffling dilemma. Change gets costlier every day; yet not changing can be costlier still. And even while adapting to change, a company's marketing effort must reflect an internal constancy of purpose and an external consistency of image.

Not all changes in marketing, of course, are equally significant. Some are confined to particular industries. Others are broader and more functional in nature. And among these broader trends, there are six whose effects, I believe, will be felt by almost every business.

The dominance of the customer

It is nearly a truism that the needs and wants of the consumer are the critical issues today in creating new products and services, and developing the accompanying plans to merchandise them at a profit. But this trend-the first on my list-is still in process of evolution. The need to understand and anticipate future customers is bound to become even more essential than in the past, because the end users of almost every company's products are shifting in makeup, location, and number at an ever-increasing rate.

The significance of this to senior marketing executives is twofold: First, they cannot-indeed, they must not-assume that yesterday's customers will be available tomorrow. Second, they had better be certain that they have adequate sources of market information. Unless they can keep up with what is happening to their markets, the whole company's selling effort may ultimately be directed at the wrong people with the wrong products and at the wrong time. This is what a marketing vice president I know meant when he said, "My company's sales output can't be any better than my intelligence input."

Consider a few of the changes in the nature of consumers and markets:

Sociologists and marketers agree that people are becoming more interested in use than in ownership. One can rent or lease everything from garden tools to machine tools to cars. Annual rental income, not including car and truck rentals, is close to the $750 million mark. The value of equipment being leased, currently about $1 billion, may well double in five years. This trend could affect the channels of selling, pricing arrangements, sales appeals, or even the characteristics of the product line (such as the increasing sale of disposable items).

There has been disproportionate growth in the market for personal services, including recreation, education, and travel. Depending on whose statistics you choose to believe, consumer services now account for 40 percent to 50 percent of all consumer purchases.

A whole series of demographic changes hold significance for the producer of consumer goods-in particular, the explosive growth of the teenage and young-adult market, the migration of blue-collar workers to the suburbs, the increase in per capita income, and the ever-growing mobility of our population. To the consumer-goods manufacturer, the wholesaler, and the retailer, this means there is no such thing as stability of customers.

People's tastes are becoming more varied, flexible, and demanding. As just one example, consider the demand for wood products. The traditional lumber manufacturer now produces and sells a multitude of products that were virtually unknown 20 years ago-and all because product research teamed up with marketing to develop products that people wanted and were willing to buy.

Another important result of this growing consumer dominance is that today nearly all sales potentials are segmented. Typically, a total market now comprises a series of submarkets, each with its own characteristics and each demanding a different sales approach. For most companies, it is a gross error to develop a marketing program aimed at the "average customer." Today such a consumer, or such a company, hardly exists. In short, the company that is not alert to the customers' needs and the changing complexities of marketplaces is inviting disaster.

The spread of marketing research

The second trend is the increased use of marketing research-in terms of both quantity and scope. To an important degree, of course, this trend is a response to the first. If knowledge about future customers is essential, and if the quality of the marketing output is materially affected by the caliber of the informational input, then marketing research is bound to increase in use and contribution as the interest in more scientific marketing grows.

The dimensions of this trend are suggested by the membership growth of the American Marketing Association (AMA) from 2,800 in 1950 to an estimated 13,000 by mid-1966. Most of the increase represents marketing research, not individuals from the academic fields. As long as seven years ago, according to a national study by the AMA, nine out of ten companies with sales of $25 million or more had at least one marketing researcher on their staffs.

Today, the bulk of company marketing research is devoted to such activities as development of market potentials (for both existing and new products), analysis of customer buying habits and requirements, measurement of advertising effectiveness, share-of-market studies, determination of market characteristics, sales analysis, establishment of sales quotas, and development of sales territories. Beyond this value in reporting on historical and current conditions, however, I see a trend toward increased use of marketing research as a creative tool to help solve future management problems.

For example, it can be used to help management determine the most effective channels of distribution for a particular product line. By coupling distribution-cost analysis with accurate research on shifts in consumer attitudes, a marketer may uncover the need for a major shift in distribution policy. Such a sophisticated response to changed customer attitudes can be seen in the fact that Chanel No. 5, fine oil paintings, and expensive mink coats now can be purchased at Sears Roebuck, which also is the single largest retailer of diamonds in the United States.

Again, consider the function of marketing research in the evaluation of a major acquisition. Recently, a maker of industrial-machinery components became interested in acquiring a somewhat smaller company in a different but related business. On paper, and particularly from a financial viewpoint, the proposed acquisition looked desirable. But a careful research effort in the field revealed that two competitors of the company under review had considerably better reputations for customer service and, more important, much superior research-and-development capabilities. Thus a potentially disastrous purchase was avoided.

Salespeople's compensation is another area where a creative marketing-research group can make helpful contributions. Today, many companies are trying to orient salespeople's efforts toward profitable sales rather than volume alone. But before a compensation plan can be geared to this objective, careful thought must be given to identifying and measuring the profitability of customers, the profit relationships among the various products, the costs of carrying out the various selling activities, and the feasibility of any new sales-control system that may be required. Marketing research can help to provide revealing analyses and reliable recommendations on each of these factors. Other management problems calling for inputs from marketing research include pricing decisions, test marketing of new and/or revised products, and estimates of future personnel requirements.

Obviously, the broadening scope of marketing research should materially increase the efficiency of the total marketing function. In some companies today, it is worth noting, the head of marketing research is a member of a product-planning committee, a marketing-strategy committee, or even a company-wide long-range planning committee-clear evidence of top management's growing realization that marketing-research people can make a vital contribution to planning decisions and marketing strategies.

The rise of the computer

The third major trend marketing must consider is the emergence of electronic data-processing equipment as a major tool of scientific marketing not only for reporting data but also, more importantly, for planning and control by management.

Generally speaking, I think it must be conceded that companies have dragged their feet in taking advantage of electronic data-processing analyses, online communications, and information-retrieval systems as tools to help make marketing more efficient. But the computerization of many areas of marketing is only a matter of time. Consider a few current applications of these techniques:

A major insurance company analyzes sales performance daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly, comparing current figures with last year's performance and this year's goals. The input information is fed into 15 satellite computers at 15 regional headquarters. After processing the sales data (a complex task in the insurance industry, since so many pertinent details are routinely involved for every policy sold) these machines feed back the essential sales information to two master computers at headquarters. There the data are summarized and printouts are made on Friday night. By Monday morning, the reports are on the manager's desk.

A West Coast apparel manufacturer now adjusts the initial merchandising forecasts in light of salespeople's bookings, then develops the cutting orders for three plants day by day in relation to inventories on hand. Salespeople and management are kept abreast of trends daily during the key selling periods and weekly thereafter. Major merchandising decisions are made on the basis of current information that was not available before the installation of electronic data processing.

One of the largest industrial distributors in the West has set up an online electronic data-processing system that enables its key customers to place purchase orders for major products by using prepunched cards that bear the price and quantity information. These purchase orders are automatically transmitted to the distribution center for processing, billing, and shipping-freeing the salespeople from much routine order taking and permitting them to spend more time on individual customer problems.

There are, of course, many other possible applications of electronic equipment as an aid to the marketing function. And in the years to come, the use of electronic equipment by marketing management will certainly increase.

Expanded use of test marketing

A fourth important trend, in my opinion, will be toward more controlled experimentation to narrow the odds of an error in making marketing changes.

Two major influences emphasize the need for further expansion of test marketing. The first is the rising cost of marketing changes: the costs, for example, of introducing new products and packaging, of developing new advertising and promotional programs, and of retraining salespeople.

The second influence is the mounting investment in product research and development. About half of all corporate research-and-development activity in the United States today is concerned with the creation of new commercial products. The resulting outpouring of new products may measurably shorten the product life cycle and reduce the payout time correspondingly. This is one reason so many innovations in consumer goods are test-marketed before being placed in national distribution, even though the product may have been checked out in the laboratory and its sales potential assessed through marketing research.

What kind of projects should be considered for test marketing? Here are a few examples:

Evaluating new products and new product features or services in relation to market potentials. This kind of application, accepted in the food industry for many years, has only recently been used to determine whether customers would support further processing and fabrication of sheet and plate products by industrial distributors.

Assessing the advantages and disadvantages of new packaging. New frozen-food containers for berry products went through regional market tests on the West Coast before national introduction.

Evaluating the effects of a new sales-incentive plan. A shift from individual incentives to a group plan was tested by a pharmaceutical manufacturer in San Diego, St. Louis, and Atlanta before being installed nationwide.

Determining the advantages, if any, of new delivery and service practices. A machinery manufacturer used test marketing to determine whether to expand its customer-service program. When the results indicated that customers would not pay the added cost when faced with the reality of signing up for the added service, the proposal was dropped.

Evaluating the effectiveness of alternative advertising media and approaches. Here again, an established technique in many consumer-goods industries is being more widely applied in testing alternative media and promotional approaches for the marketing of industrial products.

Some marketing projects can be tested quickly and relatively inexpensively through computer simulation. For example, a leading US pharmaceutical company has used simulation to determine the sales and profit impact of servicing small orders and/or small customers by using jobbers and/or parcel post and/or not selling them at all-and all this under a variety of assumed reactions by competitors.

With or without computers, however, I believe that increased use of test marketing under controlled conditions will be an important future trend in marketing.

Metamorphosis of field selling

The fifth trend I foresee is a shift in the nature of the field-selling job toward a more integrated, profit-oriented marketing effort.

A typical salesperson today represents a major investment of company funds. A 1964 survey by the Sales Executives Club of New York placed average training costs at $8,731 per person, excluding pay. Keeping a typical salesperson on the road may easily average $15,000 to $17,000 of direct costs per year, including compensation. To achieve a satisfactory return on this investment, the salesperson must sell profitably-not just bring in volume. The job is becoming less and less the presentation of the company's product line, more and more the marketing of integrated systems.

Consider some of the ways an apparel salesperson now works with retailers:

selecting the products for the coming selling season and establishing inventory standards

maintaining stocks at proper levels and reordering as necessary (frequently utilizing electronic data processing)

helping to train retail clerks

establishing advertising schedules and assuring proper in-store tie-ins

executing in-store promotions

counseling on style trends and helping to move or shift slow-moving merchandise

In other words, such a salesperson is carrying out a field-marketing effort that involves products, market analysis, advertising, promotion, and inventory control.

In another case, a sales representative for chemical fertilizers helps distributors sell to their customers, the dealers, through financing services and marketing-research assistance. The sales rep may even have to set up merchandising programs to help select and train salespeople for the distributors. Thus, the emphasis is on helping customers increase their profits so that the company, in turn, can prosper.

Another important continuing trend in the field-sales job is the ever-increasing impact of key-account, or selective, selling. In most industries, a limited number of customers have a growing profit importance. In grocery retailing, for example, there are 20 percent fewer outlets today than in 1958. In industrial manufacturing, 10 to 20 percent of the customers may account for as much as 80 percent of sales, and an even bigger share of profits.

Thus, key-account selling is becoming an increasingly crucial feature of the field-sales job-a trend with important implications. In many companies, a key-account selling program may entail special analysis of present and potential customers, and the establishment of related control reports to measure profit results with particular accounts. It may include assigning these accounts to senior salespeople and developing special selling programs and promotional materials for these key customers. And it may call for special attention from the home office, such as periodic field calls and review by key executives or even establishment of an executive responsible solely for the key-account selling program.

In the net, there is little doubt that tomorrow's salespeople will be different from yesterday's breed. They are going to be more highly trained and better paid; they are going to be planning oriented, service oriented, and technically skilled-in short, sophisticated marketers.

Global market planning

An ever-broadening application of the marketing concept to worldwide markets is the last of the six broad trends that I believe will change the face of marketing in the next few years. Over the past decade, the marketing concept has become widely accepted in the United States-perhaps, in some situations, too enthusiastically accepted and too indiscriminately applied. Nevertheless, I believe the concept of a completely integrated marketing effort is valid and will be increasingly adopted. In many companies operating worldwide, it will stimulate the development of global market planning.

Expenditures by US companies on plant and equipment abroad, which were $5.1 billion in 1963, $6 billion in 1964, and $7.5 billion in 1965, may well exceed $9 billion in 1966. For manufacturing operations alone (excluding petroleum refining), expenditures abroad rose by 30.5 percent last year, while domestic plant and equipment expenditures advanced 15.7 percent. And mergers, licensing agreements, joint ventures, and the establishment of wholly owned foreign subsidiaries by US companies overseas are continually on the rise.

For the smaller company, this trend may emphasize the need to establish or strengthen export relationships so that it too may market on a worldwide basis. For many larger companies, it points to a day when the United States may be merely a domestic division within the worldwide corporation.

This means that top management must think through how best to coordinate a multinational selling effort to assure adequate corporate control over a worldwide marketing plan-yet without unduly restricting initiative and responsibility within each national segment. An important part of this problem is determining how to provide most efficiently the marketing services needed-services that in many companies today are directed, if not executed outright, by a central corporate staff.

But this matter of becoming a worldwide company is only one of the major pressures in the changing complexities of business today. To keep pace with these changes, and to play the strong role in the future that I believe to be the key challenge to marketing executives, the face of the marketing function will have to change accordingly.

About the author(s)

John D. Louth was a principal in McKinsey's San Francisco office and specialized in problems of organization, marketing, and sales management. This article, which was based on a presentation he made to a West Coast marketing-executives group in 1964, appeared in the autumn 1966 issue of McKinsey Quarterly. It was adapted for the Quarterly with permission from Dun's Review, which had published an earlier version in April 1966.

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This article from the McKinsey Quarterly archive analyzes six major changes that promised to transform future marketing efforts. These forces have largely proved to be as influential as predicted and continue to shape today's challenges. Change is the dominant fact of life in every business today.

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How Marketing Has Changed In the Past 20 Years | Brandignity

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Here are five ways that marketing has changed over the past 20 years.

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Pui-Lai To is Professor and Chair of the Department of Management Information Systems at National Chiayi University in Taiwan. She received her Ph.D. in MIS from the University of Memphis. Her current research interests focus on electronic commerce, customer relationship management, and the impacts of information technology on organizations and individuals. Her articles have appeared or have been accepted for publication in International Journal of Information Management, Journal of Database Management, International Journal of Information and Management Sciences, International Journal of Management, Journal of Information management, Management Review, Journal of Management and Systems, and other refereed journals and conference proceedings.

Chechen Liao is Professor of Management Information Systems in the Department of Information Management at National Chung Cheng University in Taiwan. He received his Ph.D. in MIS from the University of Memphis. He currently serves on the Editorial Board of Journal of global information technology management. His current research interests focus on electronic commerce, knowledge management, e-supply chain management, and the impacts of information technology on organizations and individuals. His articles have appeared or have been accepted for publication in International Journal of Human-Computer Studies, International Journal of Information Management, Computers in Human Behavior, Journal of Database Management, Expert Systems with Applications, International Journal of Information and Management Sciences, International Journal of management, Journal of Information Management, MIS Review, Journal of Management & Systems, and other refereed journals and conference proceedings.

Tzu-Hua Lin received her MBA degree from National Chiayi University in Taiwan. Her research interests include issues in customer relationship management and electronic commerce.

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Shopping motivations on Internet: A study based on utilitarian and hedonic value

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Pui-Lai To is Professor and Chair of the Department of Management Information Systems at National Chiayi University in Taiwan. She received her Ph.D. in MIS from the University of Memphis. Her current research interests focus on electronic commerce, customer relationship management, and the impacts of information technology on organizations and individuals.

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Explore millions of resources from scholarly journals, books, newspapers, videos and more, on the ProQuest Platform.

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Thinking of a career in marketing? Five stars to you for choosing to take up a fun, adrenaline-inducing, and highly-rewarding profession. But exciting as it may be, the marketing function is not what it was a decade ago.

For instance, did you know that there are over a dozen kinds of marketing? And each kind requires a different, specialized skill?

Marketing as a function has undergone a major transformation. With the mainstreaming of the internet and social media, the ubiquity of technology, and the world becoming a more connected place, marketing is no longer restricted to traditional methods.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the mention of the word marketing would conjure up a picture of a man all suited and booted, carrying a briefcase in one hand and a bagful of sample products in the other, knocking on people's doors trying to make a sale.

Then, it moved to the telephone, where telemarketers spent all day making phone calls, hoping to enthuse the person on the other end about his product.

Cut to 2019, and we are in the days of digital and online marketing. The picture of marketing is far less vivid-albeit more active and effective-as it is restricted to the customer and his personal devices. Most marketing happens on our phones or computers and revolves around what we click or swipe, how often we do it, and how much effort we are willing to put into it.

Consequently, the way companies strategise and manage their marketing efforts has changed, as has the way customers now receive marketing messages from companies.

This means that a marketer's role has changed. Being a successful marketer today requires a different set of skills, aptitude, and approach towards the role.

Marketing has become multi-dimensional. For each of the kinds of marketing, there is a business side, an analytics side, a creative side, and many more. The target groups vary in terms of demography and geography.

Moreover, the intent could differ-for example, some marketing campaigns are done solely to generate leads while some could be done in order to establish the brand name and ensure brand recall. And each of these different aspects isn't necessarily standalone, and there could be an overlap of two or more of these.

Simply put, marketing is no longer a simple tool companies use to sell their products or services. It is now a labyrinth that has to be navigated for companies to take their message to the customer. So it is critical to get up to speed with the changes in order to be able to make a mark in the world of marketing.

If you don't adapt to these changes and prepare yourself to handle the new challenges, you run the risk of turning irrelevant.

Here's how you can be a star:

The Era Of Specialization

Given that marketing now includes multiple kinds, the need for specialization has emerged. For example, social media marketing is entirely different from influencer marketing or digital marketing. An influencer marketer's approach to a particular brand's campaign will be nothing like a content marketer's strategy to manage the same campaign.

The skill sets will rarely overlap, and in most cases, a person cut out for one specialization may not be the right fit for other roles. As in the case of the medical profession, where a specialization-like surgery, or pathology -is required along with a general medical degree, in marketing too, it no longer suffices for a student/aspiring marketer to study and practice marketing in general.

Think like a doctor with a super-specialization. Master the basics but focus on specifics and specialize in the one you are cut out for. Learn the techniques, develop the skills required, and establish yourself as an expert in the niche.

Specializing in one or a few is not just helpful, it is critical, or a prerequisite for a job in marketing.

Find Your Sweet Spot
You know by now that marketing is a web of multiple threads intertwined. It encompasses nearly a dozen kinds: digital marketing, social media marketing, influencer marketing, content marketing, micro influencer marketing, inbound marketing, evangelism, cross-media marketing, direct marketing, multi-level marketing, guerilla marketing.

So before you jump in, identify your sweet spot. What kind of a marketer are you- analytical? creative? adventurous?

Pin down what you're best suited for. Some kinds of marketing roles require you to be wired to play with data and numbers, some require you to be talkative and outgoing, some require a creative bent of mind. Think about the different marketing functions, identify the ones that pique your interest the most, and hone your skills accordingly.

Find your spot, and play to your strengths.

Watch The Market And Track Trends

The best marketers are the ones who not just create trends with their unique marketing campaigns, but also keep an eye out for what's brewing in the marketing world. Each kind of marketing targets a different section of the audience, so study the cross-section of society, have your ear to the ground of what your customers are saying, and be sure to give customers what they what, and more.

Similarly, keep an eye on competitors and others in the ecosystem so you can fend off competition, learn from peers, and also establish yourself as the industry leader among them.

Watch the news, keep tabs on the newsmakers and industry experts, follow trends.

Tap Technology

About a decade or two ago, marketing and selling was a relatively simple task. Build a good product, nudge the customer, and your sale is practically done. Today, the process of customer acquisition and marketing is quite complicated. But technology helps make everything better.

Technology now enables you to collect, analyze, and process data about everything and take better, more informed decisions. It gives you to opportunity to reach customers where they want to be reached, personalize your communication with them, and market your product and brand to them more effectively.

Use technology to work around these challenges, and you're a winner on the way.

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How Marketing Has Changed Over Time And Ways To Excel At It In 2019

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Thinking of a career in marketing? Five stars to you for choosing to take up a fun, adrenaline-inducing, and highly-rewarding profession. But exciting as it may be, the marketing function is not what it was a decade ago. For instance, did you know that there are over a dozen kinds of marketing?

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Grow
How Marketing Has Changed and Why It Matters

Ten years ago, people went to one or two websites when looking for a product, and made a decision based on that information. Today, however, the information available about products is almost endless.

Ten years ago, people went to one or two websites when looking for a product, and made a decision based on that information. Today, however, the information available about products is almost endless. Without practically limitless data online, customer reviews, and countless vendors to purchase from, the purchasing power is in the customer's hands more than ever before. In the past, companies had more power to convince and reason with customers with regards to purchases. Sales people were trusted, and a speaking to a company directly was considered a logical step in making a purchase. Today, however, customers are able to locate most of this information before ever speaking with the company. This makes sales and outreach more difficult for companies; how do you sell to a customer who already has all of the facts? Thus, marketing to our customers is more difficult than it once was. Traditional strategies like cold calls, cold emails, snail mail, and trade shows have much less of an impact. The bad news for marketers is that much of their campaign budgets are going to waste. The good news is that there is an entire set of new strategies available for marketers who want to get an edge over the competition. Here are a few of the strategies and ideas to keep in mind in order to pivot our marketing strategies so that they stay effective even with the change in customer behavior.

It's difficult to get your sales pitch heard from a customer who isn't interested. If someone isn't interested in buying your product in the first place, they're not likely to want to sit through your presentation or speech. Customer's attention spans are also shorter; people are dong ten things at once and certainly don't have the time to listen to your thoughts. This is where adding value comes in handy. If you can present your target audience with a token of value--maybe it's a free item, a piece of information, or even an interesting or funny video, they will be more likely to engage with you. Don't focus on executing the sale right off the bat; focus on establishing a line of communication with your customer. If you can start a dialogue with your customer then a sale can follow naturally. Adding value is a great starting point. Rather than interrupting someone's dinner by cold calling them and immediately pitching them your product, consider taking a softer approach. Everyone appreciates value, including your customers.

It's more much difficult to hear yourself heard amongst today's marketers on social media. There is a seemingly endless influx of ads, marketing content, and other noise that floods our Twitter newsfeeds and covers our Facebook home pages. To get yourself seen amongst the crowd, be unique. Be interesting, genuine, and captivating. Don't be obsessed with merely promoting your promoting your product; be obsessed with engaging your customers. Never forget that engagement comes first - purchasing comes second.

People and customers operate in a multi-channel world, and your marketing should too. Old marketing techniques that utilize email and calls exclusively are obsolete. Make sure to leverage LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and other channels to reach customers.

The best way to achieve the highest ROI on your marketing campaigns is to examine the data. Make sure to examine the most impactful, relevant KPI's to determine the direct impact that your campaign is having. This way you will be able to test whether certain ads, blog posts, or content are generating real traffic and driving purchases. Without analytics you are essentially shooting in the dark.

If you want your customers to see you, then you need to be seen. People don't sift through the paper anymore to look at ads or evaluate products; people look online. Thus, your SEO is critical for customer outreach and acquisition. Focusing on using keywords in the right places, leveraging the right outlets, and connecting back to your homepage are good ways to start with SEO.

At the end of the day, your focus should not be on your product: it should be on your customer. Make sure to market and sell based on the specific needs of the customer--not just your needs as a company. Allow your marketing campaign to be swayed based on insight you gather from your potential buyers.

Ten years ago, people went to one or two websites when looking for a product, and made a decision based on that information. Today, however, the information available about products is almost endless. Without practically limitless data online, customer reviews, and countless vendors to purchase from, the purchasing power is in the customer's hands more than ever before. In the past, companies had more power to convince and reason with customers with regards to purchases. Sales people were trusted, and a speaking to a company directly was considered a logical step in making a purchase. Today, however, customers are able to locate most of this information before ever speaking with the company. This makes sales and outreach more difficult for companies; how do you sell to a customer who already has all of the facts? Thus, marketing to our customers is more difficult than it once was. Traditional strategies like cold calls, cold emails, snail mail, and trade shows have much less of an impact. The bad news for marketers is that much of their campaign budgets are going to waste. The good news is that there is an entire set of new strategies available for marketers who want to get an edge over the competition. Here are a few of the strategies and ideas to keep in mind in order to pivot our marketing strategies so that they stay effective even with the change in customer behavior.

It's difficult to get your sales pitch heard from a customer who isn't interested. If someone isn't interested in buying your product in the first place, they're not likely to want to sit through your presentation or speech. Customer's attention spans are also shorter; people are dong ten things at once and certainly don't have the time to listen to your thoughts. This is where adding value comes in handy. If you can present your target audience with a token of value--maybe it's a free item, a piece of information, or even an interesting or funny video, they will be more likely to engage with you. Don't focus on executing the sale right off the bat; focus on establishing a line of communication with your customer. If you can start a dialogue with your customer then a sale can follow naturally. Adding value is a great starting point. Rather than interrupting someone's dinner by cold calling them and immediately pitching them your product, consider taking a softer approach. Everyone appreciates value, including your customers.

It's more much difficult to hear yourself heard amongst today's marketers on social media. There is a seemingly endless influx of ads, marketing content, and other noise that floods our Twitter newsfeeds and covers our Facebook home pages. To get yourself seen amongst the crowd, be unique. Be interesting, genuine, and captivating. Don't be obsessed with merely promoting your promoting your product; be obsessed with engaging your customers. Never forget that engagement comes first - purchasing comes second.

People and customers operate in a multi-channel world, and your marketing should too. Old marketing techniques that utilize email and calls exclusively are obsolete. Make sure to leverage LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and other channels to reach customers.

The best way to achieve the highest ROI on your marketing campaigns is to examine the data. Make sure to examine the most impactful, relevant KPI's to determine the direct impact that your campaign is having. This way you will be able to test whether certain ads, blog posts, or content are generating real traffic and driving purchases. Without analytics you are essentially shooting in the dark.

If you want your customers to see you, then you need to be seen. People don't sift through the paper anymore to look at ads or evaluate products; people look online. Thus, your SEO is critical for customer outreach and acquisition. Focusing on using keywords in the right places, leveraging the right outlets, and connecting back to your homepage are good ways to start with SEO.

At the end of the day, your focus should not be on your product: it should be on your customer. Make sure to market and sell based on the specific needs of the customer--not just your needs as a company. Allow your marketing campaign to be swayed based on insight you gather from your potential buyers.

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How Marketing Has Changed and Why It Matters

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Grow Ten years ago, people went to one or two websites when looking for a product, and made a decision based on that information. Today, however, the information available about products is almost endless. Without practically limitless data online, customer reviews, and countless vendors to purchase from, the purchasing power is in the customer's hands more than ever before.

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Review Article: 2020 Vol: 24 Issue: 3

Keywords

COVID-19, Changing Trends, Online Shopping, Consumer Buying Behaviour.

Introduction

With the emergence of globalization and digitization, people, places, and products have started coming close, approachable as well as affordable (Cetrez & Van Dam, 2018; Fouberg & Murphy, 2020). Life was very fast, as everything from toilet roll to airplane ticket was just one click away. All the business plans, meetings, trips came to halt with the introduction of COVID-19 to the globe. The situation of the COVID-19 outbreak, made people think, dynamically and timely diagnosis of how families have adjusted their spendings and online shopping, and what are the characteristics of the households who have responded the fastest and strongest. News media reported that customers collapsed supermarket drops to stock-pile for durable goods (Barr, 2020). This was very much unplanned and sudden set back from businessman to the common man. Every sector and individual has been affected badly by this epidemic. Online marketing and shopping trends among customers are also squeezed by this unsure epidemic. If the situation continues for a longer period, it will not be possible for the big giants such as Myntra, Flipkart, Amazon etc. to retain their workforces as they have huge turnover which have come to a complete hault. As per the current status, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has infected more than 2.8 million people globally (World Health Organization, 2020). Since as per the medical science it spreads primarily through contacting the infected person (even through cough or sneeze) or by touching the surface that has a virus on it, so the best way chosen out by the government is to stay at home and stay safe. Initially, this has jumped the number of users of online shopping, globally, but because of delay in order deliveries, this has come to halt after a week. Specifically, in context to India, stay at home has augmented the number of First Time Users (FTUs), earlier who were inhibited to shop online.

The present research also relates to the literature done on how crises influence the economy of the world, and policymaker's reactions to those crises. In the outcome of the 2008 Great Recession time, a large literature studied the impact of credit supply shocks (Mian & Sufi, 2009, 2011; Argyroudis & Siokis, 2018; Cipollini & Parla, 2018; Garcia, 2020) and securitization (Keys et al., 2012, Wood & Gokhale, 2017; Dou, 2017; Bentolila et al., 2018) led to the financial crisis. This paper is an attempt to join a quickly growing body of work swotting the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic on the economy of the Indian online market. Eichenbaum et al. (2020); Barro et al., (2020) and Jones et al., (2020) proposed a macroeconomic framework for reviewing epidemics. Gormsen & Koijen (2020) have attempted to study the impact of COVID-19 on stock prices and dividend future reactions to the pandemic, and anticipations of a probable recession due to COVID-19. So, this study is an attempt to identify the impact of this crisis on online shopping platforms and how the changed spending behaviour of customers is going to sustain in the future.

Literature Review
Indian Retail Market
The Indian retail market is segregated in unorganized and organized sectors, out of which unorganized sector includes about 13.8 million conventional family-run neighbourhood stores and the organised retail sector with a share of less than 10% (IBEF, 2020; Halan, 2020). The organised sector further includes all organized brick and mortar stores and online shopping sites (Sinha, 2019). Despite the boom in the B2C e-commerce sector in India, the majority of Indian consumers continue to have faith in the neighbourhood brick and mortar stores for shopping as they prefer to touch and feel the products before buying and negotiating discounts over-the-counter. In India, a great majority of B2C e-commerce retailers, draw consumers to shop online by offering various exciting schemes such as discounts, free delivery, buy-one-get-one-free and exchange offers (Srivastava & bagale, 2019; Joseph, 2019). However, many Indian shoppers known to be cost-conscious and conservative as a part of their value system, are generally not attracted to making quick decisions based on promotions and advertisements. Moreover, online shoppers, many-a-times, come across problems concerning product delivery timelines and customer support services (Khare, 2016; Arpana, 2020). Customers' perception of risk toward online web sites is aggravated due to the inferior IT set-up used by several e-tailers, resulting in the hacking of personal information (Retail Economic Times of India, 2020; Staff, 2020).
Sensitivity towards Products Manufactured Abroad
Consumers have expressed their concern towards products that are made in china (Uyar, 2018). The emergence of this disease has created a panic mental situation among regular users of the few products now, they are becoming more conscious of buying products made abroad. This has given a boom to locally manufactured products and supports the MAKE in India's initiative of the government. The majority of the consumers said that they will no longer prefer the products made in china.

Consumers are very much aware of the details of where the product has been made, and what quality has been delivered to them at home. Surevy has been done among seventy six males and eighty three females regarding their change in behaviour towards products manufactured outside India. From Figure 1 one can infer that majority of the male respondents do care about the place of product manufactured and hesitate to buy products manufactured abroad and fifty four percent of females supported that after COVID-19 they are concerned about a product manufactured place and will not prefer made in china products as of now.
A shift in the Consumers' Buying behaviour
Empty shelves during COVID 19 have generated severe problems for the consumers' (Lufkin, 2020). COVID 19 has forced consumers to change the way they preferred to shop. There is an increased shift in consumer buying behaviour from traditional shopping to online shopping (Reddy, 2020). Apart from the augmented number of customers indulging into online shopping shift has been observed in the choice of products being ordered by customers through these online tools. The majority of the customers have started positively ordering more personal care and medical kits rather than ordering fashion products. National Retail Federation (NRF) has surveyed on consumer's online shopping behaviour in this epidemic situation and has briefed certain consumer buying behavioural changes as follows:

1. As per the survey results, 9 out of 10 customers have changed their shopping practices.
2. Results are supportive that more than 50% of customers have changed their traditional shopping habits by ordering products online.
3. About 6 out of 10 customers stated that they avoid going to store due to the fear of being infected and ordering necessary goods from online marketing tools.

All these behavioural changes are not permanent but few are going to last permanently. As the society will recover from this survival mode, this digital- online shopping adoption is likely to become permanent. So, in the end, this pandemic situation has been classified into two aspects one is a shift in customer behaviour that avoids public crowded gatherings and second is more inclination towards digital adoption (Shashidhar, 2020).

Marketing research company Nielsen has further explored that one of the UK-based fashion retailer's online search traffic drop by approximately 40% after severe new procedures have been announced in mid-March to fight with COVID-19 virus results are shown in Figure 2 below:

Research done by Nielsen company claims that customer buying behaviour has been changed from fashion-oriented shopping to daily need-based shopping things as explained follows:

1. Active health product buying (increased purchasing of anticipatory health and wellness products).
2. Responsive health management kits (increased purchasing of protective kits like masks and alcohol-based hand sanitizers).
3. Vigorous pantry items purchasing (storing more of groceries and household daily essentials).
4. Quarantine preparation in advance (facing shortages of goods in stores, customers have cut down on store visits).

Researches by Gourinchas & Parker (2002); Kaplan & Violante (2014); Kaplan et al., (2020) proposed theoretical models of household consumption responses. Initially in March, there was little direct effect of COVID-19 in the United States, and India but substantial awareness of prospective damage in the near future. Research by agencies supports that significant stockpiling and spending reactions among customer, which is consistent with expectations playing a large role in house hold consumption and decisions medical marks as shown in Figure 3.

Results and Discussion
Initiatives taken by Online Players
This pandemic situation surely will pass soon, and everything will be at place by the time. But this time it will not be easy for people, business, and economies to settle. As the losses incurred by the crisis are never fulfilling and forgotten. Everyone involved in the social service sector doing their best to save the humanity. So as online market players too came forward to provide uninterrupted delivery of medical and house hold services, so that all together we can fight with the situation.

On 25th March 2020, India's renowned grocery online store posted a message that " We'll be back soon! As we are currently experiencing unprecedented demand. Even Amazon one of the leading e-commerce players over the globe- is showcasing that " we are getting back on track". Myntra is posting " STAY Safe Stay Home ". So this is the story experienced by all the available online merchants in the phase of the epidemic.

As shown in Figure 4 Amazon one of the largest e-commerce player is coming forward to thank the doctor's workers, volunteers, picker suppliers, drivers and everyone who is contributing towards fighting with this epidemic. In Figure 5 Amazon is supporting the lockdown announced by the Indian government and promoting the safety message by staying at home and following the WHO norms.

Like other online merchants in Figure 6, Myntra is also supporting the cause and making people aware of the benefits of staying and staying fit. Even Big Basket, India's largest online food and grocery store has stood for the cause and initiated contactless delivery option for all their customers as precautionary measure to fight against Covid-19. They are trying to make people to 'be a caring shopper' by planning their grocery and essential good requirement for next 3-4 weeks and placing the bulk orders so as to ensure safe and easy delivery to customers of a locality in one go. All of the online marketing sites have conveyed to their respective customers that as of now they are supporting the respective governments to fight against viruses and very soon they will be back in work and deliver the orders in Table 1.

Table 1: Summary OD Key Initiatives taken by Online Players

Sr. No.

Online Player

Key Initiatives for Consumers

Flipkart

Working closely with marketplace partners to ensure adequate availability of consumer sanitary products like hand sanitizers, gloves, and masks.

Flipkart Travel is offering a full refund (including convenience fee) on cancellation and rescheduling of air tickets booked on Flipkart Travel.

Working closely with our sellers to urge responsible pricing and behaviour. Products with fake claims and inflated prices are being removed an ongoing basis.

Working with our sellers to replenish products and encouraging them to be fair in the prices they are proposing.

Amazon

Increasing capacity for grocery delivery from Amazon Fresh and Whole Foods Market as quickly as possible.

Enhanced cleaning at all Whole Foods Market stores and now open one hour early for customers who are 60+ years old in the U.S. (70+ years old in the UK).

Focusing on high-priority items to ensure the fastest delivery of household staples, medical supplies, and other high-demand products coming into our fulfilment centers.

Vigorously combating price gouging to help protect customers, help ensure fair pricing, and combat those seeking to profit off the COVID-19 crisis.

Giving our customers more time to return items.

Our Amazon and Alexa devices help keep customers stay connected and informed.

Big Basket

Selling 1199 essential products including groceries, fruits and vegetables, baby care and feminine hygiene items.

Curating our product selection to reflect only the essential products needed at this time of Covid-19 to makes our operations easier and helps us serve more customers.

Vigorously combating prices by offering discounts to help customers.

Requesting and taking combined bulk orders of self and of neighbours to initiate easy delivery to a locality in one go.

Increasing our technical server capacity by 50% to enable our app/website to manage more traffic which will help in serving more orders.

Initiating a refund policy on cancellation of order by taking 7-9 days to credit the money back into customers account.

Nykaa

India's largest Omni-channel beauty destination is offering upto 70% off on all the essential hygiene and beauty products.

Accepting pre-paid orders for essentials like personal hygiene products, hand sanitizers, sanitary napkins, and more, although with longer delivery timelines than usual.

Initiating 'stay safe at home' by promoting buying of beauty tips through beauty guides and videos.

Snapdeal

Ensuring full access to the Snapdeal platform across the app along with full functionality to ensure customers continuous purchasing and tracking of their orders.

Tied up with dealers in local grain markets, FMCG wholesalers and medical equipment dealers for e- tailoring and delivering essential goods within 6-10 days

Maintaining constant touch with our courier partners to ensure that delivery of orders is run under high levels of safety and hygiene norms.

Working closely with our sellers to ensure that the orders placed can be collected quickly for their onward journey to customers.

Ensuring that 100% of our team members are working from home ensuring their safety.

Prioritizing the deliveries of essential goods to ensure timely delivery to our customers.

Ramping-up on-ground support and hiring in addition to offering incentives to supply chain and delivery executive engaged in grocery and essentials to enhance delivery capacity.

Conclusion and Implications

This " New Changed World Order " as we visualise it, more fresh air, clearer sky, cleaned rivers has changed the mindset of people. Either this change is permanent or not but as now made everyone realising the blessing in disguise. As global economies are facing pressure for survival as they are facing huge losses in revenue, so the future actions were taken by marketing experts, and consumer preferences will decide the order of the new changing world, like who will be the new leader, survivor, and laggards?

Undoubtedly this epidemic has come up with a lifelong lesson and has impacted every sphere of natural life. So online marketing and consumer shopping preferences are not an exception to this. The best strategy of advice to adjust or to survive in this tough time is to adapt to changing needs of the consumer as the need of the hour is not the luxury or availability of luxurious goods at the specific price range, but unitedly everyone is contributing and fighting for the passage of this phase. So preferences have changed over from trip to the globe to stay at home and buying luxury online to buying groceries for survival.

While the globe has been revolving from the special effects of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, at the same time customer behaviour is being enforced to change and consumers are progressively moving towards online shopping. Many new challenges have been forced on business units as international borders have been closed for exchange of goods so, survival for many will be a tough job. Might be a chance that some companies will stop operating in the short run and few will face permanent shut down. This will leads to financial uncertainty among staff members.

Financial uncertainty among economies, business, staff and the outlook of a simple and long-term future recession that will set back to backdrop the economy for the long run. This will lead to a long-run impact on consumer shopping trends perception and preference behaviour.

References

Barr, S. (2020). Should Customers Be Stockpiling amid Coronavirus Outbreak?, Independent Digital News and Media,.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/coronavirus-stockpile-emergency-list-food-hand-sanitiser-panic-buying-a9373061.html.

Barro, R.J., Ursúa, J.F., & Weng, J. (2020). The coronavirus and the great influenza pandemic: Lessons from the "spanish flu" for the coronavirus's potential effects on mortality and economic activity (No. w26866). National Bureau of Economic Research.

Cetrez, Z., & Van Dam, P. (2018). IN DIGITALIZATION WE TRUST?: An exploration of the impact of digitalization on the trustworthiness of the leader in Dutch start-ups from the perspective of managers and employees.

Dou, Y. (2017). The spillover effect of consolidating securitization entities on small business lending. Available at SSRN 2727958.

Eichenbaum, M.S., Rebelo, S., & Trabandt, M. (2020). The macroeconomics of epidemics (No. w26882). National Bureau of Economic Research.

Flipkart Stories Editorial Team (2020). COVID-19 - Precautions & Preparedness at the Flipkart Group. Flipkart Stories, stories.flipkart.com/covid-19-preparedness-flipkart-group/.

Fouberg, E.H., & Murphy, A.B. (2020). Human geography: people, place, and culture. John Wiley & Sons.

Gormsen, N.J., & Koijen, R.S. (2020). Coronavirus: Impact on stock prices and growth expectations. University of Chicago, Becker Friedman Institute for Economics Working Paper, (2020-22).

Halan, D. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 on Online Shopping in India. retail.economictimes.indiatimes.com/re-tales/impact-of-covid-19-on-online-shopping-in-india/4115.

India Brand Equity Foundation. (2017). About Indian Retail Industry, Market Size, Export & Investment Opportunity. IBEF, India Brand Equity Foundation, www.ibef.org/industry/retail-india.aspx.

Jones, C.J., Philippon, T., & Venkateswaran, V. (2020). Optimal mitigation policies in a pandemic: Social distancing and working from home (No. w26984). National Bureau of Economic Research.

Joseph, P.T. (2019). E-commerce: An Indian perspective. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.

Kaplan, G., Mitman, K., & Violante, G.L. (2020). Non-durable consumption and housing net worth in the great recession: Evidence from easily accessible data. Journal of Public Economics, 104176.

Keys, B.J., Piskorski, T., Seru, A., & Vig, V. (2012). Mortgage financing in the housing boom and bust. In Housing and the Financial Crisis (pp. 143-204). University of Chicago Press.

Lufkin, B. (2020). Amid the coronavirus outbreak, people are flocking to supermarkets worldwide - but are they simply preparing, or irrationally panicking? www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20200304-coronavirus-covid-19-update-why-people-are-stockpiling.

Nielsen Investigation. (2020). Pandemic Pantries" Pressure Supply Chain Amid Covid-19 Fears. https://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/article/2020/nielsen-investigation-pandemic-pantries-pressure-supply-chain-amidst-covid-19-fears/Online Grocery Shopping and Online Supermarket in India. Bigbasket, www.bigbasket.com/.

Online Shopping India - Shop Online for Branded Shoes, Clothing & Accessories in India. Myntra, www.myntra.com/.

Online Shopping Site India - Shop Electronics, Mobiles, Men & Women Clothing, Shoes- www. Snapdeal.com, www.snapdeal.com/offers/covid-19.

Reddy, A. (2020). Covid-19 Impact: Consumers Move More towards Digital. www.thehindubusinessline.com/opinion/covid-19-impact-consumers-move-more-towards-digital/article31337127.ece.

Retail: Latest News & Videos, Photos about Retail. The Economic Times, economictimes.indiatimes.com/topic/retail.

Shashidhar, A. (2020). Coronavirus Crisis: Snapdeal Goes 'Local' to Ensure Faster Deliveries amid Lockdown. www.businesstoday.in/current/corporate/coronavirus-crisis-snapdeal-goes-local-ensure-faster-deliveries-amid-lockdown/story/400112.html.

Srivastava, R., & Bagale, G.S. (2019). REVIEW OF SHIFT FROM COMMERCE TO E-COMMERCE IN INDIA. Advance and Innovative Research, 305.

Staff, Day One (2020). Amazon's COVID-19 blog: daily updates on how we're responding to the crisis. blog.aboutamazon.com/company-news/amazons-actions-to-help-employees-communities-and-customers-affected-by-covid-19.

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Changing Consumer Behaviours towards Online Shopping - An Impact of Covid 19

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Review Article: 2020 Vol: 24 Issue: 3 COVID-19, Changing Trends, Online Shopping, Consumer Buying Behaviour. With the emergence of globalization and digitization, people, places, and products have started coming close, approachable as well as affordable (Cetrez & Van Dam, 2018; Fouberg & Murphy, 2020).

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To begin, you need to determine which type of abstract you should include with your paper. There are four general types.

Critical Abstract
A critical abstract provides, in addition to describing main findings and information, a judgment or comment about the study's validity, reliability, or completeness. The researcher evaluates the paper and often compares it with other works on the same subject. Critical abstracts are generally 400-500 words in length due to the additional interpretive commentary. These types of abstracts are used infrequently.

Descriptive Abstract
A descriptive abstract indicates the type of information found in the work. It makes no judgments about the work, nor does it provide results or conclusions of the research. It does incorporate key words found in the text and may include the purpose, methods, and scope of the research. Essentially, the descriptive abstract only describes the work being summarized. Some researchers consider it an outline of the work, rather than a summary. Descriptive abstracts are usually very short, 100 words or less.

Informative Abstract
The majority of abstracts are informative. While they still do not critique or evaluate a work, they do more than describe it. A good informative abstract acts as a surrogate for the work itself. That is, the researcher presents and explains all the main arguments and the important results and evidence in the paper. An informative abstract includes the information that can be found in a descriptive abstract [purpose, methods, scope] but it also includes the results and conclusions of the research and the recommendations of the author. The length varies according to discipline, but an informative abstract is usually no more than 300 words in length.

Highlight Abstract
A highlight abstract is specifically written to attract the reader's attention to the study. No pretense is made of there being either a balanced or complete picture of the paper and, in fact, incomplete and leading remarks may be used to spark the reader's interest. In that a highlight abstract cannot stand independent of its associated article, it is not a true abstract and, therefore, rarely used in academic writing.

Use the active voice when possible, but note that much of your abstract may require passive sentence constructions. Regardless, write your abstract using concise, but complete, sentences. Get to the point quickly and always use the past tense because you are reporting on a study that has been completed.

Abstracts should be formatted as a single paragraph in a block format and with no paragraph indentations. In most cases, the abstract page immediately follows the title page. Do not number the page. Rules set forth in writing manual vary but, in general, you should center the word "Abstract" at the top of the page with double spacing between the heading and the abstract. The final sentences of an abstract concisely summarize your study's conclusions, implications, or applications to practice and, if appropriate, can be followed by a statement about the need for additional research revealed from the findings.

Although it is the first section of your paper, the abstract should be written last since it will summarize the contents of your entire paper. A good strategy to begin composing your abstract is to take whole sentences or key phrases from each section of the paper and put them in a sequence that summarizes the contents. Then revise or add connecting phrases or words to make the narrative flow clearly and smoothly. Note that statistical findings should be reported parenthetically [i.e., written in parentheses].

Before handing in your final paper, check to make sure that the information in the abstract completely agrees with what you have written in the paper. Think of the abstract as a sequential set of complete sentences describing the most crucial information using the fewest necessary words.

The abstract SHOULD NOT contain:

Lengthy background or contextual information,

Redundant phrases, unnecessary adverbs and adjectives, and repetitive information;

Acronyms or abbreviations,

References to other literature [say something like, "current research shows that..." or "studies have indicated..."],

Using ellipticals [i.e., ending with "..."] or incomplete sentences,

Jargon or terms that may be confusing to the reader,

Citations to other works, and

Any sort of image, illustration, figure, or table, or references to them.

Abstract. Writing Center. University of Kansas; Abstract. The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper. Department of Biology. Bates College; Abstracts. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Borko, Harold and Seymour Chatman. "Criteria for Acceptable Abstracts: A Survey of Abstracters' Instructions." American Documentation 14 (April 1963): 149-160; Abstracts. The Writer's Handbook. Writing Center. University of Wisconsin, Madison; Hartley, James and Lucy Betts. "Common Weaknesses in Traditional Abstracts in hte Social Sciences." Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology 60 (October 2009): 2010-2018; Procter, Margaret. The Abstract. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Riordan, Laura. "Mastering the Art of Abstracts." The Journal of the American Osteopathic Association 115 (January 2015 ): 41-47; Writing Report Abstracts. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Writing Abstracts. Writing Tutorial Services, Center for Innovative Teaching and Learning. Indiana University; Koltay, Tibor. Abstracts and Abstracting: A Genre and Set of Skills for the Twenty-First Century. Oxford, UK: 2010

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Research Guides: Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper: 3. The Abstract

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To begin, you need to determine which type of abstract you should include with your paper. There are four general types. Critical Abstract A critical abstract provides, in addition to describing main findings and information, a judgment or comment about the study's validity, reliability, or completeness.

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Why would you be interested in marketing evolution? If you think it's waste of time, think again. Would it be better to anticipate the changes or to be struck by them? I don't claim that it's possible to predict change in marketing, but I guarantee that if you're aware of the marketing evolution and its cycles you won't be unprepared when the next big thing to come. In this blog post, I'll start from the very beginning of marketing evolution, jump over the centuries briefly explaining big changes that were happening in the evolution process, up to the era of digital marketing. Then I'll go more in details in part about the era of Inbound marketing and finally end with analyzing things to come in marketing evolution.

Marketing Evolution Before the Internet

Marketing exists since ancient times. In China and India sellers were trying to persuade the buyers using their communication skills. In Rome, gladiators got paid to wear products. So, wherever the big audience was looking at, the marketers have seen an opportunity. When you put it this way, in principle nothing changed.

Well, this isn't entirely true although it has been the case for a long period of time. Up until this millennium, to be precise, when marketing evolved from inbound to outbound. It's the techniques, medium and consequently relations that developed and made such impact on everything, including marketing. Here is what mediums were used as marketing tools for advertising, over the time.

15 ct - 1900: magazines, posters, billboards

1900 - 1973: radio, TV, telephones

1973 - 1994: mobile phones, computers

1995 - today: desktop and mobile smart devices

However, the concept of marketing started during the Industrial Revolution.
Lowering the costs of products and building infrastructure made purchasing things much easier for consumers than ever before. After the WWII, business intensified and competition got stronger which created a need for using abilities to sell goods and services. During the 60s, direct marketing specialists, marketing management, and strategic marketing planning become an essential part of the business. Next important change happened in the 90s when companies realized that building brands was the way to increase market share.

To picture the progress of marketing over the time, I suggest reading D.Steven White's article The Evolution of Marketing. He added two more eras to widely accepted theory that marketing had the five stages of evolution:

1. Simple Trade Era (until Industrial Revolution)

2. The Production Era (19th century to 1920s)

3. Sales Era (the 1920s - 1940s)

4. Marketing Department Era (the 1920s - 1960s)

5. Marketing Company Era (the 1960s - present)

D. Steven White proposed two more marketing eras:

1. Relationship Marketing Era (1990's - 2010's)

2. Social/Mobile Marketing Era

Indeed, after the production era, marketing has been evolving in 20 years cycles, so it seems perfectly reasonable that classic theory needed to be completed. This can be backed up with earlier mentioned change from the 90s when companies started to focus on branding. Of course, this is all very simplified and we could argue that cycles have become shorter in the last couple of decades, but let's leave that to academic circles. The important thing here is to notice that marketing has been evolving dynamically and obviously will continue so. Therefore businesses need to adapt to stay competitive. Now, let's see more closely what was happening online and how everything developed so much, in less than three decades.

Digital Marketing - The Beginning

The term digital marketing was first used in the 1990s when Internet came in a commercial sense. It took more than a decade to become the main platform for marketing activities. Tim Berners-Lee launched the World Wide Web project in 1991 but everything triggered three years later when market browser Netscape was released.

Two years after that the number of people using the web skyrocket to 70 million. As that number was constantly growing the Internet evolved through today's biggest names like Google (1997), Amazon (1994) and eBay (1995).

Yahoo (1994) was among few companies with the ability to generate big profit from online marketing. Here is how Yahoo looked in 1995. In its first year, Yahoo got 1 million hits which was a signal for companies to modify their websites in order to reach high rankings. Then, more search engines appeared including HotBot, LookSmart, MSN, and Google. Emails, search engines, and websites became priceless tools for (still) outbound marketing. In the late 90s, a drug company Bristol-Myers Squibb became the first company to launch an online marketing campaign. The goal was raising awareness about the drug Excedrin, and free samples were available for the American Internet users. What a success that was. In the first two days, the company collected 30,000 names on their online customer list. It wasn't long before Microsoft and IBM incorporated their software into Bristol-Myer's online campaigns. The Internet continues developing and the possibility to watch and search for anything was bigger every day. That fundamentally changed marketing forever. It was a transition from outbound to inbound marketing.

New Era - The Inbound Marketing

The snippet from Voltier Digital infographic highlights the main differences between the inbound and the outbound marketer.

Basically, inbound marketing is an improvement in each and every aspect including:

Lower costs

Precise targeting

Personalization

Bring more value

etc. Nowadays, to successfully keep up with this progress, every business, whether it's B2B or B2C orientated, should invest in search engine optimization - SEO, content, social media and email marketing as essential parts of their marketing strategic plannings. All these parts have been, and still, are developing and strongly affecting marketing evolution. Let's see how.
SEO

From the dawn of the commercial use of Internet in the mid-90s, reaching high rankings in Search Engine Result Page (SERP), was the goal of the Internet marketing. Still, one moment can be marked as pivotal in the history of search engine technology and digital marketing in general - the birth of Google. Google started in 1998. Now, I'm going to say few words about the SEO factors that Google use in their algorithms. While reading about it, try to think about all the implications it has to marketing evolution and you'll understand the scale of development. Google changes its algorithm 500 - 600 times per year and most of these changes are minor, but there are a few major updates. It's estimated that there are more than 200 SEO factors. Some are considered more important than others, including: The purpose of the SEO factors is to make sure that people can find exactly what they are looking for using a search engine and to have a great user experience. For example, if your website speed is very low, then you can't expect great rankings because Google isn't interested in delivering slow websites to its users.

Backlinko analysis shows how sites whose average page load speed is near to 2 rank better. You don't need to have a tech background since there are lots of tools that help you with SEO. Here's how to check how fast your website is Firstly, open Pingdom, enter your site URL and click on START TEST.

Within a couple of seconds, you'll see the results. Here's what you want to see.

Jellymetrics is faster than 89% of Pingdom tested websites. Anyway, these are just SEO basics, so if you want to learn more about SEO I suggest starting from SEO audit.

Content Marketing

The thing about SEO has always been the fact that only 10 results can be on the first SERP and growing competition on the first page is really what makes the difference in a marketing sense. Businesses needed a way to attract visitors to their sites and dealing with constantly growing competition seemed a bit too much for the most. The content marketing came as the answer. Thanks to it, everyone got the chance to drive visitors to their websites. The more content you produce the bigger presence you have on the Internet. Of course, I'm talking about valuable content because without quality, quantity means nothing on the Internet. How important content marketing explains the next photo which says that marketers are now spending $44 billion on content marketing.

However, you need to write really long articles because they tend to rank higher than those 200 - 300 words articles. Specifically, articles with more than 2,000 words rank the best in Google SERP.

The photo above shows how SEO and content marketing are connected. There's no SEO without content marketing and there's no content marketing without SEO.

It's funny that when we say SEO we usually mean on Google, but don't forget that there are many different search engines such as Bing, Yahoo, YouTube etc. Yes, YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, and it's the perfect place to share your content. The only difference is the medium type (you use videos).

Social Media

After emails and search engines, social networks came as the next big thing on the Internet.

Facebook made targeting more precise than ever before. Segmenting customers by different attributes like age, gender, location and personal interest became possible in a few clicks. Twitter made it easy to reach powerful influencers. When you manage to motivate them to share your content, a big traffic boost is almost certain. From a marketing perspective, Facebook and Instagram grow to be great potential for B2C business while Twitter and LinkedIn are better suited for B2B's. Sprout Social has found that Facebook is still the main social network for Americans. In fact, Americans spend 40 minutes each day, and after that, Tumblr and Instagram come.

That means every marketer has to invest enough time in managing social network profiles, but the question is - How much does it cost you? According to SocialMediaToday, 43% businesses spend 6 or more hours per week on social media.

Also, 25% businesses spend 6 - 10 hours per week. PayScale data suggests that a median hourly rate of online community manager is $17.34 which means you have to pay $752 each month if your community manager spends 10 hours per week.

Email Marketing

Unlike social networks, emails have been present from the beginning. Email marketing has always been marketing channel with the best ROI.

That's why all the content creation and page optimization usually have a goal to build an email list. The following photo shows that Americans check their emails very often. Only 1.6% Americans don't check their emails.

As Internet was growing the techniques to get emails had its own development. The same goes for sending emails. From subject lines to the email content everything evolved. For example, when you send emails you need to be aware that most of the recipients will see it over the smartphones, so you need to make sure that your subject line is clear on the smartphone.

Seeing all this, it's easy to conclude that inbound marketing means that you don't force anything in relations with your customers. Instead, you need to present yourself through your work so that your customer can recognize you as someone they want to work with. That's why I think that transition from outbound to inbound marketing is the biggest step in marketing evolution.

The Next Level of Marketing Evolution?

Digital marketing is officially the most important marketing platform in every aspect.

"In 2017, digital will become the single largest media investment channel, passing television for the first time"

Scott Symonds, managing director of media at AKQA

Seeing the fast dynamic evolution, the question is what is the next level? Undoubtedly the answer is Artificial Intelligence - AI and Machine Learning. We already have smart digital assistants like Apple Siri, Google Assistant, Amazon Echo and more. But, the biggest online retailer - Amazon with its AI-driven and voice interactive home assistants is announcing what might be the biggest change in marketing since the beginning of digital marketing. What's more, it fits perfectly in marketing evolution cycles that we talked about earlier. I'd place my bet that AI is coming as the new era in marketing. The majority of marketing executives think the same.

According to Gartner, by 2019, in at least 25 percent of households in developed economies, the digital assistants on smartphones and other devices will serve as the primary interface to connected home services. The market intelligence forecast that enterprise and especially consumer virtual driven assistants - VDA's revenue will grow rapidly.

We can expect Amazon, Google, Apple and some others to continue running the game and provide technology to drive the world of marketing. What does it mean for the rest of us? Well, to adapt, as always.

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Why would you be interested in marketing evolution? If you think it's waste of time, think again. Would it be better to anticipate the changes or to be struck by them? I don't claim that it's possible to predict change in marketing, but I guarantee that if you're aware of the marketing evolution and its cycles you won't be unprepared when the next big thing to come.

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The Evolution of Marketing

There is no question that marketing has gone through a series of rapid changes over the last twenty years. Most of these changes have resulted from rapid changes in information and communication technology. Technology has changed the way we connect and communicate with people. It has changed the speed at which we communicate, increased the channels we use, and brought us closer than ever.

As a full source marketing resource, these changes have profoundly impacted who we are and what we do at Allegra. Our general mission has always been to add value to the local organizations we service. That includes providing the best marketing resources available to Surrey's ever growing business community. In this, our 20 year anniversary, we reflect on all those changes which have brought us closer together today.

How They Find You (Inbound Marketing)

We think that, perhaps the most significant changes relate to how people find your business. Google has become one of the biggest companies in the world catering to this end. 20 years ago, business listings in print directories like YellowPages were essential. Many business owners were skeptical about investing in a website. And SEO was unheard of. Over time, however, Google continually improved the relevancy of their search results, added geolocal sensitive maps, and made the business website the central communication tool for the company. Consumers search first and browse later. Marketing investments also shifted from print directories, newspaper ads, and magazines, to websites, SEO, and search engine advertising. That's not to say that traditional media is not used and unimportant, it's just that the emphasis has changed and there are many more options.

Being easily found has been a consistent marketing goal. What has changed is where people search. Take word of mouth as an example. Word of mouth has always been very important to a business' marketing goals. While traditional person to person communication still occurs, more in some industries than others perhaps, the emphasis now is on social communication. Sharing a video, for example, with all your social connections can result in that video going viral very quickly if all your connections, and their connections, and so on, do the same.

Even in terms of what is considered authoritative opinion has changed. Your friend might really recommend a new pizza shop. But that's just one person's taste. If you check them out on Google Maps, Facebook, or Yelp, you might see dozens of ratings and reviews, giving you a much broader perspective. One person's word is not a good enough recommendation anymore.

That's the same with most of the traditional media. Signs, for example, still function as a method for brand awareness. But even if you're looking for a print shop, you drive by Allegra and see our front signage, you're not necessarily going to stop and come in. You know that you can Google to find the location of all the print shops in South Surrey. Seeing one sign is like that one friend's recommendation. Even if they repeat their opinion emphatically over and over again, what we want is the reassurance from others before we even step through the door.

Speaking of doors, 20 years ago, saying hello was either done by telephone or visiting the business location. Now it is primarily email, social media, or instant messaging. The door was a key performance indicator (KPI) for most of your marketing goals. Getting someone in the door meant that the marketing converted the stranger to a potential client. Again, it's not that a location visit is not a KPI anymore, it's just not the only one, and not even the most significant or valuable. Business relationships are often created far before there is any face to face, pushing the most significant marketing KPIs up the communication stream.

How You Find Them (Outbound Marketing)

I remember when we opened Allegra, primarily as a print shop, in 1997. One of the first employees we hired was a sales person. I remember a map on his wall of the local businesses obtained from the City of Surrey. His primary responsibility was visiting each business, obtaining the print purchaser's contact information, and trying to arrange a meeting. Our marketing responsibility was giving our sales person the resources to sell our printing services. We kept our stock of marketing collateral, our business cards, promotional products, and brochures, stocked just for those purposes.

The marketing model itself hasn't changed a whole lot, but the methods have. The print purchaser is not always at their business location, or they might not be available to meet. The business might not even have a business location. Many local businesses startup from home, and it's not really appropriate to meet there. Face to face meetings are much further downstream in the sales process.

There were communication inefficiencies in the traditional method. If a print purchaser was happy and loyal to their printer, it would be a waste of time to try to convince them otherwise. If the business did very little printing, it would be a similar waste of time to sell them on our services. What sales persons needed was a crystal ball telling them who would be most interested in what they were selling. But of course, most didn't.

Social media, to a degree, solves that problem without needing magic. Social media had been around long before businesses started using it for marketing. The most successful uses of social media were for dating. By targeting communications with just those potential dates who fit the profile of whomever you wanted to date, one wasn't limited to just those they randomly happened to meet. You didn't have to waste time getting to know their basic interests just to discover they weren't compatible. This was especially advantages to those whose preferences were somewhat unique or niche.

For business, it became the same when companies like Facebook began focussing on collecting demographic data to the same degree Google was collecting website data. Today, sources like LinkedIn are the most efficient method for sales persons to find their best potential business dates. And Facebook and Twitter are some of the best sources for targeting advertising to very narrow demographics and interest groups.

Targeted marketing today is much more than retelling your brand story to include a particular demographic. It is much more literal. You can control who, where, and when your marketing message is communicated. And the results are unquestionable. Properly targeted marketing has far higher conversion rates. The reason is obvious. Just like the consumer has better tools for finding the services they need, businesses have better tools for finding the clients they need.

A bonus advantage is that even poor results, along with sufficient data, can teach a business about their true ideal market. Through our mistakes, we can learn our true customer. 20 years ago, targeting depended on intuition, psychological profiling, and very poor data to go with it. It was nearly impossible to determine that not meeting your marketing goals meant that your intuition, profiling and data were wrong. There was little data to suggest that a pivot in your target and brand would have better results. Today, we call those suggestions analytics insights, because they are based on clear marketing opportunities indicated by the wealth of data collected. Those insights save businesses and help them grow.

How We Market

The changes in marketing audiences and behavior as a result of changes in communications technology have resulted in an entire new suite of marketing tools for any size business or organization. Today, data driven analytics is as essential to marketing strategies as it is to investment strategies in other fields like stock trading. The demand for demonstrably results and return on marketing investment is higher than ever, and will only get more demanding as we head into a world of big data and the internet of things. 20 years ago, you might hire a marketing agency to develop a brand, then use that brand across your print and advertising. Now, even brand development is often thoroughly A/B tested with clearly defined KPIs.

The marketing department is much more than just your designated in house or outsourced marketers and sales persons. Especially with inbound marketing, nearly everyone in your business plays a role, often with use of social media. It's normal for staff to contribute to the organization's blog, post on social media, and interact with others who have shared professional interests. Professional development requires continual research, which often involves those sorts of social interactions. And the effectiveness of those posts and interactions are being tracked. The "marketing department" is more of a hub for marketing data analytics, providing the doers and decision makers feedback and insights into what is working and what is not.

I've already discussed how profoundly important the website is for centralizing a brand's marketing efforts. But it can't be stated enough because this is really a profound and significant difference from 20 years ago. Regular investment in one's website is as important, if not more important, than a sales person or even a building rental. The website is how people find you. And there have evolved a suite of tools to help, along with a brand new expertise required for optimizing the website to get traffic. SEO professionals did not exist 20 years ago, just as social media influencers and marketers did not exist.

Website building technology has developed as well. We have everything from the DIY website builders like Wix to CMS technology like WordPress. The web developer is someone who can best utilize the technology to produce the desired results. 20 years ago, every website was hand coded. I remember because that's how I did it. Flash and video formats were an emerging technology. They both took time to find their niche. Then there was the emergence of mobile technology. Website building technology has settled down somewhat, at least for now while we are waiting for the next technological disruptions in information. AI assisted builders might be next, again shifting the expertise upstream to those who can best utilize the AI assistance. A website must be much more than just a fancy interactive online brochure. It really needs to be the central hub for gathering and distributing a brand's marketing and communications information, data, and cross-channel campaigns.

Cross-channel communications is not exactly new, but its ubiquitous use at even the small business level is unprecedented. 20 years ago, a larger company might use television, signs, and print advertising to push a seasonal message to market. A company may still use those traditional channels, in addition to search engine advertising, social media advertising across several sources, instant messaging, email, their website, youtube, and any combination of the numerous communications methods available.

I think that the most difficult transition for marketers and businesses alike has been the sheer explosion of marketing options, and they aren't going to slow down. 20 years ago, a marketing consultant might have suggested what they had studied from general market research or psychology, or learnt from their own professional experience. We now know that that kind of advice is biased and overgeneralized. What works best for each business is as individualized as their particular audience. And there are just way too many available options to say that this or that combo done just this or that way is going to work best for everyone. But that's again where the data and testing comes in. Because we can track, report, and analyze the marketing data, through repeated trial and error we can produce demonstrable evidence about which sources and channels, and even which combinations, are providing the best conversion returns for their costs. The success of a marketing campaign is not an absolute figure like total sales. Marketing success is a relative figure of continual improvement over multiple metrics. Today, the qualified marketing consultant is someone who can help you set up the process by which to test, track, report, and analyze your efforts so you can calculate and compare your returns to make the best possible business and marketing decisions for your business.

In any field which intersects with technology, the amount of time invested in professional development and research must increase at the same rate technology increases. Otherwise, one becomes obsolete in their profession. This is especially true for marketing professionals in any field. A marketing consultant doesn't necessarily need to be an expert in every available option, but the marketing consultant must at least be aware of the available options. This is completely different from 20 years ago where marketing was much more of a mechanical process, once learned, often as a trade through apprenticeship, it was just a matter of improving one's skills at that trade through experience. Going into the future, it's possible that there will be so many options that no job is repeated twice. That means that the skills acquired to do the job will only ever be used once. Every new marketing campaign will require as much research as the last. Those working on the campaign will need to be fast learners, the sort of workers who know how best to learn new approaches and technologies. And the sorts of personalities who accept learning as a constant in the workplace.

What is Marketing?

The changes in marketing audiences and behavior as a result of changes in communications technology have also expanded what previously was considered the traditional marketing department, as well as our fundamental notions of what constitutes marketing. In a sense, the lines between between the message and the medium have become more blurry. As employees, consumers, business owners, and business service procurers, we are all both marketing, being marketed, and being marketed to, at the same time. With every choice we make, we play an essential role in both message and medium, for both inbound and outbound marketing, for messages both to and from us.

This is why every member of an organization needs to be considered as a valuable member of the marketing team. In a social world, everything we do is communicating something, even our responses to the communications we receive. The days of separating public and private communications are drawing to a close. We see these changes in how we view brands today, not just as product icons and logos, but more as integrated lifestyle trends. A business' brand represents their culture throughout all their communications. Marketing doesn't just stylize and promote that brand, it has to adapt to cultural changes as new staff and markets interpret and influence that brand culture.

What counts as marketing is ubiquitous. New marketing options will continue to challenge our definitions. Communications has been fundamental. But how we communicate has not. What we thought of as marketing 20 years ago is, in many cases, considered spam today. There needs to be something genuine in the communications methods, something personal and meaningful. As soon as you package marketing in a box or give it a label, it ceases to be genuine and effective. Whether the aim is to improve your SEO through better website content, connect with new potential leads through social media, or get viral brand awareness through guerilla marketing tactics, relevant and meaningful communications needs to be at the core.

I personally believe that relevant and meaningful communications has always been at the core of ethical marketing. Otherwise, marketing is indistinguishable from propaganda with the nefarious purpose of manufacturing political consent. I'd like to believe that people are getting wiser to such attempts at coercion through media. I'd like to believe that communications and information technology is making us better lie detectors. Exactly what is considered relevant and meaningful changes. And the means of communications exponentially evolves. Even people and their values change. But what fundamentally keeps us together is communication. And communication is impossible when it is ingenuine, irrelevant, and not meaningful.

Allegra genuinely wants to help businesses and nonprofit organizations succeed in their marketing and communications. We have 20 years of experience doing just that. Whether you're a local startup company, small or mid-size business, independent graphic designer, print purchaser, or marketing agency, we've gathered the most comprehensive collection of marketing resources available under one roof in Surrey. Print anything, anywhere. Explore your marketing options. Expand your website and digital marketing presence. Combine traditional direct mailers with email, blog, and social media. Discover Allegra, your single source for marketing resources!
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Questions? Thoughts? Let me know in the comments below!

Is there anything I've left out which you would like me to cover in this or a future post? Do you have any interesting case studies of your own you want to share? Do you completely disagree? Are you a marketing professional? If so, what changes have you seen in the course of your marketing career?
I'd love to know!
Tags: evolution of marketing, marketing, marketing evolution

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After 20 Years of Marketing, What's Changed? | Marketing

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There is no question that marketing has gone through a series of rapid changes over the last twenty years. Most of these changes have resulted from rapid changes in information and communication technology. Technology has changed the way we connect and communicate with people.

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This article from the McKinsey Quarterly archive analyzes six major changes that promised to transform future marketing efforts. These forces have largely proved to be as influential as predicted and continue to shape today's challenges.

Change is the dominant fact of life in every business today. And the ability to master and exploit change has become one of the most sought-after management skills. This is particularly true in marketing, where the very tempo of change is constantly quickening.

Today's chief executive faces a baffling dilemma. Change gets costlier every day; yet not changing can be costlier still. And even while adapting to change, a company's marketing effort must reflect an internal constancy of purpose and an external consistency of image.

Not all changes in marketing, of course, are equally significant. Some are confined to particular industries. Others are broader and more functional in nature. And among these broader trends, there are six whose effects, I believe, will be felt by almost every business.

The dominance of the customer

It is nearly a truism that the needs and wants of the consumer are the critical issues today in creating new products and services, and developing the accompanying plans to merchandise them at a profit. But this trend-the first on my list-is still in process of evolution. The need to understand and anticipate future customers is bound to become even more essential than in the past, because the end users of almost every company's products are shifting in makeup, location, and number at an ever-increasing rate.

The significance of this to senior marketing executives is twofold: First, they cannot-indeed, they must not-assume that yesterday's customers will be available tomorrow. Second, they had better be certain that they have adequate sources of market information. Unless they can keep up with what is happening to their markets, the whole company's selling effort may ultimately be directed at the wrong people with the wrong products and at the wrong time. This is what a marketing vice president I know meant when he said, "My company's sales output can't be any better than my intelligence input."

Consider a few of the changes in the nature of consumers and markets:

Sociologists and marketers agree that people are becoming more interested in use than in ownership. One can rent or lease everything from garden tools to machine tools to cars. Annual rental income, not including car and truck rentals, is close to the $750 million mark. The value of equipment being leased, currently about $1 billion, may well double in five years. This trend could affect the channels of selling, pricing arrangements, sales appeals, or even the characteristics of the product line (such as the increasing sale of disposable items).

There has been disproportionate growth in the market for personal services, including recreation, education, and travel. Depending on whose statistics you choose to believe, consumer services now account for 40 percent to 50 percent of all consumer purchases.

A whole series of demographic changes hold significance for the producer of consumer goods-in particular, the explosive growth of the teenage and young-adult market, the migration of blue-collar workers to the suburbs, the increase in per capita income, and the ever-growing mobility of our population. To the consumer-goods manufacturer, the wholesaler, and the retailer, this means there is no such thing as stability of customers.

People's tastes are becoming more varied, flexible, and demanding. As just one example, consider the demand for wood products. The traditional lumber manufacturer now produces and sells a multitude of products that were virtually unknown 20 years ago-and all because product research teamed up with marketing to develop products that people wanted and were willing to buy.

Another important result of this growing consumer dominance is that today nearly all sales potentials are segmented. Typically, a total market now comprises a series of submarkets, each with its own characteristics and each demanding a different sales approach. For most companies, it is a gross error to develop a marketing program aimed at the "average customer." Today such a consumer, or such a company, hardly exists. In short, the company that is not alert to the customers' needs and the changing complexities of marketplaces is inviting disaster.

The spread of marketing research

The second trend is the increased use of marketing research-in terms of both quantity and scope. To an important degree, of course, this trend is a response to the first. If knowledge about future customers is essential, and if the quality of the marketing output is materially affected by the caliber of the informational input, then marketing research is bound to increase in use and contribution as the interest in more scientific marketing grows.

The dimensions of this trend are suggested by the membership growth of the American Marketing Association (AMA) from 2,800 in 1950 to an estimated 13,000 by mid-1966. Most of the increase represents marketing research, not individuals from the academic fields. As long as seven years ago, according to a national study by the AMA, nine out of ten companies with sales of $25 million or more had at least one marketing researcher on their staffs.

Today, the bulk of company marketing research is devoted to such activities as development of market potentials (for both existing and new products), analysis of customer buying habits and requirements, measurement of advertising effectiveness, share-of-market studies, determination of market characteristics, sales analysis, establishment of sales quotas, and development of sales territories. Beyond this value in reporting on historical and current conditions, however, I see a trend toward increased use of marketing research as a creative tool to help solve future management problems.

For example, it can be used to help management determine the most effective channels of distribution for a particular product line. By coupling distribution-cost analysis with accurate research on shifts in consumer attitudes, a marketer may uncover the need for a major shift in distribution policy. Such a sophisticated response to changed customer attitudes can be seen in the fact that Chanel No. 5, fine oil paintings, and expensive mink coats now can be purchased at Sears Roebuck, which also is the single largest retailer of diamonds in the United States.

Again, consider the function of marketing research in the evaluation of a major acquisition. Recently, a maker of industrial-machinery components became interested in acquiring a somewhat smaller company in a different but related business. On paper, and particularly from a financial viewpoint, the proposed acquisition looked desirable. But a careful research effort in the field revealed that two competitors of the company under review had considerably better reputations for customer service and, more important, much superior research-and-development capabilities. Thus a potentially disastrous purchase was avoided.

Salespeople's compensation is another area where a creative marketing-research group can make helpful contributions. Today, many companies are trying to orient salespeople's efforts toward profitable sales rather than volume alone. But before a compensation plan can be geared to this objective, careful thought must be given to identifying and measuring the profitability of customers, the profit relationships among the various products, the costs of carrying out the various selling activities, and the feasibility of any new sales-control system that may be required. Marketing research can help to provide revealing analyses and reliable recommendations on each of these factors. Other management problems calling for inputs from marketing research include pricing decisions, test marketing of new and/or revised products, and estimates of future personnel requirements.

Obviously, the broadening scope of marketing research should materially increase the efficiency of the total marketing function. In some companies today, it is worth noting, the head of marketing research is a member of a product-planning committee, a marketing-strategy committee, or even a company-wide long-range planning committee-clear evidence of top management's growing realization that marketing-research people can make a vital contribution to planning decisions and marketing strategies.

The rise of the computer

The third major trend marketing must consider is the emergence of electronic data-processing equipment as a major tool of scientific marketing not only for reporting data but also, more importantly, for planning and control by management.

Generally speaking, I think it must be conceded that companies have dragged their feet in taking advantage of electronic data-processing analyses, online communications, and information-retrieval systems as tools to help make marketing more efficient. But the computerization of many areas of marketing is only a matter of time. Consider a few current applications of these techniques:

A major insurance company analyzes sales performance daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly, comparing current figures with last year's performance and this year's goals. The input information is fed into 15 satellite computers at 15 regional headquarters. After processing the sales data (a complex task in the insurance industry, since so many pertinent details are routinely involved for every policy sold) these machines feed back the essential sales information to two master computers at headquarters. There the data are summarized and printouts are made on Friday night. By Monday morning, the reports are on the manager's desk.

A West Coast apparel manufacturer now adjusts the initial merchandising forecasts in light of salespeople's bookings, then develops the cutting orders for three plants day by day in relation to inventories on hand. Salespeople and management are kept abreast of trends daily during the key selling periods and weekly thereafter. Major merchandising decisions are made on the basis of current information that was not available before the installation of electronic data processing.

One of the largest industrial distributors in the West has set up an online electronic data-processing system that enables its key customers to place purchase orders for major products by using prepunched cards that bear the price and quantity information. These purchase orders are automatically transmitted to the distribution center for processing, billing, and shipping-freeing the salespeople from much routine order taking and permitting them to spend more time on individual customer problems.

There are, of course, many other possible applications of electronic equipment as an aid to the marketing function. And in the years to come, the use of electronic equipment by marketing management will certainly increase.

Expanded use of test marketing

A fourth important trend, in my opinion, will be toward more controlled experimentation to narrow the odds of an error in making marketing changes.

Two major influences emphasize the need for further expansion of test marketing. The first is the rising cost of marketing changes: the costs, for example, of introducing new products and packaging, of developing new advertising and promotional programs, and of retraining salespeople.

The second influence is the mounting investment in product research and development. About half of all corporate research-and-development activity in the United States today is concerned with the creation of new commercial products. The resulting outpouring of new products may measurably shorten the product life cycle and reduce the payout time correspondingly. This is one reason so many innovations in consumer goods are test-marketed before being placed in national distribution, even though the product may have been checked out in the laboratory and its sales potential assessed through marketing research.

What kind of projects should be considered for test marketing? Here are a few examples:

Evaluating new products and new product features or services in relation to market potentials. This kind of application, accepted in the food industry for many years, has only recently been used to determine whether customers would support further processing and fabrication of sheet and plate products by industrial distributors.

Assessing the advantages and disadvantages of new packaging. New frozen-food containers for berry products went through regional market tests on the West Coast before national introduction.

Evaluating the effects of a new sales-incentive plan. A shift from individual incentives to a group plan was tested by a pharmaceutical manufacturer in San Diego, St. Louis, and Atlanta before being installed nationwide.

Determining the advantages, if any, of new delivery and service practices. A machinery manufacturer used test marketing to determine whether to expand its customer-service program. When the results indicated that customers would not pay the added cost when faced with the reality of signing up for the added service, the proposal was dropped.

Evaluating the effectiveness of alternative advertising media and approaches. Here again, an established technique in many consumer-goods industries is being more widely applied in testing alternative media and promotional approaches for the marketing of industrial products.

Some marketing projects can be tested quickly and relatively inexpensively through computer simulation. For example, a leading US pharmaceutical company has used simulation to determine the sales and profit impact of servicing small orders and/or small customers by using jobbers and/or parcel post and/or not selling them at all-and all this under a variety of assumed reactions by competitors.

With or without computers, however, I believe that increased use of test marketing under controlled conditions will be an important future trend in marketing.

Metamorphosis of field selling

The fifth trend I foresee is a shift in the nature of the field-selling job toward a more integrated, profit-oriented marketing effort.

A typical salesperson today represents a major investment of company funds. A 1964 survey by the Sales Executives Club of New York placed average training costs at $8,731 per person, excluding pay. Keeping a typical salesperson on the road may easily average $15,000 to $17,000 of direct costs per year, including compensation. To achieve a satisfactory return on this investment, the salesperson must sell profitably-not just bring in volume. The job is becoming less and less the presentation of the company's product line, more and more the marketing of integrated systems.

Consider some of the ways an apparel salesperson now works with retailers:

selecting the products for the coming selling season and establishing inventory standards

maintaining stocks at proper levels and reordering as necessary (frequently utilizing electronic data processing)

helping to train retail clerks

establishing advertising schedules and assuring proper in-store tie-ins

executing in-store promotions

counseling on style trends and helping to move or shift slow-moving merchandise

In other words, such a salesperson is carrying out a field-marketing effort that involves products, market analysis, advertising, promotion, and inventory control.

In another case, a sales representative for chemical fertilizers helps distributors sell to their customers, the dealers, through financing services and marketing-research assistance. The sales rep may even have to set up merchandising programs to help select and train salespeople for the distributors. Thus, the emphasis is on helping customers increase their profits so that the company, in turn, can prosper.

Another important continuing trend in the field-sales job is the ever-increasing impact of key-account, or selective, selling. In most industries, a limited number of customers have a growing profit importance. In grocery retailing, for example, there are 20 percent fewer outlets today than in 1958. In industrial manufacturing, 10 to 20 percent of the customers may account for as much as 80 percent of sales, and an even bigger share of profits.

Thus, key-account selling is becoming an increasingly crucial feature of the field-sales job-a trend with important implications. In many companies, a key-account selling program may entail special analysis of present and potential customers, and the establishment of related control reports to measure profit results with particular accounts. It may include assigning these accounts to senior salespeople and developing special selling programs and promotional materials for these key customers. And it may call for special attention from the home office, such as periodic field calls and review by key executives or even establishment of an executive responsible solely for the key-account selling program.

In the net, there is little doubt that tomorrow's salespeople will be different from yesterday's breed. They are going to be more highly trained and better paid; they are going to be planning oriented, service oriented, and technically skilled-in short, sophisticated marketers.

Global market planning

An ever-broadening application of the marketing concept to worldwide markets is the last of the six broad trends that I believe will change the face of marketing in the next few years. Over the past decade, the marketing concept has become widely accepted in the United States-perhaps, in some situations, too enthusiastically accepted and too indiscriminately applied. Nevertheless, I believe the concept of a completely integrated marketing effort is valid and will be increasingly adopted. In many companies operating worldwide, it will stimulate the development of global market planning.

Expenditures by US companies on plant and equipment abroad, which were $5.1 billion in 1963, $6 billion in 1964, and $7.5 billion in 1965, may well exceed $9 billion in 1966. For manufacturing operations alone (excluding petroleum refining), expenditures abroad rose by 30.5 percent last year, while domestic plant and equipment expenditures advanced 15.7 percent. And mergers, licensing agreements, joint ventures, and the establishment of wholly owned foreign subsidiaries by US companies overseas are continually on the rise.

For the smaller company, this trend may emphasize the need to establish or strengthen export relationships so that it too may market on a worldwide basis. For many larger companies, it points to a day when the United States may be merely a domestic division within the worldwide corporation.

This means that top management must think through how best to coordinate a multinational selling effort to assure adequate corporate control over a worldwide marketing plan-yet without unduly restricting initiative and responsibility within each national segment. An important part of this problem is determining how to provide most efficiently the marketing services needed-services that in many companies today are directed, if not executed outright, by a central corporate staff.

But this matter of becoming a worldwide company is only one of the major pressures in the changing complexities of business today. To keep pace with these changes, and to play the strong role in the future that I believe to be the key challenge to marketing executives, the face of the marketing function will have to change accordingly.

About the author(s)

John D. Louth was a principal in McKinsey's San Francisco office and specialized in problems of organization, marketing, and sales management. This article, which was based on a presentation he made to a West Coast marketing-executives group in 1964, appeared in the autumn 1966 issue of McKinsey Quarterly. It was adapted for the Quarterly with permission from Dun's Review, which had published an earlier version in April 1966.

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This article from the McKinsey Quarterly archive analyzes six major changes that promised to transform future marketing efforts. These forces have largely proved to be as influential as predicted and continue to shape today's challenges. Change is the dominant fact of life in every business today.

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Over the past three decades, marketing has had to keep up and contend with leaps in technology and our relation to it ever since. While the Sales Era witnessed the invention of the telephone, swiftly followed by the rise of television and the Marketing Department Era. The industry evolution of the Marketing Company Era saw arguably the biggest change in the history of marketing: the first commercially available personal computers.

But what do these developments mean for the future of marketing? Our new Digital Skills report found that many marketing professionals are unsure of their future and believe that digital marketing will be critical to their organization over the next two years. Despite this when marketers were asked about their roles in 30 years' time, 68% in the USA and 61% in the UK believe that their current digital role will definitely or probably still exist in its current form.

Without a crystal ball, it's impossible to see what the future holds, but to look forward, we need to look back. Here, we look at the three major technological developments that have changed the way we look at marketing: the internet, big data and smartphones and predict how they can set the scene for the future.

The advent of the internet

The mass adoption of the internet into everyday life is the single biggest event that has affected marketing over the last three decades. Although early desktop publishing software in the first PCs caused a surge in print marketing in the 1980s, the computers were little more than a glorified typewriter. Launched by Tim Berners-Lee and his team in 1991, the World Wide Web project didn't really take off until the first successful mass-market browser, Netscape, was released in 1994. In the following two years, the number of people using the web soared from 16 million to 70.

As users increased, the landscape evolved, from email to search engines like Yahoo! (1994) and Google (1997) and e-commerce sites like Amazon (1994) and eBay (1995). For marketing, this was a goldmine. Email became a new outbound marketing tool, joining the traditional arsenal of TV, radio and print advertisements and telephone sales. While search engines cataloged the new websites that were being created and allowed users to find the information, products and services they desired from the comfort of their own home.

Marketers used early SEO techniques like keyword stuffing, excessive tagging and backlinks to generate high rankings. One successful company at the time, renowned for its aggressive marketing tactics was Razorfish. Now one of the biggest interactive media agencies, Razorfish was a key player in early SEO, as well as a pioneer of the "server push" possibilities of the Netscape browser.

Big data

All this online activity was - and still is - stored as digital information. A 2000 study found that digital information was the most rapidly growing type of unique information produced, with most text-based information "born digital." This information is also known as big data.

Why? Because there's so much of it! In 2000 it was already replacing its physical counterparts: paper, film and optical (DVD and CD). New discoveries in data recording and storage technology made big data a new and irreplaceable resource for marketing departments.

After the early hype of the internet, the dot-com bubble burst in 2001 and marketing tactics shifted. A greater emphasis was then placed on inbound marketing through information sharing, user- centered design and collaboration. The introduction of social media sites LinkedIn (2002), Myspace (2003), Facebook (2004) and Twitter (2007) made this all the more possible as internet users started sharing more and more personal data online.

Big data has made it possible to track patterns and trends of human behavior, and its role in marketing is only set to increase. Data-driven marketing has gathered enough momentum that a number of companies have emerged that specialize in harnessing this technology, such as Domo, Oracle and Optimove.

For example, Optimove specializes in digital precision marketing using the power of predictive analytics. Its marketing cloud uses big data to acquire the emotional intelligence necessary to connect with customers more effectively and at all times. This has allowed marketers to come up with better strategies that strengthen customer relationships.

Smartphones

Where would we be without smartphones and tablets? These new devices have exploded in the last decade and marketing departments are still catching up. Today, smartphones have overtaken personal computers as the primary digital device for going online with the daily time U.S. adults spend with mobile media on the increase from 46 minutes in 2011 to 258 minutes in 2017.

To evolve into the smart devices that they are today, the early cellphones of the 1970s and 1980s were mainly meant for use in cars while attempts at hand-held computers throughout the late 1990s and early 2000s never really made it. The first true modern smartphone was produced by BlackBerry in 2003 and supported email, text messaging, phone calls and web browsing, but were mainly used by business professionals. It was not until 2007 that smartphones entered the mass market following the ground-breaking release of the iPhone. Look to today and smartphone ownership in the UK alone was 76%, with rapid increases in the proportion of 4G users and a quarter of smartphone owners making no traditional voice calls.

The world has moved online and into our pockets. So, where do we go from here? A future of transparency, personalization and agile marketing.

Transparency

Information is everywhere. According to Unilever's Senior Vice-President of Marketing, Marc Mathieu, marketing used to be about creating a myth and selling it and is now about finding a truth and sharing it.

Customers are now smarter and able to research products in seconds, easily comparing competitors and reviews and unearthing any myths along the way. For sales professionals, this shift is proving a challenge as 70% of the buyer's journey is complete before a buyer even reaches out to sales. SEO improvements have made keyword stuffing and spammy backlinks a thing of the past, paving the way for real value and good content to become the new marketing style.

The need for transparency is obvious when you look into customer perception of brands. Across social media, 19% of consumers find it easy to tell the difference between marketing communications, advertising and branded content and non-commercial content on social media, while 30% have little or no trust in the content they see on Facebook.

In an era where customers are in the driving seat, marketers need to engage consumers in an ongoing conversation, creating real relationships and brand loyalty.

"When consumers get used to transparency, they're also more interested in the quality of what you sell, and are more likely to willingly pay extra. And once people start moving in that direction, the cost of being an unethical provider gets so high that you either change your ways or fade away." - Seth Godin

Personalization

Sharing is everything. It is a huge part of the new internet landscape and the upcoming generation of digital natives is changing the way information is viewed and shared. As the first truly mobile-first generation, Gen Zers as they are known, place a big emphasis on personalization and relevance. Their habits have also evolved compared to Millenials who currently interact with three screens on average, compared to Gen Zers who use five: a smartphone, TV, laptop, desktop, and iPod/iPad.

Personalization can be achieved through using big data or user-generated content. While big data can be used to create a unique experience for individuals, user-generated content empowers customers. This form of content marketing gives marketers an infinite supply of creative input while creating a bond between brand and consumer. Millennials are especially influenced by user generated content campaigns with 84% reporting that user generated content on company websites has at least some influence on what they buy.

A successful example of a user generated campaign is GoPro's Photo of the Day social media campaign, where GoPro features a customer's photo on their social media sites every day to prove to a wider audience the merits of the camera. The public can then vote for their favorite on the GoPro Award page, incentivising people to send in their photos and driving engagement.

Agile marketing

Agile marketing is a measure of how efficient an organization is at achieving its marketing goals. A marketing team that is agile provides a lot of strategy and theoretical results to their stakeholders with a view to executing it quickly. ROI is also a key factor, with agile marketers realizing that new business is more important than new material. In essence, it's about the speed in which new products can be developed or finessed to capitalize on an opportunity and drive a business forward.

One of the reasons for agile marketing being on the rise is social media, where brands have spent the last few years figuring out how to communicate on platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. These channels have provided insight into what can work and the type of content that resonates. In addition, many established brands have a personality on social media in terms of tone and voice along with fostering that all-important transparency for consumers. The speed of social media has also shown organizations that a quick response - if done correctly - can be very effective across a range of mediums.

An example of this type of marketing is at the Superbowl when the lights went out. Using this as an opportunity, a few brands took to Twitter to promote their products on the back of the SuperBowl's temporary misfortune. Enter Oreo and Tide.

This type of marketing is on the up and with consumers having an expectation of immediacy, it could go a long way to cultivating conversations and creating a user-brand relationship. Marketers can run real-time dialogues with their customers and are able to listen and connect in ways that feel relevant to their audience.

While the internet has changed everything, it is worth remembering that the old forms of marketing still carry weight. Despite the growth in digital advertising, TV still takes a third of ad spend in the US and continues to grow, albeit at a slower rate. Embracing digital trends does not mean discarding traditional marketing methods. Keep up with the trends while integrating the old for solid marketing success.

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The Evolution of Digital Marketing: 30 Years in the Past & Future | Digital Marketing Institute

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The Evolution of Digital Marketing: 30 Years in the Past & Future page on the Digital Marketing Institute Blog, all about keeping you ahead in the digital marketing game.

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Photo Credits: http://www.tridentdesign.co.uk/targeted-marketing-vs-mass-marketing
"Marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department." - David Packard
There is a hit TV series on AMC called Mad Men that focuses in the advertising world. The title is a term coined by a group of men in advertising/marketing several decades in New York City who did not want to call themselves 'Ad Men' for fear it would be misconstrued or misheard. Thousands called the term genius.

Decades ago, people began to realize the value of marketing, and in the past 20 years, various industries have changed the way they market to current and potential clients. Continue reading to see how the marketing industry has dramatically changed.

Marketing 101

If you are not yet on the level of 'marketing expert', here is a YouTube video by Steven Van Hook, Ph.D., that can help you understand the basic terms and concepts in the power of marketing.

People are actually more familiar with the term advertising, which they think is interchangeable with marketing. But, there is a difference.

Marketing vs. Advertising: What's the Difference?
You will often find that many people confuse marketing with advertising or vice versa. While both components are important, they are very different. Knowing the difference and doing your market research can put your company on the path to substantial growth. Let's start off by reviewing the formal definitions of each and then we'll go into the explanation of how marketing and advertising differ from one another: Advertising: The paid, public, non-personal announcement of a persuasive message by an identified sponsor; the non-personal presentation or promotion by a firm of its products to its existing and potential customers. Marketing: The systematic planning, implementation and control of a mix of business activities intended to bring together buyers and sellers for the mutually advantageous exchange or transfer of products.
So basically, marketing is like a general-main topic while advertising is the specific subtopic.

The Impact of Marketing

Howard Schultz, the Chief Executive Officer and chairman of worldwide-popular Starbucks said that "Starbucks is not an advertiser; people think we are a great marketing company, but in fact we spend very little money on marketing and more money on training our people than advertising." If you think about it, spending more to train your employees is effectively still promoting your company, and in turn a marketing strategy.

The Importance of Marketing for the Success of a Business
The heart of your business success lies in its marketing. Most aspects of your business depend on successful a successful marketing campaign. The overall marketing umbrella covers advertising, public relations, promotions and sales. Marketing is a process by which a product or service is introduced and promoted to potential customers. Without marketing, your business may offer the best products or services in your industry, but none of your potential customers would know about it. Without marketing, sales may crash and companies may have to close. For a business to succeed, the product or service it provides must be known to potential buyers. Unless your business is known in the community and have communication with your customers readily available, you have to use marketing strategies to create product or service awareness. Without marketing, your potential customers may never be aware of your business offerings and your business may not be given the opportunity to progress and succeed. Using marketing to promote your product, service and company provides your business with a chance of being discovered by prospective customers. Once your product, service or company gets on the radar of your prospects, it increases your chances that consumers will make a purchase. As awareness becomes a reality, it is also the point where new customers start to spread the word, referring friends and family about this amazing new product they discovered. Your sales will steadily increase as the word spreads. Without employing marketing strategies, these sales may not have ever happened. Without sales, a company cannot succeed.
Sales are the chief goal of businesses. This is a fact. Otherwise why go in business at all? And one of the keys to higher sales is marketing. People have been using this key for the past decades and in the past 20 years, it has changed industries, it has changed the world.

It Began in 1995

Marketing changed the Computer Industry

1995 - It's only a retooled operating system, but Microsoft Corp. turned the introduction of Windows 95 into a global event. The company backed the product with a TV ad blitz (from Wieden & Kennedy) rocking with the Rolling Stones' "Start Me Up."

Microsoft staffers around the world hyped the product with publicity stunts - bathing the Empire State Building in Windows 95 colors, painting the logo on fields in the U.K., floating a four-story-high Windows 95 box in Sydney's harbor.
The world was primed when Windows 95 appeared, with media covering the debut at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 24, 1995, in stores around the globe. "This is a historical moment," Microsoft executive Brad Chase told Ad Age minutes before a store opened at midnight near Microsoft's suburban Seattle headquarters. "I don't want to be too melodramatic, because it is only software. But it is pretty amazing."
Marketing Too Effective in the Tobacco Industry

1998 - The nation's top four cigarette marketers and 46 of the 50 United States signed the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement, settling lawsuits states had brought against the industry to recover tobacco-related health-care expenses.

The four companies - Philip Morris, R.J. Reynolds, Brown & Williamson, Lorillard - agreed to pay an estimated $206 billion and to put limits on marketing. (Reynolds and B&W have since merged into Reynolds American.) As part of the settlement, participating tobacco makers agreed to many ad curbs.

Marketing Killed the "Walk-Man" Industry

2003 - Apple was named marketer of the year by Ad Age based largely on the success of its iconic iPod. Apple introduced iPod just weeks after 9/11 while the nation was still slumped in its 2001 recession.

And it was Steve Jobs' marketing genius that made it happen. Here is a transcript of Job's marketing strategy:
"To me, marketing is about values. This is a very complicated world. It's a very noisy world. And we're not going to get a chance to get people to remember much about us. No company is! And so, we have to be really clear on what we want them to know about us. Apple has been one of half-a-dozen best brands in the world; right up there with Nike, Disney, Coke, Sony. But even a great brand needs investment and caring if it's going to retain its relevance and vitality. The way to do that is NOT to talk about speeds and fees. It's NOT to talk about bits and mega-hertz. It's NOT to talk about why we are better than Windows. The dairy industry tried for 20 years to convince you that milk was good for you. It's a lie, but they tried anyway. Sales had been slumping for years. Do you remember the "Got milk" campaign? Sales rose after the campaign launched. "Got milk" wasn't even talking about the product. In fact, it focuses on the absence of the product. But the best example of all, and one of the greatest jobs of marketing that the universe has ever seen, is Nike. Remember, Nike sells a commodity. They sell shoes!!! And yet, when you think of Nike you feel something different than a shoe company. In their ads, as you know, they don't ever talk about the product. They don't ever tell you about their air soles and why they are better than Reebok's air soles. What does Nike do in their advertising? They honor great athletes. And they honor great athletics. That's who they are, that's what they are about! Apple spends a fortune on advertising - you'd never know it. You'd never know it! So...when I got here, Apple just fired their agency and there was a competition with 23 agencies that...you know...four years from now we would pick one. And we blew that up and we hired ChiatDay, the ad agency that I was fortunate enough to work with years ago and created some award winning work including the commercial voted the best ad ever made, 1984 (by Advertising Professionals)."
For the video and for the complete transcript, go to YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kshIWIc15yg

When Google started Marketing

2004 - Google (founded in 1998) held its initial public offering. They wanted to be the premier search engine ahead of Yahoo!, Bing, and a dozen others you've never heard of. Today, if Google changes an algorithm in their code or offers updates on their products, the world takes note. (Also in 2004: Harvard undergrad Mark Zuckerberg started Facebook as a place for his fellow students to connect.)

Google market cap today - $177 billion - is more than the combined value of Disney, News Corp., Time Warner and Yahoo. Facebook is still private.

2004 is also the year that marks the start of a revolution for Marketing. 2004 has changed Marketing forever, for it is the year when social media (specifically Facebook) was born.

Social Media Marketing Phenomenon

A Guide to the New Power of Facebook advertising

There have been some great posts on the Econsultancy blog discussing the changing state of Facebook and the reach of organic and promoted content, as well as the options available to advertisers.

Edwyn Raine recently wrote 'the combination of a variety of advert formats and a highly affordable media network make it gold dust to reach new customers.' Essentially it's a good way to educate potential customers as to your offering.

Pricing is a particular bonus of Facebook advertising as Facebook's model is to promote good content that customers are interested in. That means, the better your ads perform, the higher click-through rate, and the lower the CPC.

Add to this increasing costs in AdWords and Facebook is tempting lots of people in to play. First quarter results saw Facebook's profits at $642m. As you can see from the chart below, ads are on Facebook.

Starting in 2004 onward, the presence of marketing keeps changing the internet industry each year. But it was around 2011 that marketers started to realize the power of social media. At that time, 1 in 2 Americans owned a smartphone. It was also around that year that internet usage of teenagers surpassed the time they spent in watching television.

As you can see, marketing online has been very effective. To get 46% of your channel users to be your customer is not bad. Social media has rapidly integrated itself into our everyday lives, both personal and professional, and it's perhaps had no greater impact than on the world of marketing, with consumers and brands seeing enormous benefits and changes.

But how does social media compare to traditional marketing? What are the pros and cons of each?

The advantages of social media marketing are numerous...

-It's cheaper. A lot cheaper. You can reach 1,000 people for a fraction of the cost using social media than you can through television, billboards or even email
-Social media is the only marketing platform that allows you to engage and interact with your consumers - it's a two-way relationship, which can be hugely lucrative for brands

The results are measurable, and marketers can take immediate action to spot trends and re-align campaigns

It's not all gravy, though. Social media campaigns can be time consuming and the impact can disseminate very quickly, whereas traditional marketing campaigns, certainly in television, can produce short term results that have greater tangibility.

We mentioned earlier that in 2011, the number of people who prefer the internet than watching television increased.

When Marketing Became Part of History

In October 2012, Felix Baumgartner took a leap back to Earth from 24 miles off the surface as part of a Red Bull promotion.

In one fell swoop, Baumgartner became the first person to break the sound barrier without any vehicular help - and Red Bull took over the internet, with a full eight million people watching live and blowing up the social networks.

The stunt marked a new era in advertising history: the commercial didn't interrupt the event, it was the event.

As Marketing continues to change industries,
marketing itself will continue to EVOLVE.

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The Power of Marketing in the Past 20 Years

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Photo Credits: http://www.tridentdesign.co.uk/targeted-marketing-vs-mass-marketing "Marketing is too important to be left to the marketing department." - David Packard There is a hit TV series on AMC called Mad Men that focuses in the advertising world.

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How Marketing Has Changed In the Past 20 Years | Brandignity

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Here are five ways that marketing has changed over the past 20 years.

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