Strategic Marketing Decisions Research Articles

A review of strategic decision-making in marketing through big data and analytics

This review paper delves into the transformative impact of big data and analytics on strategic marketing decision-making. Examining the integration of vast datasets and analytical tools in marketing strategies highlights how these technological advancements enable a deeper understanding of customer behavior, enhance product development, and provide a competitive edge. The review underscores the importance of data-driven insights in formulating personalized marketing strategies and the critical role of analytics in predictive and prescriptive decision-making. It addresses the challenges and ethical considerations associated with big data usage, emphasizing the need for robust data governance and ethical practices. The paper suggests future research directions, focusing on emerging technologies and methodologies that could further influence strategic marketing decisions.

A review of strategic decision-making in marketing through big data and analytics

This review paper delves into the transformative impact of big data and analytics on strategic marketing decision-making. Examining the integration of vast datasets and analytical tools in marketing strategies highlights how these technological advancements enable a deeper understanding of customer behavior, enhance product development, and provide a competitive edge. The review underscores the importance of data-driven insights in formulating personalized marketing strategies and the critical role of analytics in predictive and prescriptive decision-making. It addresses the challenges and ethical considerations associated with big data usage, emphasizing the need for robust data governance and ethical practices. The paper suggests future research directions, focusing on emerging technologies and methodologies that could further influence strategic marketing decisions. Keywords: Big Data, Analytics, Strategic Marketing, Data-Driven Decision-Making, Ethical Considerations, Emerging Technologies.

Maledia Broadcasting: Getting Ready to Go on Air

This case focuses on the positioning strategy development for a new regional television channel of Maledia Broadcasting Network (MBN), a venture of the Kerala-based media group from India, Model Publication Trust. It also introduces the concept of perceptual maps for brand positioning and addresses brand extension. In 2011, MBN prepared to launch a Malayalam news channel. Samjad, Deputy CEO of the new company, faced the challenge of determining the channel’s positioning strategy. This task involved not only differentiation but also redefining competition in India’s dynamic and competitive broadcasting industry. The decision would impact marketing aspects such as the brand name and channel identity. This case offers opportunities to explore qualitative aspects of audience behaviour beyond competitive data, helping marketing students gain insights and analyse the competitive landscape in the industry to make strategic marketing decisions.

СТРАТЕГІЧНИЙ АНАЛІЗ МАРКЕТИНГОВОГО СЕРЕДОВИЩА ПРОМИСЛОВОГО ПІДПРИЄМСТВА

The article examines the role of strategic analysis of the marketing environment of an industrial enterprise using the example of a leading agricultural machinery company in Ukraine. It has been proven that in the process of justifying strategic marketing decisions, the importance of conducting a qualitative analysis of the marketing environment of an industrial enterprise and evaluating their condition in target markets increases. The article deals with strategic planning methods such as SWOT- and PEST-analysis intended for the analysis of external and internal environment. In conditions of a highly competitive market, the marketing environment of an industrial enterprise is both the object of research and one of the most important aspects of its activities. Each enterprise must monitor constant changes in the environment and adapt to them. The analysis of external and internal factors affecting the enterprise showed that the enterprise is in a difficult economic situation. As a result of the analysis, the following opportunities for the enterprise were identified: entering new sales markets, implementing state support programs for agricultural producers, establishing its own representations in various regions of Ukraine, and developing IT technologies in sales. The threats identified include further escalation of hostilities in Ukraine, strong competitors in European countries, and rising gas and energy prices. The results of such analysis form the basis for making important management decisions regarding the identification of priority areas for the development of an industrial enterprise, the development of its effective marketing strategy, the establishment of an optimal pricing strategy, the determination of target audience and channels for promoting products or services, as well as identifying opportunities for innovation and improving the effectiveness of marketing efforts. Thus, in the process of substantiating strategic marketing decisions, the importance of conducting quality marketing analysis and assessing their condition in target markets increases. By considering the capabilities of an industrial enterprise, its strengths and weaknesses, conducting an analysis of threats emanating from the external environment, it is possible to determine the optimal development strategy for the enterprise. In our opinion, the most effective strategy for the enterprise will be a combined strategy aimed at maintaining competitive advantages and envisaged deeper penetration into new markets.

Revolutionizing The Automotive Industry: Tesla's Innovative Marketing Strategies in The Face of Changes

In the current era that prioritizes low carbon emissions, Tesla has emerged as a dominant player in the electric vehicle market, defying challenges and odds through its unwavering commitment to sustainability. This study delves into the intricate web of marketing strategies deployed by Tesla, a pioneering force in the rapidly expanding electric vehicle sector. Against the backdrop of varying circumstances, including shifts in national policies, market dynamics, supply and demand, and technical advancements, Tesla has adeptly navigated its course. The focal points of these strategies encompass pricing adjustments, strategic advertising campaigns, continuous technological innovation, and strategic partnerships recalibrations. Tesla's discerning choices in these diverse scenarios have been instrumental in sustaining and augmenting its market performance. By adroitly adapting its approach, the company has managed to maintain a formidable competitive edge. This paper intricately examines the ramifications of Tesla's multifaceted marketing strategies on its performance, elucidating how these decisions have influenced its growth trajectory. The study also ventures to forecast Tesla's future growth trajectory. Given the company's successful track record in maneuvering within the dynamic electric vehicle landscape, informed insights are gleaned into the avenues that may drive Tesla's continued expansion and influence. By fusing comprehensive analyses of the strategies undertaken, this research aims to offer valuable insights into the symbiotic relationship between strategic marketing decisions and Tesla's remarkable success in the current market.

CEO overconfidence, customer satisfaction, and firm value: An investigation of mediating and moderating effects

Drawing from the upper echelons theory and the balanced scorecard theory, this study investigates potential associations between CEO overconfidence, customer satisfaction, and firm value. Using a dataset of US public firms spanning from 1994 to 2019, we first examine the relationship between CEO overconfidence and customer satisfaction, focusing on the mediating role of R&D and advertising expenditures, and the moderating role of CEO equity-based compensation. We find that CEO overconfidence positively influences customer satisfaction, and this positive impact is partially mediated by R&D and advertising. In addition, moderated path analysis indicates that CEO equity-based compensation increases the indirect effect of CEO overconfidence on customer satisfaction. We next examine and document that CEO overconfidence moderates the positive impact of customer satisfaction on firm value. Our results contribute to the extant literature by highlighting that CEO overconfidence not only positively affects shareholder value, but also links to the consequences of strategic marketing decisions, such as customer satisfaction. Our study provides implications for boards of directors, who may need to align CEO and firm marketing spending decisions. It also raises shareholders’ awareness of the presence and impact of CEO overconfidence.

The impact of corporate sustainability performance on advertising efficiency

Over the years several studies have reported a significant waste of advertising budget, a finding which calls for strategies to increase advertising efficiency. While some factors, such as brand extensions or an optimal marketing mix, have already been identified as relevant determinants of advertising efficiency, changes in consumer psychographics have so far been neglected. The current study fills this gap by investigating how the emerging awareness and demand for corporate sustainability serve as a contextual factor leveraging or hindering advertising efficiency. Furthermore, we investigate how advertising efficiency has changed across various industry sectors from 2010 to 2019. A two-step procedure was applied to analyze the secondary data of 1950 observations from 195 US firms in five industry sectors over a period of 10 years. The resulting time series of firm-specific multi-directional efficiency scores confirms that advertising efficiency varies over time, justifying the relevance of a dynamic perspective for analyzing advertising efficiency. Furthermore, in support of our main claim, the investigation of the relationship between advertising efficiency and the environmental, social and governance performance of firms over time using a time-fixed effects panel regression and a three-level hierarchical regression model confirm the significant impact of corporate sustainability performance on advertising efficiency. Interestingly, this effect varies among different industry sectors and not all corporate sustainability activities impact advertising efficiency to the same extent. The results not only emphasize the relevance of corporate sustainability performance in increasing advertising efficiency, but also guide marketers on strategic marketing decisions related to the allocation of advertising budget.

Corporate social responsibility in family firms: Can corporate communication affect CSR performance?

Drawing on the stewardship theory (ST) and socio-emotional wealth (SEW) perspective, this study investigates the role of sustainable activities within family firms (FFs) and the effect of marketing strategic decisions in improving their corporate social responsibility performance. To achieve the research aims, we analysed a sample of 730 American and European listed companies from 2015 to 2020. The results show that family businesses are more socially responsible than non-family businesses due to the presence of stewards. However, strategic marketing decisions have unclear effects in achieving these outcomes. This study expands the literature on ST and SEW in FFs, integrating them with sustainable principles. We also contribute to the sustainability debate and marketing literature related to FFs.

Application of Big Data Analytics in Telecommunication Sector Company in Sri Lanka: with Reference to Marketing Perspective

The business world is getting competitive and complex day by day. The customer needs and expectations also changing rapidly. Therefore, making effective strategic marketing decisions in a short time is essential to hold a competitive advantage. Especially in the telecommunication sector, there are lots of data to be handled every day. By analyzing all those data and extracting the most critical insights and use those insights for strategic marketing decisions is essential to remain as the market leader. Today, Big Data Analytics is used to analyses massive databases and find patterns and extract valuable information and insights. Therefore, this research investigates on strategic marketing decisions, Big Data Analytics and how Big Data Analytics use in telecommunication sector to make strategic marketing decisions. Moreover, this research examines how Big Data Analytics can be applied to perform customer segmentation based on Psychographic segmentation by analyzing URLs using artificial neural network techniques. This study will provide suitable recommendations for the telecommunication companies to apply big data analytics to improve the revenue, and finally it points out the possible future study areas.

The Influence of Strategic Marketing Decisions on Customer Purchasing Decisions for Green Products

Abstract Nationally and internationally, indiscriminate consumption patterns have caused significant problems, requiring an increase in customer purchasing intentions and attitudes toward choosing green products. This article aims to identify the strategic marketing decisions that influence positive customer purchase intentions toward green products. It covers the research problem of distinguishing the impact of strategic marketing decisions on increasing a customer’s favourable purchasing intentions toward green products. Data is collected for this purpose using the survey approach, which involves distributing a well-designed questionnaire to individuals. According to the findings of this study, there is a positive correlation between the variables of environmental awareness, environmental preferences, green brand image, and green product loyalty with customer purchase intentions. Nevertheless, environmental preferences and green brand image are significant in relation to customers’ intention to purchase green items.

What do women like? A quantitative study of the female behavior of sparkling wines consumers

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the purchase process of the sparkling wines female consumers, in order to understand the variables that influence the purchase process of this product. The consumer behavior in the purchase decision process is one important topic of the marketing studies, to the extent that it helps to explain how decisions are made and what elements determine them, it can support strategic marketing decisions. The importance of gender segmentation has been highlighted in several studies; in addition, women have made most purchases and their influence in purchase decision has been highlighted. This study uses data from a survey carried out on a representative sample of 1,003 female consumers from Brazil. It was used a five levels Likert scale; Independent tests and correspondence analyses were performed. The study could identify the five main factors influencing the choice. Also, the results contribute to elucidate points such as confidence to choose and consumption occasions and contexts.

Does brand personality mediate the link between social media usage and customer buying decisions on telecommunication’s products and services? Evidence from Ghana

Social media marketing has vastly benefitted businesses, including the development of brand identity via solid communication channels. Innovative marketing tools have proven effective among service and non-service-based businesses. This study examines the impact of social media on customer buying decisions via brand personality attributes among telecom products (e.g., mobile phones, sim cards, and data subscriptions) in Ghana. A positivist research paradigm with a non-probability sampling were deployed to achieve study goals. A structured questionnaire was designed to collect the data from subscribers of the telecom giants (MTN, Vodafone, and Airtel-Tigo) in the capital of Ghana through a non-probability sampling technique (snowball/referral method). Both self-administered and online survey (link) were deployed with strict adherence to Covid-19 protocols. A valid data set of 414 (representing 82% of response rate) from 507 responses was received for data processing. PLS-SEM was applied to analyze the study hypothesis. The study identified five main brand personality attributes (i.e., brand sincerity, brand excitement, brand competence, brand sophistication, and brand ruggedness) as mediators of the proposed framework. The study found that brand sincerity, brand excitement, and brand competence played a significant mediation effect on the relationship between social media usage and customer buying decisions, whereas brand sophistication and brand ruggedness did not. The findings suggest that brand management plays an interconnected role in customer decision-making in which brand practitioners should take a keynote regarding their strategic marketing decisions. Finally, the paper recommends that future research consider a mixed approach to offer an in-depth analysis. Acknowledgment This study is supported by Tomas Bata University in Zlin through IGA/FAME /2022/010 Influencer marketing and intercultural differences across generations and IGA/FAME/2021/005-Significant factors in the sustainability of economic growth with a focus on the SME segment. We are grateful to the Editor-in-Chief and the anonymous reviewers for their comments in shaping this manuscript.

Navigating a global pandemic crisis through marketing agility: evidence from Italian B2B firms

PurposeThis study aims to explore the impact of marketing agility on the business-to-business (B2B) firms’ capacity to address unexpected events such as the recent coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, examining how they reshape their strategies during the different stages of a crisis.Design/methodology/approachThis study follows a theory-building approach and performs an in-depth exploratory multiple-case study in the context of 16 Italian firms operating in the B2B sector.FindingsThe study develops an event-sequence-based framework and illustrates how agile marketing strategies empower B2B firms to cope with a crisis across three crucial moments: the event phase, the response management phase and the investigation phase.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to a better understanding of marketing agility in the context of crisis management by showing the agile marketing strategies that B2B firms adopt during the different stages of a crisis. This work provides a useful foundation to assist managers in coping with market uncertainty. It suggests practical guidelines to make more informed strategic and operational marketing decisions, increasing a firm’s capacity to act in today’s fast-moving, complex times.

Paranoiabox.ru: Russian start-up growth decision dilemma

Theoretical basis The novelty of this case is the multidisciplinary focus where the aspects of entrepreneurship, marketing strategy and finance are mixed together. Students are expected to apply their knowledge of Business Model Canvas and Marketing 4.0, as well as learn about the new type of entrepreneurial finance such as crowdfunding. The setting of this case is novel too – the new quest games industry in Russia. Finally, the novelty of this case is its format where the protagonists’ interview is available as a podcast, and thus, the students will need to review only the tables and the appendices. Research methodology This decision case was field researched by the authors who interviewed the founders of this start-up and the business incubator (BI) director. No information was disguised in any way. Also, the secondary research on the main trends in the development of the international and Russian quest markets was completed by the authors in the preparation of this case. Case overview/synopsis Paranoiabox.ru case presents an entrepreneurial and strategic marketing decision situation. In May 2019, in Moscow, Russia, two young residents of the MGIMO University BI, Anastasia and Max, founded the start-up business called Paranoiabox.ru. This project was a quest in a new format with home delivery: a mixture of escape, detective and board game. The player received by post a box containing various objects. Interacting with them, he/she unraveled the plot thread, found clues and gradually approached the final clue. The game with complex copyright puzzles had a built-in hint system and provided mechanisms for interaction online. By July 2019, 30 boxes for their first quest were sold. The subscribers were waiting for a new quest. Despite the first sales, Anastasia and Max had no budget for hiring freelancers or outsourcing. They were faced with an urgent and challenging dilemma: whether to concentrate on the current product sales and spend all the budget on promotion or, alternatively, to launch a series of new quests and focus on the target market with high brand awareness. There was an additional funding dilemma: should they apply for crowdfunding? Complexity academic level This case is a multidisciplinary case with the aspects of entrepreneurship, marketing strategy and finance. This case is intended primarily for a course in entrepreneurship at the undergraduate or graduate level. This case is also ideal to be used as a capstone project in a degree programme for entrepreneurs.

Strategic Use of Preference Stability Information for Product Evaluation

Preference stability can be a useful and supportive indicator for making strategic and tactical marketing decisions as it can assist short- and longer-term choices regarding product/brand characteristics and attributes. We provide a measurement approach combined with a model for strategic product/brand development decisions and subsequent marketing actions. Managers could use such insights when contrasting different attributes (e.g., design vs. camera of mobile phones) and also when making decisions about characteristics (e.g., different degrees of camera resolution of mobile phones). Such insights shall guide managers on where to invest and on how to leverage consumer preferences more effectively to generate sales for the company. We illustrate the use of our model of preferences and preference stability of product characteristics in three complementary studies (assessing yoghurt, energy drinks, and mobile phones).

An Integrated AHP-TOPSIS for Evaluating Online Marketing Strategies for the Hospitality Industry

Online marketing has been the most efficient and useful platform for reaching target markets and building customer relations. Despite its widespread use, the hospitality industry is at its forefront of identifying its most suitable online marketing strategies. This emphasis is crucial to strategic marketing and resource allocation decisions, which may impact the long-term performance of businesses. The need to address both perspectives of customers and businesses, along with the multiple online marketing strategies under the presence of multiple criteria, requires a rigorous analytical and comprehensive approach for evaluating the efficacy of these strategies for the hospitality industry. Thus, this work offers an integrated approach based on the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and the technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS) as a decision-making platform for the problem domain. The AHP assigns the corresponding priority weights of the criteria associated with either customers' or businesses' perspectives, while the TOPSIS ranks the importance of the strategies. Results show that the credibility of an online marketing strategy is of the highest priority for the customers, while the businesses highly regard customer loyalty. With the AHP-TOPSIS approach, findings reveal that both perspectives prefer search engines for the hospitality industry. Illustrating the results via a priority tradeoff map of two perspectives, search engines, websites, and blogs are deemed the most viable online marketing strategies relevant to the industry. These findings offer dependable guidelines for the hospitality industry in positioning their online marketing efforts.

Modelling Tourist's Intention to Adopt Travel Applications during the Pandemic. A Bangladesh Perspective

The study's primary purpose is to determine the factors motivating the adoption of online travel applications for booking vacations during the pandemic, specifically amongst the consumers in Bangladesh. The study aims to measure the mediating role of COVID-19 restrictions and information published from time to time on the entire adoption process. The study takes a quantitative approach. A structured questionnaire is used to gather data from 282 respondents nationwide through online mode. A total of 240 respondents showing an interest in online booking of travel are used to analyze the data using Structural Equation Modelling. The EFA and CFA conducted on the 36 items in the questionnaire extracted four factors- two independent variables: Rewarding Motivations and Health Motivations; the dependent variable of Intention to Use and the mediating variable of COVID-19 information. While generating a fit model, there is a significant influence of Rewarding Motivations found on Intention to Use online travel applications with a partially mediating role of COVID-19 information on both the relationships. Empirical evidence from this study will assist tourism marketers in taking sound strategic marketing decisions, which would help revive the tourism sector.

Strategic Marketing: The Importance of Competitive Intelligence in the Decision-Making Process for Strategic Marketing

Corporations' underlying principles have altered dramatically as a result of advances and threats over the previous two decades. Internal and external pressures on businesses have made it necessary for them to keep a careful eye on their surroundings, either to maintain competitiveness or to learn more about potential threats and opportunities. This study aims to determine if and how competitive intelligence might benefit small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) owners in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Researchers evaluated the direct influence of competitive intelligence on strategic marketing decisions made by SMEs by focusing on five different types of intelligence: market intelligence, competitor intelligence, customer intelligence, partnership intelligence, and technical intelligence. The researchers also used the embeddedness of competitive intelligence as a moderator to assess the effect of competitive intelligence on marketing strategies. The research team used hierarchical multiple regression and the Sobel test to analyze the impact of competition information on the marketing strategies of SMEs in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Nonetheless, the study quantified the direct influence on strategic marketing decisions made by SMEs by employing five distinct categories of competitive intelligence (market intelligence, competitive intelligence, customer intelligence, partner intelligence, and technical intelligence). Additionally, researchers used competitive intelligence as a mediator to evaluate the impact of competitive intelligence on strategic marketing choices. The study found that in all areas of competitive intelligence (market intelligence, competitor intelligence, customer intelligence, partner intelligence, and technical intelligence), competitive intelligence has a direct and ingrained effect on the strategic marketing decisions made by small and medium-sized businesses.

МЕТОДОЛОГІЧНЕ ЗАБЕЗПЕЧЕННЯ СТРАТЕГІЧНОГО УПРАВЛІННЯ РОЗВИТКОМ МАРКЕТИНГОВОЇ ДІЯЛЬНОСТІ ПІДПРИЄМСТВА

The article covers the concept of "strategic management of marketing activities", clarifies the principles of strategic management, considers the essence of a proactive approach. It is noted that the main purpose of the marketing strategy is to align the marketing goals of the enterprise with its capabilities, consumer requirements, to use the weak positions of competitors and their competitive advantages. Emphasis is placed on the fact that the success of achieving the strategy depends on both the current strategy and its effective implementation. The evaluation of the strategy implementation should be based on the parameters determined at the diagnostic stage, and should consist in their analysis and comparison with the forecast indicators that characterize the most desirable state of the system for the target period. The following areas of improvement of the process of strategic management of marketing development are identified: the first is a complete overhaul of the strategic management system, the second is the focus on certain types of marketing system, and the third is the use of marketing management to more effectively plan, organize and control over the implementation of strategic marketing decisions. Enterprises are invited to take the following measures to improve the system of strategic management of marketing activities: use the management system of range and quality of goods or services; to control the compliance of the range with the needs of consumers through feedback; in the pricing policy to take into account the performance of competitors. Particular attention needs to be paid to the coordination of control activities, the establishment of the procedure for making changes in the process of implementing the planned work in the framework of the strategy. The management of organizations should approve a clear division of tasks between structural units for control and coordination, the appropriate procedure and procedures for control, methods and procedures for obtaining information on stages of control, the procedure for communicating control and analysis to performers, methods and sequence of adjustment strategies.

Attributional Triadic Relationships between End-Users, Specifiers, and Vendors: Evidence from Building Supply Retailers

Purpose – This study proposes to evaluate product attributes in an unusual triad of actors: end-users, vendors, and specifiers. The differences in perceptions of product attributes between these triadic actors can bias strategic marketing decisions for functional and aesthetic products in a building supply retailer, which is understudied in the retail literature. Theoretical framework – The study uses the attribution theory approach and provides a new perspective to explain differences in attribute evaluations in this triad (end user-specifier-vendor). Design/methodology/approach – The hypotheses are tested in two countries’ functional and aesthetic building material categories. Attribute evaluations were performed using the ranking method and Borda count. We used ANOVA, linear discriminant analysis (LDA), and the Mahalanobis squared distance (MSD) for the estimations. Findings – The hypothesis tests confirmed the difference in attribute evaluations between end-users, vendors, and specifiers for functional products; however, as we hypothesized, no difference was found for aesthetic products. Practical & social implications of research – Our discussion will help retail practitioners avoid bias in marketing strategy. In the development of new products, manufacturing companies should consider differences between actors, especiallyin collaborative product developments. Originality/value – This study contributes to the literature by using an attribution theory approach and provides a new perspective to explain differences in attribute evaluations in this triad (end-user-specifier-vendor). We provide insights into allocating causes and responsibility in product attribute selection. Keywords: Attribution theory, attribute, vendor-end-user-specifier, assortment strategy.