Browsing by Author "Srinivasan, S."

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6

Open Access
Consumer attitude metrics for guiding marketing mix decisions
(Informs, 2014-08) Hanssens, D. M.; Pauwels, Koen Hendrik; Srinivasan, S.; Vanhuele, M.; Yildirim, G.; Business Administration; PAUWELS, Koen Hendrik
Marketing managers often use consumer attitude metrics such as awareness, consideration, and preference as performance indicators because they represent their brand's health and are readily connected to marketing activity. However, this does not mean that financially focused executives know how such metrics translate into sales performance, which would allow them to make beneficial marketing mix decisions. We propose four criteria-potential, responsiveness, stickiness, and sales conversion-that determine the connection between marketing actions, attitudinal metrics, and sales outcomes. We test our approach with a rich data set of four-weekly marketing actions, attitude metrics, and sales for several consumer brands in four categories over a seven-year period. The results quantify how marketing actions affect sales performance through their differential impact on attitudinal metrics, as captured by our proposed criteria. We find that marketing-attitude and attitude-sales relationships are predominantly stable over time but differ substantially across brands and product categories. We also establish that combining marketing and attitudinal metrics criteria improves the prediction of brand sales performance, often substantially so. Based on these insights, we provide specific recommendations on improving the marketing mix for different brands, and we validate them in a holdout sample. For managers and researchers alike, our criteria offer a verifiable explanation for differences in marketing elasticities and an actionable connection between marketing and financial performance metrics.
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The impact of brand familiarity on online and offline media synergy
(Elsevier, 2016) Pauwels, Koen Hendrik; Demirci, Ceren; Yıldırım, G.; Srinivasan, S.; Business Administration; PAUWELS, Koen Hendrik; Demirci, Ceren
Rooted in the integrated marketing communication framework, this paper conceptualizes how brand familiarity affects online and cross-channel synergies. The empirical analysis uses Bayesian vector autoregressive models to estimate long-term elasticities for four brands. The authors distinguish customer-initiated communication (typically online) from firm-initiated communication (typically offline). Their results indicate that within-online synergy is higher than online–offline synergy for both familiar brands but not for both unfamiliar brands. Managers of unfamiliar brands may obtain substantial synergy from offline marketing spending, even though its direct elasticity pales in comparison with that of online media while managers of familiar brands can generate more synergy by investing in different online media.
Open Access
Mind-set metrics in market response models: an integrative approach
(American Marketing Association, 2010-08) Srinivasan, S.; Vanhuele, M.; Pauwels, Koen Hendrik; Business Administration; PAUWELS, Koen Hendrik
Demonstrations of marketing effectiveness currently proceed along two parallel tracks: Quantitative researchers model the direct sales effects of the marketing mix, and advertising and branding experts trace customer mind-set metrics (e.g., awareness, affect). The authors merge the two tracks and analyze the added explanatory value of including customer mind-set metrics in a sales response model that already accounts for short- and long-term effects of advertising, price, distribution, and promotion. Vector autoregressive modeling of the metrics for more than 60 brands of four consumer goods shows that advertising awareness, brand consideration, and brand liking account for almost one-third of explained sales variance. Competitive and own mind-set metrics make a similar contribution. Wear-in times reveal that mind-set metrics can be used as advance warning signals that allow enough time for managerial action before market performance itself is affected. Specific marketing actions affect specific mind-set metrics, with the strongest overall impact for distribution. The findings suggest that modelers should include mind-set metrics in sales response models and branding experts should include competition in their tracking research.
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Paths to and off purchase: quantifying the impact of traditional marketing and online consumer activity
(Springer International Publishing, 2016-07) Srinivasan, S.; Rutz, O. J.; Pauwels, Koen Hendrik; Business Administration; PAUWELS, Koen Hendrik
This study investigates the effects of consumer activity in online media (paid, owned, and earned) on sales and their interdependencies with the traditional marketing mix elements of price, advertising and distribution. We develop an integrative conceptual framework that links marketing actions to online consumer activity metrics along the consumer’s path to purchase (P2P). Our framework proposes that the path to purchase has three basic stages–learning (cognitive), feeling (affective), behavior (conative)—and that these can be measured with novel online consumer activity metrics such as clicking on a paid search ads (cognitive) or Facebook likes and unlikes of the brand (affective). Our empirical analysis of a fast moving consumer good supports a know–feel–do pathway for the low–involvement product studied. We find, for example, that earned media can drive sales. However, we find that the news is not all good as it relates to online consumer activity: higher consumer activity on earned and owned media can lead to consumer disengagement in the form of unlikes. While traditional marketing such as distribution (60%) and price (20%) are the main drivers of sales variation for the studied brand, online owned (10%), (un)earned (3%), and paid (2%) media explain a substantial part of the path to purchase. It is noteworthy that TV advertising (5%) explains significantly less than online media in our case. Overall, our study should help strengthen marketers’ case for building share in consumers’ hearts and minds, as measured through consumer online activity and engagement.
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Pricing of national brands versus store brands: market power components, findings and research opportunities
(Edward Elgar Publishing, 2009) Pauwels, Koen Hendrik; Srinivasan, S.; Business Administration; Rao, V. R.; PAUWELS, Koen Hendrik
Among the most important activities for supermarket retailers is the creation and marketing of store brands, also known as private label brands. Given the increasing quality-equivalence between national brands and store brands, they have become direct competitors, and pricing decisions should take this into account. In most cases, national brands still possess some degree of pricing and market power over store brands. In this chapter, we define three components of market power for national brands versus store brands: (1) price premium; (2) volume premium; and (3) margin premium. Our chapter proceeds along the following lines. First, we delineate the factors that are the most important drivers of the three components of premium. Second, we discuss managerial implications about key success factors in the pricing of national brands and store brands. A key contribution of this chapter is that we incorporate emerging insights from the marketing literature on the pricing and market power of national brands versus store brands. Finally, we conclude by offering important future research directions.
Open Access
Product innovations, advertising, and stock returns
(American Marketing Association, 2009-01) Srinivasan, S.; Pauwels, Koen Hendrik; Silva-Risso, J.; M. Hanssens, D.; Business Administration; PAUWELS, Koen Hendrik
Under increased scrutiny from top management and shareholders, marketing managers feel the need to measure and communicate the impact of their actions on shareholder returns. In particular, how do customer value creation (through product innovation) and customer value communication (through marketing investments) affect stock returns? This article examines, conceptually and empirically, how product innovations and marketing investments for such product innovations lift stock returns by improving the outlook on future cash flows. The authors address these questions with a large-scale econometric analysis of product innovation and associated marketing mix in the automobile industry. They find that adding such marketing actions to the established finance benchmark model greatly improves the explained variance in stock returns. In particular, investors react favorably to companies that launch pioneering innovations, that have higher perceived quality, that are backed by substantial advertising support, and that are in large and growing categories. Finally, the authors quantify and compare the stock return benefits of several managerial control variables. The results highlight the stock market benefits of pioneering innovations. Compared with minor updates, pioneering innovations have an impact on stock returns that is seven times greater, and their advertising support is nine times more effective as well. Perceived quality of the new car introduction improves the firm’s stock returns, but customer liking does not have a statistically significant effect.Promotional incentives have a negative effect on stock returns, indicating that price promotions may be interpreted as a signal of demand weakness. Managers can combine these return estimates with internal data on project costs to help decide the appropriate mix of product innovation and marketing investment.