Editorial

Citation

Phau, I. (2007), "Editorial", Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 19 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/apjml.2007.00819caa.001

Editorial

First, I am happy to report that official statistics showed a threefold increase in the download of APJML articles over the last 12 months. In particular, the papers from the 2006 issues have the highest hits showing evidence that the "new look" journal has made significant impacts in scholarly research. This should hopefully transcend to higher citation counts for our publications. Special thanks to the members of the EAB, our pool of ad hoc reviewers and authors for their outstanding contribution in helping the journal achieve this success.

I also like to announce the launch of the call for papers on a special issue on Advertising and Promotion in "New" Asia in 2008, to be co-edited by Associate Professor Kim-Shyan Fam and Dr. Lisa McNeill from the University of Otago. The deadline for submission is 31 January 2008.

For this current issue, the five empirical papers and a research note, represent research from a diversity of geographical areas namely, Thailand, Vietnam, India, Malaysia and China.

The issue opens with a cross-national study on the effectiveness of different message appeals on purchase intentions. With an experimental approach involving American, Singaporean and Thai students, it was found that lower levels of optimism and hazard-related behavior priming ad appeals lead to higher purchase intentions for the product. Marketers should therefore consider using ads that prime risky behaviors when promoting products for reducing and preventing undesirable outcomes and hazards. There are also significant differences in the findings between the different national groups. This identifies the fact that different cultures may require different amounts of advertising to achieve equal levels of effectiveness.

The second paper explores how shopping motivations and supermarket attributes may affect shopper loyalty in a transitional economy such as Vietnam. Retailers should improve supermarket attributes such as facilities, employee services and merchandise to attract shoppers to create a conducive shopping environment to enhance the frequency of customer visits and thus increasing loyalty. Further, a number of demographic variables emerged as significant indicators of varying levels of shoppers' loyalty. It is suggested that other than functional motivations, hedonic motivations should be considered in positioning strategies for the older and higher income segments of customers.

Paper three proposes a situation-actor-process-learning-action-performance model to analyze both quantitative and qualitative issues of supply chain co-ordination. Through a case analysis in an Indian context, it was found that a number of indicators such as the type of relationship with suppliers and buyers, co-ordination effort with supply chain members, various mechanisms like information sharing, information technology, information systems, joint decision making and flexibility are pertinent indicators that affect performance of the supply chain. The paper provides various implications for academics and practitioners alike.

Paper four explores the issue of audience alienation by assessing the attitudinal, emotional and behavioral reactions of non-targeted groups to ethnically targeted advertising in Malaysia. It utilizes the dominant ethnic group (Malay) and a major non-dominant ethnic group (Chinese) to study this impact. The findings highlight the importance of pre-determining the appropriate use of language and dominance of the targeted group. Further, it is noted that targeted communications' strategy may not be the most effective method of communicating with a specific ethnic group in a plural society. Several other managerial implications are outlined.

Paper five sets to study the effects and performance of parent control on the strategic objectives of foreign firms entering international joint ventures in China. Through an integration of three major theoretical streams in the field, the research confirms the significant moderating effects of parent control on attainment of strategic objectives. In particular, it is found that different strategic objectives of foreign partners have different performance outcomes based upon the degree of control exercised by the partner and the focus on different international joint ventures activities. The findings further indicate that market-developing and knowledge-acquiring objectives outperform efficiency-seeking objectives. As such, parent companies should formulate different control structures according to different strategic objectives, and to acknowledge that different categories of objectives perform differently in joint ventures.

This issue concludes with a Research Note which offers a roadmap for advertising professionals to navigate the complex Chinese advertising regulation system. The paper examines how various global and local forces interact and negotiate the landscape of international advertising regulation in China. Through a historical and textual analysis, the regulation of Chinese advertising relies largely on government regulations, which aims to control the negative effects of advertising through rigorous regulation as well as certification and censorship programs. However, because of its lack of consistency and transparency, its effectiveness is limited. Practitioners will have to be cautious of such interventions when investing in such campaigns in the Chinese market.

I trust this issue offers an array of diverse aspects of marketing and logistics research and will continue to stimulate your research ideas. Once again, it must be acknowledged that the timely reviews by members of the EAB and the team of ad hoc reviewers are greatly appreciated. We need to continue to increase our pool of ad hoc reviewers due to the influx of submissions. I welcome your sincere feedback and comments to further improve the APJML.

Ian PhauCurtin University of Technology