Guest editorial

Citation

Goyal, A. and Maity, M. (2013), "Guest editorial", Journal of Indian Business Research, Vol. 5 No. 1. https://doi.org/10.1108/jibr.2013.41305aaa.001

Guest editorial

Article Type: Guest editorial From: Journal of Indian Business Research, Volume 5, Issue 1

It is our pleasure to present to the readers of Journal of Indian Business Research (JIBR) this special issue on “Consumers and Marketing in Emerging Markets”. This special issue is an outcome of the publication partnership between the IIM Lucknow and JIBR for the International Conference in Marketing on “Shaping the Future of Research in Marketing in Emerging Economies: Looking Ahead” hosted by the Indian Institute of Management Lucknow, at its campus in Noida, during January 13-14, 2012. We invited authors of 15 papers presented during the conference to submit their manuscripts for the JIBR’s blind review process and after a two-stage review, we selected three research articles for this issue. In addition, this issue includes two invited “Viewpoint” articles focusing on emerging markets.

Understanding consumers through their cultural environment plays a critical role to succeed in a business venture. Developing countries may present to marketers contexts that are different from that of developed countries, and qualitative studies can help marketers gain these culture-specific consumer insights. Russell W. Belk’s viewpoint article titled “Consumer insights for developing markets” highlights the role of ethnographic qualitative research methods in providing culture-sensitive understanding of local consumers in emerging economies. Multinational corporate managers can cross the barrier of low awareness about their consumers’ consumption habits in developing countries by gathering qualitative data besides the quantitative research data. He identifies the critical role and significance of anthropologists in helping understand consumers in developing markets. This understanding is as important as that of engineers and managers in any organization. The author highlights the role of qualitative research through examples of successful new product development initiatives of P&G – Gillette and Nokia in India, and second hand clothing market in Zambia.

The second viewpoint article by Don E. Schultz is titled “Reinventing marcom for the new marketplace”. Don also underscores the importance of culture in understanding consumers in emerging markets. The emphasis here is to examine and critique various approaches to marketing communication. According to the author, marketers need to re-examine traditional and established models of communication while using them in the context of emerging markets. Consumers are developing and accepting new ways of interacting with markets. However, at the same time they are not away from their cultural roots. The consumer in developing markets is not satisfied with old age communication methods, and is exploring with new and emerging technology. The author proposes a new holistic model of marketing communications (MARCOM) – CN² – consumer, network and negotiation. This new model takes into consideration the communication needs of the evolving consumer with an integration of the old and new methods of communication, where control and choice are not primarily with the marketer but lies with the consumer.

The two viewpoint articles are followed by three research articles. The first research article investigates the issue of online purchase intention among consumers in India. Internet users in India are growing in number and this growth in internet usage presents online retail business opportunities. Online purchase options are increasing beyond travel-related products and Indian consumers are also ready to spend more on online purchase. The article titled “Determinants of customers’ online purchase intention: an empirical study in India” by Arun Thamizhvanan and M.J. Xavier identifies the determinants of online purchase intention among Indian youth. Results of the study indicate that factors like impulse purchase orientation, prior online purchase experience and online trust have significant impact on the customer’s purchase intention. Males are found to have a greater intention to shop online than females. This study will be useful for web retailers and internet marketers who wish to understand the role of various factors affecting online purchase intention among young Indian consumers.

The Indian cell phone industry with a high churn rate, immense competition and high acquisition costs faces the challenge of customer retention. The main objective of the second article titled “Mediating roles of commitment and corporate image in the formation of customer loyalty” by Harsandaldeep Kaur and Harmeen Soch is to test a model of customer loyalty incorporating behavioral as well as attitudinal dimensions in the context of Indian mobile telecom companies. The model examines the inter-relationships among customer satisfaction, trust, commitment, corporate image, attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty. It also examines the mediating roles of commitment and corporate image on causal relationships between trust and loyalty. The article will be useful for customer relationship managers and marketing managers and help them to understand factors which drive customer loyalty, and to develop and reinforce marketing strategies in order to increase retention of mobile phone users.

Rakhi Thakur and Mala Srivastava’s research titled “Customer usage intention of mobile commerce in India: an empirical study” proposes and tests a structural model of technology acceptance readiness (defined by perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, social influence and facilitating condition) and perceived credibility risk (defined by security and privacy risk) of mobile commerce. Study findings indicate that technology acceptance readiness positively affects customer intention, while perceived credibility risk negatively affects an Indian customer’s intention to use mobile commerce. The factors of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are found significant in adoption intention. Service providers may find the study useful in understanding dimensions of adoption readiness as a part of their marketing initiatives. Marketers may also benefit by incorporating the insights related to consumer perception on risk as an important predictor of intention to adopt mobile commerce.

All articles contribute towards existing knowledge and enhanced understanding about consumers and markets in emerging economies with emphasis on India. These studies will be useful for the multinational as well as domestic corporate managers and will also provide opportunities to scholars for future research with new insights.

Future research opportunities concerning emerging markets include investigating the similarities and differences in marketing between different emerging markets, as well as between emerging and developed markets. In addition, topics that are of interest to marketers in emerging economics include poverty, literacy, institutional instability, and underdeveloped infrastructure, among others. We hope conceptual and empirical works in this area will receive their share of attention.

We express our gratitude to JIBR and its editorial team for an opportunity to serve as guest editors and to present this special issue. We also extend our thanks to the authors and the reviewers for their contributions.

Anita Goyal, Moutusi MaityGuest Editors