Journal of Interactive Marketing

It is easy to see the benefits which an affordable videotex system would provide for consumers. It is much more difficult, however, to see even a single benefit which might accrue to the retailers who are spending so much money and effort to develop these systems. Already buffeted by over-capacity, declining profit margins and excessive emphasis upon discount promotions, the videotex systems promise to only exacerbate these problems. Still worse, the technology of electronic retailing may create the antecedent conditions necessary for pure competition, which would have an even more devastating effect upon profit margins.

In list selection decisions, direct marketers typically select, prior to the list purchase decision, a number of names to be sampled from the list. The number of responses from the sample is used to estimate the rollout response rate. If it is high enough, the list is purchased. Practitioners have voiced dismay that rollout response rates are often lower than sample response rates. This phenomenon has been described in the literature as “regression to the mean.” In this paper, correction for this bias is presented. Also, software is given that can readily assist the direct marketer correcting for this bias.

A recently completed nationwide survey of a thousand consumers found a rather unexpected positive response to receiving a proactive telemarketing sales call. The acceptance was increased significantly when the call met six major criteria that the consumers considered important. If attention is given to the consumers’ preferences and the important calling attributes, a well-designed proactive telemarketing program could be an effective form of communication to 47 percent of the consumers.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the influence of reference price information in a catalog versus in-store purchase situation. An experiment with 320 subjects was conducted in a large regional mall in the Midwest. Findings based on analysis of variance and post-hoc comparisons revealed that reference price information did influence consumers’ fair price evaluations, how much they would be willing to pay for products, and the highest prices they would be willing to pay. The influence of reference price information was most evident for catalog items that were higher-priced (suits) and labeled “made in U.S.A.” Implications are discussed.

This study investigated the relative impact of specific satisfaction variables, supervisory variables, organizational and individual demographic variables on overall job satisfaction, role conflict, and role ambiguity of telemarketing sales employees. The sample included 129 employees working in 10 different telemarketing organizations. The results suggest that supervisory behaviors such as goal setting and work facilitation are significant predictors of role conflict and role ambiguity. Control over work pace, inbound versus outbound operation, and marital status were also significantly realted to role conflict and role ambiguity. Satisfaction with promotion and role conflict were significant predictors of overall job satisfaction. Implications of the findings for management of human resources in telemarketing organizations and suggestions for future research are discussed.