Journal of Direct Marketing最新文献

Various methods are compared to calculate the regression-to-the-mean (RTM) effect in segmentation analysis, based on the results of a test mailing, distinguishing between the case of no-prior, non-parametric, and parametric knowledge on the distribution of the response rates of segments across the list. The advantages and disadvantages of each method and its implication for decision making are discussed.

Mail order companies continue their development in Europe, often operating simultaneously in different countries. Both globalization efforts and liberalization from public monopolies can be observed. Logistics and cross-border organizations play a key role, as does consideration of market specifics for each country.

Relationship management is becoming more important in direct marketing. Measuring the strength of relationships is important, since relationship strength can be used as a segmentation variable. However, in measuring relationship strength, usually one or more behavioral indicators are used (e.g., the R/F/M formula), so that these indicators measure customer quality instead of relationship quality, which is mainly determined by customer perceptions. This paper shows some preliminary results of a relationship audit, which is dependent on customer attitudes towards the relationship.

There is little doubt that one of the important motivations behind direct marketing patronage is convenience. Convenience has traditionally been conceptualized as a time-dominated phenomenon, yet much of the research that attempts to link demographic surrogates of time-constrained individuals/households with direct marketing patronage has shown only weak relationships. This paper reexamines the nature of convenience in the context of direct marketing patronage behavior. It reveals that an important oversight regarding convenience is that it consists not only of a time dimension, but also of space and effort dimensions. The qualitative data on which the study is based provide user-friendly data that offer rather literal suggestions as to how the convenience concerns of catalog patrons can be addressed.

Much of the international marketing literature has focused on issues relevant to large multinational corporations. Many of these results are not useful to direct marketers. The international marketing literature has also ignored the implications of information technology (IT) for international marketing practice. In this article, we suggest that IT can be used to identify a global segment to which goods and services can be marketed direct. We demonstrate that this global segment meets all criteria for an effective segment: accessible, measurable, substantial, differentiable, and actionable.

The paper examines the Eastlick, Feinberg, and Trappey (1) study concerning the relationship between the number of catalogs received by consumers and their purchases by direct mail. We question the validity of their conclusion that there is a nonmonotonic inverse U-shaped relationship between these two variables, and their explanation that this relationship is associated with information overload. We suggest a parsimonious explanation which attributes the results to decreasing marginal responsiveness to direct mail offers.

Reader information service cards (“bingo cards”) have been used by magazines as a positive sales tool and by advertisers to generate large numbers of prospects. A study was conducted in four stages to determine the frequency of bingo card use among consumer magazines, fulfillment performance related to information requests, and policies and opinions of advertisers and magazines regarding bingo cards. Less than 8% of all consumer magazines include bingo cards. Advertisers’ response to requests for information via bingo cards tends to be very slow, if they respond at all. Yet survey results indicate that both magazines and advertisers tend to view bingo cards quite positively.