پیشرفت های جدید در ارتباطات بازاریابی و رفتار مصرف کننده

In this special issue of the Journal of Business Research, some new developments in marketing communication and consumer behavior will be sketched. The developments pertain to price communication, consumer information processing and attitude change, brand loyalty, memory for radio advertisements with the help of mnemonic devices, and the impact of sales promotion on store choice. The five papers of this special issue were selected from the papers presented at the second International Seminar on Marketing Communications and Consumer Behavior, held at La Londe les Maures, France, June 3–6, 1997.

The end of this millennium is a time of considerable change. People living in earlier periods may have experienced similar feelings but this time, some real changes will affect marketing management. Many markets are saturated leading to increasing competition between brands and more product differentiation. Large segments of consumers request high-quality products and services and individualized relationships with service providers. They want more value for the same price or even for a lower price. Social and technological developments create new options and possibilities for consumers and for marketing management, e.g., keeping track of individual customer data and individual customizing. At the same time, these developments may make traditional mass marketing approaches obsolete. Technological and social trends interact. In general, technological developments are successful if they fit into social developments and trends. The consequences of these trends for marketing management are related to distribution, pricing, retention marketing and marketing communication. Changes in marketing communication are needed to accommodate these trends and developments. Actually, marketing communication may encompass the other marketing-mix elements of product, price, and distribution.

For this special issue, the best papers of the international research seminar on marketing communications and consumer behavior were selected. These papers show recent developments in several areas, such as store choice, sales promotion, brand loyalty, consumer evaluation of retail prices, effects of advertising with open vs. closed conclusions, and memory effects of rhyming mnemonics. Many more topics were covered at the seminar, but it is impossible to represent all these topics in this special issue.