Upload
khasan-khamuudh
View
214
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
8/9/2019 The 'Value of Marketing' and 'the Marketing of Value' in Contemporary Times --A Literature Review and Research A…
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-value-of-marketing-and-the-marketing-of-value-in-contemporary 1/20
Journal of Marketing Managem ent 2004 20,343-361
Sharon Ponsonby^
and Emily Boyle
University of Ulster
The 'Value Of Ma rketing ' and 'The
M arketing Of Va lue' in
Contemporary Times -A Literature
Review and Research Agenda
Over the last quarter of a century, it has becom e
increasingly apparent that the traditionally accepted
production based view ofthe value adding process is no
longer rea listic. Awareness of the value created
through the provision of services and the increasing
importance of services in the economic and business
environment suggests that value can also be created
through the consumption
process.
For marketers to use
the value adding potential of consumption to fulfil the
marketing concept, the nature of the process and the
value
created
by it need to be investigated.
This paper provides an overview of the changing
business environmen t and its implications for our
understanding ofthe concept of
value.
It examines the
increasing interest in the literature in the concept of
experiential value an d highlights the problems caused
by its very personal, idiosyncratic and situational
nature; and, suggests a conceptual model around
which research into the topic can be organised Finally,
it suggests a methodology for carrying out research
that would provide some insight into the factors that
cause consumers perceptions of experiential value to
vary so much.
Kej^words
experiential value, consumption, new marketing, new
economy, individualism
ntroduction
The marketing concept holds that achieving organizational goals depends
on determining the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the
8/9/2019 The 'Value of Marketing' and 'the Marketing of Value' in Contemporary Times --A Literature Review and Research A…
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-value-of-marketing-and-the-marketing-of-value-in-contemporary 2/20
344 Sharon Ponso nby an d Emily Boyle
desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than competitors d
(Kotler an d A rm strong 1997). To do this, an organ ization m ust offer t
customer better value than its rivals. Treacy and Wiersema (1994) defi
custom er value as the sum of the benefits min us the costs incu rred
acquiring the product or service . The means by which a company does th
is the subject m atter of the m arke ting discipline.
During the 1990s, there was much debate about the state of the disciplin
Some felt that its focus was too narrow and its assumptions unrealis
(Buttle 1994; Belk 1996; Brow n et al. 1996). Som e ar gu ed tha t m ark etin g in
existing form was dying (Brown et al. 1996). For example, by 1997, it w
argued that:
''the grea t com panies that... [hadj... once... [borne]... witness to the pow er oft
marketing concept...[hadJ... either closed or radically restructured th
marketing departments
(Brown
et
al 1997, p.63).
The discipline seemed to be in crisis (Holbrook 1995). There was a perceiv
nee d for som e form of ne w m arke ting ma nifesto (Grant 1999).
Simultaneously, a stream of literature identifying new approaches
marketing including po stm od em marketing and retro marketing (Brow
1995,
2001), relationship ma rke ting (Gronroos 1997; G um m esso n 199
one-to-on e m ark eting (Peppers an d Rogers 1995), lifestyle marketin
and experiential m ark eting (Schmitt 1999), an d tribal m ark etin g (Co
1997) began to appear. This raised a number of critical questions about t
relevance of the traditional marketing perspective in the present busine
environment. Marketers' dissatisfaction with the assumptions of t
traditional approach to marketing is clearly exemplified by the numero
refinements made to the traditional marketing mix framework over tim
(Brown 1995, 2001; C hristo phe r et al. 1991; Collier 1991; G um m es so n 19
1999;
Schm itt 1999).
A major weakness of traditional marketing was its limited appreciation
the nature of customer/consumer value and the sources of value creatio
Thus,
Pa rasu ram an (1997, p.l54) claimed that on e critical aspect of custom
value theory that is not yet fully developed concerns the sources from whi
consu m ers may deriv e value ; an d. Woodruff (1997) called for a rich
customer value theory . Similarly, The Marketing Science Institute (199
2000,
p.5) emp hasised the need to explore value from a c usto m er/c on sum
persp ective . Fu rtherm ore, Ho lbrook (1999, pp.xiii, 3) po inted o
8/9/2019 The 'Value of Marketing' and 'the Marketing of Value' in Contemporary Times --A Literature Review and Research A…
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-value-of-marketing-and-the-marketing-of-value-in-contemporary 3/20
The 'Value of M arke ting' and the 'M arke ting of Va lue' 345
investigate the nature and types of consumer value with anything like the
degree of com^prehensiveness and systemisation needed to make telling
concep tual inro ads into the issues of concern . Am ong these issues of
concern are the factors that can impact upon the type and level of value that
consumers gain from the consumption experience. This is the issue with
which this paper is concerned.
The paper presents a literature review explaining the weaknesses of the
traditional marketers' view of value and the reasons why they are no longer
adequate. This is followed by a discussion of how and why new insights into
the nature of consumption and the value that can be derived from it have
developed. New definitions of consumer value are provided and the
significant features of it are analysed. Of particular relevance is its
experiential nature; and, the value creating potential of consumers' intrinsic
emotional responses to the experience, rather than value derived from
extrinsic product attributes. Intrinsic value has been found to be personal,
idiosyncratic a nd situational (Zeithaml 1988), ma king it not only variable, bu t
also difficult for marketing managers to use in any coherent and systematic
way. This paper therefore proposes a conceptual model on which further
research in this area could be based and provides an outline of the factors
perceived to be relevant to the issue and some methods that could be used to
carry it out. Hopefully the research will enhance the level of understanding
of the nature of the experiential value of consumption and give greater
coherence to the body of kno w ledg e relating to it.
Traditional V iew f Va lue
The roots of marketing lie in classical economic theory that was developed
during the nineteenth century at a time when industrialisation was reaching
its pea k. Therefore trad ition al m ark etin g suffers from tw o major
weaknesses. Firstly, it views consumers as passive instruments soaking up
marketing communications and responding to them in an economically
rational way (Buttle 1994; Firat and Venkatesh 1993, 1996; Holbrook 1996;
M cDonagh an d Proth ero 1996; Woodruffe 1997). Secondly, its interpretation
of value and value creation is limited. Value is typically perceived in terms of
costs and benefits and the ratio of outputs to inputs or O/I (Holbrook 1999;
Gale 1994; Monroe 1990; Zeithaml 1988). Because of this its focus has
typically been on the production process as the dominant source of value
creation. Consumption is viewed as a post purchase process which has no
bearing on the value of the product and is therefore of little relevance to
8/9/2019 The 'Value of Marketing' and 'the Marketing of Value' in Contemporary Times --A Literature Review and Research A…
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-value-of-marketing-and-the-marketing-of-value-in-contemporary 4/20
346 Sharon Ponsonby and Emily Boyle
value creation as a function of demand and supply conditions. On th
demand side, value was created through scarcity of a product; and, on th
supply side, it was derived through the use of capital and the investment o
labour time and effort in the produc tion process (Holbrook 1995). Value w
added at each stage of the supply chain. This economically determine
explanation of the source of value has resu lted in attention being focussed o
the utility of a product, its physical attributes and the trade offs th
customers are prepared to make between quality and price (Band 1991; Ga
1994; Monroe 1990; Zeithaml 1988). Implicit in this instrumental view o
value is the perception that consumers make purchases on the basis o
rational choice decisions and preference judgements (Holbrook an
Hirschman 1982; Schmitt 1999). Monroe (1990, p.46) defined customer valu
as perceived quality which is adjusted for the relative price of th
pro ducts . This view of value suggests that the consum ption of an offering
devoid of any value creating potential (Firat and Venkatesh 1996; Firat an
Dholakial998).
These weaknesses of the traditional instrum ental view of value have led
Piercy's
(1991,
p.l5) contention that the traditional marketing conce
assum es and relies on the existence of a w orld which is alien an
unrecognisable to many of the executives who have to manage marketing fo
real ; and , to Schmitt's (1999) argu ment that traditional marketer
conceptualisations of consumers, products and competition are based o
largely untested assum ptions. It therefore fails to provide a useful startin
poin t for the developm ent of a general theory in any way and is little mo
than pu re rhetoric (Robson and Rowe 1997).
Firat and Dholakia (1998) believe that the traditional tendency to negle
the value adding potential of consumption is a consequence of th
industrialisation process in which produ ction m oved from the home into th
factory and thus became separated from the other aspects of people's live
From the days of simple barter through to industrialisation production an
consumption had been viewed as a single operation. Because of this, wo
was not separated from play, nor creation from recreation, nor function fro
ritual. In fact, pu re consum ption or recreational activity had a social, ritu
or functional purp ose (Firat and D holakia 1998, p . 7). For exam ple, harve
festivals and prayers for rain were rituals, but they also fulfilled ve
important social and economic functions. Production and consumption we
all part of the same process. This view can be com pared to the differen
between Westem and Eastem philosophies. Westem philosophers argue th
mind and body are two separate entities rather than being part of an overa
8/9/2019 The 'Value of Marketing' and 'the Marketing of Value' in Contemporary Times --A Literature Review and Research A…
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-value-of-marketing-and-the-marketing-of-value-in-contemporary 5/20
The 'Value of M arke ting' an d the 'M arke ting of Value ' 347
be Western in character, whilst the Easterners considered both mind and
body to be one and the same . It is only with the coming of the post-
indu strial age in the W est, that the em pha sis on objectivity is begin ning to be
questioned.
The Impact Of The N ew conomy
Over the last quarter of a century. Western society has moved out of the
industrial era into a new economic era in which rising income levels offer
consumers the opportunity to purchase what they want rather than what
they need (Pine and Gilmore 1999). This has resulted in consumers being
bombarded with a widening range of goods and services to choose from. It is
thus becoming increasingly difficult for consumers to differentiate between
offerings, rendering marketing on the basis of the traditional instrumental
view of valu e, increasing ly ineffective (Pine an d Gilm ore 1999).
The marketing dilemma is further compounded by another feature of the
new economy - the fact that consumer expenditure on services is much
higher than previously (Wolf 1999). As a consequence, the provision of
services has overtaken manufacturing as the dominant mode of wealth
creation in Westem society. This development has led a number of marketing
specialists to no te that con sum ers' eva luation of services hav e been generally
ignored in the past (for example, Caruna
et al
2000; Ravald and Gronroos
1996).
Services differ from products in four distinct ways. They are intangible,
variab le, per isha ble an d in sepa rable (Kotler and A rm stro ng 1997, p . 265). Of
these, inseparability has probably had the greatest impact on thinking about
value creation because the value of a service can only be created during
consumption. The inseparability of production and consumption in services
has led marketers to actively reassess the potential of consumption as a
mearungful an d valua ble experience and has caused a blur ring of the
subject-object d istinctio n (Firat an d Venk atesh 1996, p.255) be twe en
offerings and their consumption. In consuming a service, the consumer must
be involved in some way in value creation. If consumption creates value in
the provision of services, so too can it provide it for all offerings for as
Holbroo k (1999, p . 9) explains all pro du cts pro vid e services in their capacity
to create need-or-want satisfying experiences .
Acceptance of the view that value can be created as a result of
consumption as well as production implies that the role of marketers should
extend beyond transaction and product purchase or acquisition to usage and
disposa l (H irschm an an d Ho lbrook 1982; Ho lbrook a nd H irschm an 1982). To
8/9/2019 The 'Value of Marketing' and 'the Marketing of Value' in Contemporary Times --A Literature Review and Research A…
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-value-of-marketing-and-the-marketing-of-value-in-contemporary 6/20
348 Sharo n Ponson by an d Em ily Boyle
The Nature Of onsum ption
Consumption, by its very nature, is the central theme of consumer research
To provide greater insight into it, consumer researchers are concerned with
elucidating the role of symbolism, imagery and metaphor, the meaning o
rituals, ceremonies and traditions, and the impact of emotions and feeling
includ ing nostalgia on the process (Firat an d V enkatesh 1996; H irsc hm an and
Holbrook 1982; Holbrook 1994, 1999; Pine and Gilmore 1999; Schmitt 1999
Wolf 1999). However, few have tried to analyse its very essence
concentrating instead on such topics as the retail shopping experience, gif
giving, reasoned action and consumer (mis)behaviour, consumer aesthetics
and aggregate spending. A key reason for this is that analysing th
consumption process is particularly problematic for a number of reasons
Firstly, consumption is typically a personal experience carried ou
individually and often, in private by the consumer. Secondly, consumer
may find it difficult to describe or explain the aspects of the process; and
thirdly as Ho lt (1997) po ints out, the act of con sum ing is a varied and
effortful accomplishment underdetermined by the characteristics of th
object. A given consumption object ... is typically consum.ed in a variety o
ways by different groups of consumers .
Holt (1997) is one researcher who has analysed the consumption proces
and suggests that a typology of the variations in consumption can b
developed on the basis of two dimensions - the structure of the consumption
action and the purpose of consumption. The first dimension ranges from
personally engaging directly with the consumption object to consumption
that involves interaction with other people. The second dimension range
from being an end in itself (autotelic action) to being a means to some othe
outcome (instrumental action). From these, four generic types o
consumption have been identified. These are: consumption as experience
consumption as integration, consumption as classification and consumptio
as play. Co nsum ing as experience focuses on the subjective em otiona
reactions to consumption objects . In this sort of consumption, the process i
seen as a psychological phenomenon that evokes various types of persona
feelings (Holt 1997, p. 2). Consuming as integration occurs when consumer
w an t to feel that the object they are con sum ing is a constitutive e lem ent o
their ide ntity (Holt 1997, p . 6). They w an t to inte gra te self an d objec
thereby allowing the m selves access to the object's sym bolic p rop ertie s
Co nsum ption as classification occurs w he n consum ers perceive con sum ptio
objects as vessels of cultural and personal m ean ings thro ug h w hich the
8/9/2019 The 'Value of Marketing' and 'the Marketing of Value' in Contemporary Times --A Literature Review and Research A…
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-value-of-marketing-and-the-marketing-of-value-in-contemporary 7/20
The 'Value of M arketin g' and the 'M arke ting of Va lue' 349
Although value may be created during each of these types of consumption,
marketers have focused on consuming-as-experience, largely as a result of
the impact of Holbrook and Hirschman's work on ' the three Fs of hedonic
consumption' (1982) on the discipline. The three Fs referred to are fantasy,
feelings and fun. Initially, the significance of this w ork wa s con sidered to be
in the way it allowed for differentiation between two extreme types of
purchasing behaviour - a rational decision making approach on the one
hand, and a hedonic emotionally charged pleasure-seeking one on the other
hand. In the former case, little attention is paid to the potential to add to the
value of the purchase once the transaction has been carried out, whereas in
the latter case, consumers are seen to make purchases on the basis of the
anticipated pleasure their consuniption will provide for them. The sense of
pleasure is the result of fantasizing about the purchase's potential to arouse
positive feelings on consumption. This in turn allows consumers to have fun
and to enjoy the consumption process. In this way the consumption process
becomes a valuable experience in its own right. A typical example of this is
the decision by consumers to buy and eat food that they believe may not be
beneficial to their health but tastes delicious to them.
xperience and xperiential V alue
This example of hedonic consumption shows clearly that often, it is only
through the consumption of the product that the true value of its purchase
can be realised. In particular, it is the pleasing experience of consumption
that is significant. An experience has been defined as an event or occurrence
wh ich leaves an impressio n on som eone (Pearsall 1998). For an event to
have this impact, it must be of sigriificance to the individual concemed. This
significance results from the event affecting the person's emotions. These
emotions are not the outcome of rational thought, rather, they are affected
when one or more of the person's five senses are stimulated. The reason for
the stimulation is often subconscious, arising from the person's social and
cultural background. Thus, in trying to make sense of the emotions, people
imbue them with symbolic meaning. It is this symbolic meaning related to
the consumers' experiences that makes them valuable. The objects consumed
act as vessels of the m ean ing taken from a symbolic perspec tive (Holt
1997, p .1). T hu s, as Solom on (1999, p. 15) noted : peo ple often bu y p rod uct s
no t for w ha t they do , bu t for w ha t they m ean ; and. Sherry (1998)
com me nted that me anings are: continually emplaced in consum ers '
8/9/2019 The 'Value of Marketing' and 'the Marketing of Value' in Contemporary Times --A Literature Review and Research A…
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-value-of-marketing-and-the-marketing-of-value-in-contemporary 8/20
350 Sharon Ponsonby and Emily Boyle
perceived preference for and evaluation of those product attributes, attribute
performances, and consequences arising from use that facilitate (or block
achieving the customer's goals and purposes in use situations . This view
reinforced by Holbrook (1994, p. 27; 1999, p. 5), contends that consume
value is an: interactive, relativistic, preference experience . It is interactive
because the consum er interacts with the offering in its consumption (subject
object interaction). It is preferential because it embodies a preference
judgement. It is relativistic because it requires comparison between thi
experience and some other one; and, it is experiential because the value can
only be derived from experiencing the situation from which the value is
derived. The increasing awareness of the value creating potential of the
consumption experience has led Schmitt (1999) to argue that the primary
objective of marke ters today should be to create a valuable custome
experience .
Thus, marketers are increasingly focusing on the provision of positively
memorable everyday consumptions experiences and have examined the
driving experience , the cooking experience , the shop ping experience
the cleaning experience , the clothes-wearing experience , the dining
experience , the on-line experience as poten tial sources of value (Pine and
Gilmore 1999; Schmitt 1999). Advertisers, for example, are now less likely to
focus on the attributes of a product that make it worthy of purchase by the
customer and are more likely to portray the product as part of a holistic
experience. As a consequence, products such as toothpaste and shampoo
which were formerly promoted on the basis of their product attributes and
benefits, are now likely to be promoted as pa rt of a grooming in the
bathroom experience (Schmitt 1999).
The success of any experience in providing consumers with added valu
can be gauged from their willingness to repeat it. they have a strong desir
to repeat it, then significant value has been created. This means ttiat the
experience has aroused strong, positive, symbolically meaningful feeling
and emotions in the consumer. Wolf (1999) suggested that there has been
cultural shift away from buying real goo ds to buying feel goods
Typically the positive value added through feel goods can range from
delight, desire, aspiration, nostalgia, sensuality and entertainment as well a
many others. The symbolic meanings that consumers often derive from thes
feelings can cause them to form emotional bonds with items they purchas
and to view them as evidence of their self identity or as reflections of thei
deeply held values (Brown 2001; Cova 1997; Gobe 2001; Pine and Gilmor
8/9/2019 The 'Value of Marketing' and 'the Marketing of Value' in Contemporary Times --A Literature Review and Research A…
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-value-of-marketing-and-the-marketing-of-value-in-contemporary 9/20
The 'Value of M arketin g' and the 'M arke ting of Va lue' 351
Furthermore they can also serve as a social link among people (Cova 1997,
2003),
as in the case of the admiration of cult objects by sub-cultural
groupings who use them to form social bonds or attain linking value.
The positive emotional consequences of a consumer's experience have
been referred to as em otional payoff and have been identified as abstract,
mu ltidime nsiona l, difficult-to-measure attribu tes (Zeithaml 1988). Zeitham l
(1988) considers that these have a higher-level impact than monetary or
cognitively based value factors (that is, value based on rational decision
making). Through an exploratory study, she found that consumers '
perceptions of the value of a food product changed as they moved from
purchasing it, to preparing it for consumption, and finally to consuming it.
She found that higher-level value factors are more common during the actual
consum ption process than d urin g earlier evaluation stages.
These higher-level factors m ay be eq uated w ith the concept of the intrinsic
aspects of cons um er va lue identified by Ho lbroo k (1994). These contrast w ith
the extrinsic aspects of value that relate essentially the product's attributes
and are the cornerstone of traditional views of value. Holbrook (1994)
developed a Ty pology of Co nsum er Value on the basis not only of its
extrinsic/ intrinsic dim ens ion bu t also its ac tive / reactive an d
self-
oriented/other-oriented dimensions. Active value can only be derived from
manipulating the product whereas reactive value can be gained through
mere observation. For example, the value of food might come from eating it,
but the value of a well-made suit of clothing is observable from the quality of
fabric, sewing and style. Self-oriented value refers to personal feelings of
satisfaction derived from consumption for the benefit of oneself, whereas
other-oriented value is concemed with the positive emotional response felt
from giving someone else satisfaction or from conspicuously partaking
socially in a consumption activity (Cova 1997, 2003; Muniz and O'Guinn
2001).
Thus, for example, Zeithaml (1988, p.l4) cited the case of mothers'
increased perceptions of the value of consuming fruit juice when their
children m entio ned them .. .or evide nced th an ks ; and , Cova (1997, 2003)
and Muniz and O'Guinn (2001) have noted that consumers derive value from
interacting with each o ther an d h avin g a shared interest in the object w hich is
often the cause of them being together in various contexts (e.g. sub-cultural
groupin gs' ritual gatherings).
Using these three dimensions, Holbrook identified eight types of
consumer value - four of which are extrinsic and analogous with traditional
views of value. The other four, in which intrinsic factors are significant, are
8/9/2019 The 'Value of Marketing' and 'the Marketing of Value' in Contemporary Times --A Literature Review and Research A…
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-value-of-marketing-and-the-marketing-of-value-in-contemporary 10/20
352 Sharon Ponso nby an d Emily Boyle
the aestheticisation of everyday life referred to by Cova 1997) - for examp
the value derived from listening to a certain piece of music or appreciati
an oil painting. The value of ethics derives from actively providing add
satisfaction for others, as in the fruit juice example above; and, that
spirituality from the ecstasy derived during certain experiences. Holbro
(1994, p . 55) cites Perry w ho in 1954 desc ribed a class of states vagu
described as 'exaltation' and 'rapture' accompanied by a 'sense of union
For those concerned this is sup rem e valu e . . .good .. .abov e all other goods
Desp ite the deve lopm ent of this typolog y of intrinsic value, question s s
rem ain a bou t how ma rketers can use it to fulfil the ma rke ting co ncept. This
because not only are customers' perceptions of a valuable experience high
pe rson al (even if, o n occasions sh ared w ith o the rs (Cova 1997, 2003
individualistic and idiosyncratic, they are also conditional on the situation
which the experience occurs (Zeithaml 1988; Holbrook 1994). An experien
that is considered valuable by one consumer (or group of consumers) in o
situation may be conside red as a major cost in ano ther. The consu me
mood state, purpose in seeking the experience, other emotional factors a
even the environm ent in which the experience occurs can all imp act up on
value creating capacity (Bitner 1992). Again, aspects of an experience valu
by one consumer may seem extremely costly for another or be de-valued.
Baker et al. (2002) argue that just as the factors adding to the perceiv
va lue of an experience can rang e from lower level to higher level, so too c
perceive d cost factors. Costs ran ge from m on etary to cognitive to psychic a
even to physiological. Cognitive cost factors are those that the consumer
rationally and consciously aware of and are similar to the concept
opportunity costs in economic theory. The time spent doing one thi
instead of another is an example of this. Psychic cost factors refer to t
nega tive emo tional consequen ces of an experience, the best exam ple of whi
is probably the stress caused by it. This type of cost is intrinsic and is t
opp osite of intrinsic value . Physiological costs refer to the d etrim enta l impa
that an experience might have on a consumer's physical well being (Baker
al. 2002).
The impact of background music playing during customers ' shoppi
experiences provides a typical example of a factor that can create eith
psychic value or psychic costs. Evidence from Aylott and Mitchell (1999) a
others suggests that it typically lowers consumers' psychic costs and m
even add to their experience value. However, Brown and Reid (1997) fou
that it had the opposite effect among some members of their sample
8/9/2019 The 'Value of Marketing' and 'the Marketing of Value' in Contemporary Times --A Literature Review and Research A…
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-value-of-marketing-and-the-marketing-of-value-in-contemporary 11/20
The 'Va lue of M arketin g' and the 'M arketin g of Va lue' 353
and, even possibly physiological factors for customers; or, it can be costly
only in monetary terms but valuable in terms of the intrinsic value adding
benefits of the experience. This is because there are at least two types of
sho ppin g - task oriented and recreational (Eroglu an d H arell 1986). For task
oriented shoppers, shopping is an essential activity that they have to do
which gives them little pleasure. The costs are monetary, cognitive in terms
of time spent on the task and, possibly, psychic in terms of stress suffered.
Typical shopping stressors include perceived crowding, long queuing and
waiting times, poorly laid out stores, the unanticipated location of items and
badly beh av ed child ren (Aylott and Mitchell 1999).
In contrast to task oriented shoppers, recreational shoppers gain various
types of value from the experience because for them, shopping is
pleasura ble in a nd of
itself .
They have little interest in making an
immediate purchase. For them, time is not a cognitive cost and perceived
crow ding n eed not be stressful (Eroglu an d H arell 1986). They are ha pp y
browsing, actively seeking information about offerings and comparing the
characteristics of similar items in different shops. These shoppers often make
impulse purchases. When they do, they often feel a real sense of euphoria,
perhaps akin to Holbrook's ecstasy, which adds significantly to the psychic
value of the experience (Brown and Reid 1997).
ummary
n
sum ma ry, then, this pap er has show n that because of the recent
development of the economic and business environment from an industrial
to a post-industrial state, the classical views of value p reviou sly accep ted by
marketers which focused solely on value created through the production
process is no longer tenable by marketers wanting to fulfil the marketing
concept adequately. Recent research has indicated that consumers can gain
significant value from the purchasing and consumption experience and that
this value derives largely from their positive symbolically meaningful
emotional response to the experience. This type of value is sometimes
referred to as intrinsic or psychic value.
From the traditional economic viewpoint, value is what is left after the
costs of the experience have been deducted. Sometimes when a customer has
a bad experience, the costs (for example, monetary, cognitive, psychic and
physiological) can be greater than any value gained from it. Furthermore the
literature suggests that the nature of consumers' intrinsic, psychic value and
costs are situational, personal (or personally shared) and idiosyncratic (Cova
8/9/2019 The 'Value of Marketing' and 'the Marketing of Value' in Contemporary Times --A Literature Review and Research A…
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-value-of-marketing-and-the-marketing-of-value-in-contemporary 12/20
354 Sharo n Ponsonb y an d Emily Boyle
understandable and thus usable. As the Marketing Science Institute (199
2000, p .5) has note d, that un de rsta nd ing the custom er expe rience is one
two key issues that dese rve intensive research attention at the pre sen t tim
Research Imp lications and genda
In light of the foregoing discussion, it is clear that a key research questio
that needs to be answered concerns the factors that cause individualistic (o
personally shared), situational perceptions of intrinsic experiential value. T
answer this question, as the Marketing Science Institute (1998-2000, p. 5
notes multidisciplinary perspectives need to be used. Con sume r researc
has led the way in this by accepting creative, philosophical, humanistic, an
artistic concepts and methods as well as those from other social science
including semiology, anthro polo gy, psycholog y and psych oanalysis (Pin
and Gilmore 1999; Holbrook 1995; Schmitt 1999; Gobe 2001; Brown 2001
Furthermore, consumer research is becoming increasingly integrated int
marketing research and its methodologies are increasingly being applied
ma rketin g man age m ent issues (see Zajonc and Marcu s 1982; Hirs chm an an
Holbrook 1982, Brown and Reid 1997; Patterson et al. 1998; Carson et a
2001).
In particular, despite criticism from some researchers (Campbell 199
Uu sitalo 1996) the subjective, person al introspection m eth od strongl
advocated by Holbrook (1995) has now gained favour with a number o
marketing researchers including Brown and Reid (1997) and Patterson et a
(1998) and has been effectively used by them. This research method ha
proved particularly useful for gaining information about a consumer
individual perceptions of events and experiences. It is thus anticipated th
by combining evidence gleaned from using this research method to asse
the experiential value that the researcher him/herseK and consumers gai
from an event, with evidence derived from more traditional social scienc
techniques and instruments for analysing the factors affecting the consumer
responses to the event, progress can be made in answering the researc
question posited above .
Using Holbrook's (1994) basic view that experiential value results fro
consumers' interaction with the object (an product, service, event) it
surmised that consumers ' experiential value/cost perceptions result fro
three sets of factors. Therefore, it is important to consider the nature and sta
of the consumer at the time of the event, the characteristics of the event, an
the impact of contextual factors, particularly the socio-cultural factors. Usin
8/9/2019 The 'Value of Marketing' and 'the Marketing of Value' in Contemporary Times --A Literature Review and Research A…
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-value-of-marketing-and-the-marketing-of-value-in-contemporary 13/20
8/9/2019 The 'Value of Marketing' and 'the Marketing of Value' in Contemporary Times --A Literature Review and Research A…
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-value-of-marketing-and-the-marketing-of-value-in-contemporary 14/20
356 Sharon Ponsonby and Emily Boyle
affecting the consumers (Hoyer and Maclnnis 2001). Finally, the impact o
the environment and ambience in which the event/group situation too
place could be ascertained through follow-up interviews (Bitner 1992; Bake
et al. 2002). Where appropriate, statistical techniques may be used to ensur
the validity and reliability of the findings.
It is only through research of this type that some kind of codifie
generalisable knowledge set relating to the factors affecting consumers
perceptions of experiential value/costs will emerge. However, given th
claims tha t research of this natu re would be a monumental task by those wh
have attempted to ascertain the nature and types of consumer value whic
exist (Holbrook 1999), and the emerging insights into the limitations o
exploring use value in the context of mere subject-object interaction (Cov
1997, 2003), one might ask whether this is a feasible exercise. Furthermor
one would need to consider that those marketers with post-modem
ideologies and an incredulity towards meta-narratives have suggested tha
research which aims to gain a holistic understanding of any phenomenon is
pointless exercise, is modern ist in tenor, and thu s not suitable or appropriat
for contemporary times. This includes Holbrook's widely accepted
Typology of Consumer Value .
on lusion
Marketers' neglect of the value adding potential of the consumption
experience in the past was a consequence of the separation of production and
consumption du ring industrialisation, often equ ated w ith the mo dem era b
prop onents of post-modern marketing (Firat and Venkatesh 1993, 1996
However, in this post-industrial, information or sign economy (Baudrillard
1981), marketers are becoming increasingly aware that they are both part o
the overall value adding process in the same way that the body and mind ar
part of a single entity. But just as the body and mind function in differen
ways within this entity, so too do the value adding aspects of production an
consumption. The value adding potential of consumption is typicall
intrinsic, psychic, personal (or personally shared) and situational. Thi
contrasts with the extrinsic value added through the production process
which is cognitive and instrumental.
Despite the existing lack of coherence of information relating to th
manifestation of intrinsic value, there is evidence that som e firms' customer
experience it. Successful firms/brands such as Nike, Apple Macintosh, Har
Rock Cafe, Starbucks, Virgin and Singapore Airlines often have loyal cu
8/9/2019 The 'Value of Marketing' and 'the Marketing of Value' in Contemporary Times --A Literature Review and Research A…
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-value-of-marketing-and-the-marketing-of-value-in-contemporary 15/20
The 'Value of M arke ting' and the 'Ma rketing of Va lue' 357
experiential value to work from, particularly that which shifts beyond
subject-object interaction to the consumer-consumer interaction which
involves the consumption of their product. If firms wish to move beyond
building cognitive types of customer loyalty (for example, loyalty
programmes), they must understand the micro and the broader macro
context of consumption and its value in contributing to well being. They
must also understand as well as individual-level consumption, the micro-
social level of consumption to which sub-cultural groupings belong because
consumers may conduct repeat purchases as a consequence of their loyalty to
the social group, not necessarily the brand. The research outlined above
could pr ov ide th e first step in this.
References
Aylott, Russell an d Mitchell, Vincent-W ayne (1999), A n Exp loratory Stud y
of Grocery Shopping Stressors , British Food Journal September 1999 No.
9, pp.683-700
Band, William, A. (1991), reating
Value for Customers
N ew York, John W iley
and Sons
Baker, Julie (1998), Ex am ining th e Informational V alue , In: Servicescapes
The Concept of Place in Contemporary Markets (Ed.), Sherry, John, F.
Linco lnwo od, N TC B usiness Books, pp.55-80
Baker, Julie, Parasuraman, A., Grewal, Dhruv and Voss, Glenn, B. (2002),
The Influence of M ultiple Store Enviro nm ent Cues o n Perceived
Merchandise Value and Patronage Intentions , Journal
of M arketing
April,
No. 2, pp.120-140
Baudri l lard, Jean (1981), For a Critique of the Political Economy of the Sign St
Louis, Telos
Belk, Russell (1996), O n Aur a, Illusion, Escape, an d Ho pe in Apocalyptic
C o n su m p t i o n , I n :
Marketing A pocalypse Eschatology Escapology and the
Illusion of the End (Eds.), Brown, Stephen, Bell, Jim, and Carson, David
(London), Routled ge, pp.87-107
Bitner, M ary-Jo (1982), Servicescapes: The Impac t of Physical Su rrou nd ing s
on Customers and Employees ,
Journal
of Marketing Ap ril, No . 2, pp.57-71
Brown, Stephen (1995), Postmodern Marketing London, Routledge
Brown, Step hen , Bell, Jim an d Ca rson, D avid (1996), Apo caholics
A no ny m ou s. Looking Back on the End of Ma rketing , In: Marketing
Apoca lypse Eschatology Escapology and the Illusion ofthe End
(Eds.) , Brown,
Stephe n, Bell, Jim a nd Carson, D avid, Lon don, R outledge, pp.1-20
8/9/2019 The 'Value of Marketing' and 'the Marketing of Value' in Contemporary Times --A Literature Review and Research A…
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-value-of-marketing-and-the-marketing-of-value-in-contemporary 16/20
358 Sharon Ponso nby and Emily Boyle
Brown Stephe n an d Reid, R. (1997), Sh opp ers on the Verge of a N ervo u
Breakdown , In:
Consumer Research: Postcards from the Edge
(Eds.), Br
Steph en and Turiey, Da rach (Lon don), Rou tledge, pp.79-149
Brown, Stephen (2001), To rmen t Your Cu stom ers (They'll Love It) ,
Harv
usiness Review
October, N o, 9, pp.82-88
Buttle, Francis (1994), Editorial - a N ew P arad igm Research in M arketing
European Journal of Marketing
Au gust-Sep temb er, N os. 8/9, pp.8-11
Campbell, Anthony (1975),
The Mechanics of
Enlightenment
An Examinati
the Teaching ofthe Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
Lo ndo n, Victor Gollancz Ltd
Cam pbell, Colin (1996), Rom anticism, Co nsu m ptio n and Introspection , I
Consumption and Marketing: Macro Dimension (Eds.), Belk, Russel
Dholakia, Nikhilesh and Verikatesh, Alladi (Cincinnati, Ohio), Sout
western College Publications, pp.96-103
Carson, David, Gilmore, Audrey, Perry, Chad and Gronhaug, Kjell (2001
Qualitative M arketing Research
Londo n, Sage
Ca runa, A lbert, M oney, Arth ur, H. an d B erthon, Pierre, R. (2000), Servi
Quality and Satisfaction - the Moderating Role of Value , European Jou
of M arketing No vem ber-Dec em ber, Nos.11/12, pp.1338-1352
Christopher, Martin, Payne, Adrian and Ballantyne, David (1991
Relationship
Marketing Oxford, Heinemann
Collier, Da vid, A. (1991), N ew M ark etin g Mix Stresses Service ,
Journa
usiness Strategy
1991,
N o. 2, pp.42-45
Cova, Bernard (1997), Co m m un ity and Con sum ptio n - To w ard s a Definitio
of the Link ing Va lue of Pro du ct or Services , European Journal
Marketing A pril, N os. 3/4, pp.297-316
Cova, Bernard (2003), An alyzin g and Playing w ith Tribes W hich Co nsum e
Ma rketing Ed
E-Comm erce
pp.66-89
Eroglu, Sevgin and H arre ll, Gilbert, D. (1986), Retail cro w din g: theoretic
and strategic implications .
Journal
of Retailing Winter, No. 4, pp.346-36
Firat, A. Fuat an d Venk atesh, Alladi (1993), Po stm od em ity: the Age
Marketing ,
Intemational Journal of Research in Marketing
August, No
pp.227-49
Firat, A. Fua t and Ven katesh, Alladi (1996), Postmode m Perspe ctives o
Consumption , In: Consumption and Marketing: Macro Dimension (Eds
Belk, Russell, Dholakia, Nikhilesh and Venkatesh, Alladi, Cincinna
South-Western College Publications, pp.234-265
Firat, A. Fuat and Dholakia, Nikhilesh, (1998), Consuming People: Fr
Political Economy to Theatres of Consumption
London, Routledge
Foxall, Gordon and Goldsmith, Robert. E. (1994), Consumer Psychology f
8/9/2019 The 'Value of Marketing' and 'the Marketing of Value' in Contemporary Times --A Literature Review and Research A…
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-value-of-marketing-and-the-marketing-of-value-in-contemporary 17/20
8/9/2019 The 'Value of Marketing' and 'the Marketing of Value' in Contemporary Times --A Literature Review and Research A…
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-value-of-marketing-and-the-marketing-of-value-in-contemporary 18/20
360 Sharon Ponson by and Emily Boyle
McGraw-Hill
M uniz, Albert M. Jr. and O 'Guin n, Thom as, C. (2001), Brand C om m un ity
Journal
of
Consumer
Research,
M arch, N o. 4, pp.412-432
Naumann, Earl (1995),
Creating Customer Value. The Pa th to Sustainab
Competitive
Advantage,
Cincinnati, OH, Thomson Executive Press
Par asu ram an, A. (1997), Reflectioris on Ch ang ing Com petitive A dva ntag
Through Customer Value , Journal of the Academy of Marketing Scienc
Sprin g, N o. 2, pp.154-161
Patterson, Anthony, Brown, Stephen, Stevens, Lorna and MacLaran, Paulin
(1998),
Ca sting a Critical T Ov er Caffrey's Irish Ale: Soft Wo rds , Strongl
Spoken , Journal
of Marketing
Management Octob er, N o. 7, pp.733-748
Pay ne, A drian a nd Holt, Sue (1999), A Review of the Value Literature an
Implications for Relationship Marketing,
Australasian Marketing Jouma
Janu ary, N o. 1, pp.41-51
Pearsall, John (1998), New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford, Clarendo
Press
Pep pers, Don and Rodgers, M artha (1995), A New M arketing Paradigm
Share of Customer Not Market Share ,
P lanning Review,
March/Apr i l , N
2,
pp.14
Piercy, N ige l, F. (1991), Market led Strategic Change, London, Thorsons
Pine, B. Joseph an d G ilmo re, Jam es, H . (1999), The Experience E conomy: Wo
Theatre
Every
Business
a Stage,
Boston, H arv ard Business School Press
Rava ld, A. an d Gron roos, Ch ristian (1996), The Value Concep t an
Relationship M arketing, European Joumal of Marketing, April, No . 2, pp .l
30
Robson, Ian an d R owe, Jim (1997), M arketin g - The W hore of Babylon?
European
Joumal of M arketing,
October, Nos. 9/10 pp.654-666
Schmitt, Bernd, H. (1999),
Experiential Ma rketing: How to Get Customers
Sense, Feel Think, Act, and Relate to Your Com pany and Brands, N ew Yo
Free Press
Sherry, John F. (1998), The Soul of the Co m pan y Store: Nik e Tow n Chicag
and the Emplaced Brandscape , In: Servicescapes, The Concept of Place
Contemporary Markets, (Ed.), Sherry, John, F., Linco lnwo od, NT C Busine
Books, pp.109-146
Solomon, Michael (1999), Consumer Behaviour Buying, Having and Being, N
Jersey, Prentice Hall
Treacy, Michael and Wiersema, Fred (1994),
The Discipline of
Market
Lead
London, BCA
olfMichael (1999), W elcome to the Entertainment
Economy,
Penguin Boo
8/9/2019 The 'Value of Marketing' and 'the Marketing of Value' in Contemporary Times --A Literature Review and Research A…
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-value-of-marketing-and-the-marketing-of-value-in-contemporary 19/20
The 'Valu e of M arke ting' and the 'M arke ting of Va lue' 361
Spring, No. 2, pp.139-153
W oodruffe, H elen (1997), Eschatology, Prom ise, H ope : the Uto pian Vision
of Consumer Research , European
Joumal of Marketing
October, Nos. 9/10
pp.667-676
Zajonc, Ro bert and M arcu s, H . (1982), Affective an d Co gnitive Factors in
Preferences ,
Joumal of
onsumer
Research
N o. 9, pp.123-131
Ze itham l, Valerie A. (1988), C on sum er Perception s of Price, Qu ality, and
Value: A Me ans-end M odel of Synthesis of Evide nce , Journal
of Marketing
July, N o. 3, pp.2-22
Uusitalo, Liisa (1996), H ow to Study Im aginary Aspects of C onsu m ption ,
In : Consumption and Marketing: Macro Dimension (Eds.), Belk, Russell,
Dholakia, Nikilesh and Venkatesh, Alladi, Ohio, South-Western College
Publications, pp.87-95
About the Authors
Sharon Ponsonby works in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Ulster.
Her main research interests are in the ethno-sociological aspects of the value
of consum ption.
Emily Boyle
is Head of the Research Graduate School of the Faculty of
Business an d M ana gem ent at the University of Ulster.
8/9/2019 The 'Value of Marketing' and 'the Marketing of Value' in Contemporary Times --A Literature Review and Research A…
http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/the-value-of-marketing-and-the-marketing-of-value-in-contemporary 20/20