Bobby Christopher CTL id: 105226-84

College of Technology London

Research Methodology
Critical review of:

Fam, K.-S. et al., 2011. In-Store marketing: a strategic perspective. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 23(2), pp.165 -76.

Tutor: Dr Wilson Ozuem Submitted By: Bobby Christopher CTL ID: 105226-84 UWL ID: 1003058 MBA (Term 2) Pathway: Marketing (Group 2) Module code: SBMA7006 Date of Submission: July 11th 2011

Bobby Christopher CTL id: 105226-84

Introduction
This assignment is a critical review of the paper written by Fam et al (2011) entitled, In-store marketing: a strategic perspective. This article was published in the Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 23, Issue 2, pp 165 176. The review of this paper provides arguments from the proposed title, research design, findings and it also evaluates the validity and reliability of the primary findings through questionnaires in this regard. The paper is summarised by discussing the contributions that the study has made. As a Marketing student this paper has been chosen as it can help add valuable information to the knowledge base, regarding the 2 major keys for in-store marketing strategies.

Summary of the paper

The research paper begins by discussing the need for in-store marketing strategies. It talks about the fact that recession has had a huge impact on consumers causing them to spend less hence shop less and that in turn has caused businesses to react by having huge discounted sales and increasing in-store promotions. Even though the final outcome states that there has been an increase in sales the sad point to be noted is that the profits of a business do not increase (Bennett, 1998). The key concepts that have been taken into discussion in this paper are that the in-store promotions can be classified into two dimensions. As such, (Fam et al., 2011) claim that the key dimensions which are in-store promotions and in-store price mark downs create excitement within the store environment (p. 170). Arguably, this is one of the factors that lead to the increase in purchases when a customer gets into the stores. Additionally, it may be well to note that these factors are both internal, as the title of the research suggests. One of the primary aims of this paper is to challenge the existing paradigm that in-store marketing is one of the best ways to promote the products and the activities in the store. Additionally, it has been claimed that global economics has had a huge impact on the marketing strategies that are carried out in a store. The study shows that an extensive review of the literature was performed and the key theories were identified and put into perspective. The result of the critical review was that the authors were able to formulate the research questions or the research hypotheses. Unlike many other research studies, the authors in this case have chosen to formulate a strategic framework with six propositions. The propositions are listed as follows: 1. The high-profile strategic group will have higher perceptions of the importance of both direct mail and mass media advertising. 2. The discount strategic group will have higher perceptions of the importance of both forms of in-store marketing, namely in-store promotions and price markdowns.

Bobby Christopher CTL id: 105226-84 3. Retailers with higher levels of perceived environmental uncertainty are likely to favour in-store promotion. 4. Retailers who give higher weighting to using price-promotions to create instore excitement will also have higher perceptions of in-store marketing. 5. Retailers who give higher weighting to using price-promotions to create a quality image will favour external marketing and disfavour in-store marketing. 6. Retailers who give a higher weighting to using price-promotions to react to competitors will favour price markdowns and disfavour external marketing. (Fam et al., 2011, pp.167, 168) These propositions that have been developed as a result of the literature review clearly define the objectives of the study. Also, they provide great clarity to the research title which is to investigate the in-store marketing strategies. It has also been observed that while the research objectives or the research propositions cannot possibly answer all questions regarding the research, the propositions that have been proposed are fairly well constructed and cover every area in the subject of in-store marketing. These propositions meet the criterion that is required for a good research question (Tharenou et al., 2007). The methodology section of the research is detailed and covers most of the questions that may arise as to the collection of the data and the sampling methods that have been used. The analysis of the data has been done through ANOVA analysis and presumably SPSS. The detailed descriptions that are provided by the researchers

Purpose and Rationale of the Paper

The title of the research paper clearly indicates the objectives that it is set to achieve a strategic approach to in-store marketing. There seems to be not too much literature in this area and the authors have been able to identify the key theories that are needed for this paper. This topic is a good topic for discussion as it is a fact that most customers make judgements and final decisions on products once they are in the store. According to (Agnew, 1987) many customers do not make up their minds until they are in the store and see what they like, studies show that over two thirds of decisions on brands and items in the supermarket were actually made once the customer was in the store. Fam et al (2011) have been able provide a clear aspect on the purpose of the research paper by stating what they intend to accomplish with this study. The research papers main focus is on the retail strategy approach to promotion mix decisions. The authors (Fam et al., 2011, p.166) intend to address the main topic by taking two key aspects into consideration: which are to address the two key dimensions of the in-store marketing strategies and to bridge the gaps in the impact of the external environment on the in-store marketing objectives. The personal rational for this research study could stem from the fact that the authors are all professors in the marketing field and as a result, this study would certainly help them in the progress that they could achieve in terms of the knowledge that they would gain from the study. Also, with the subject of in-store marketing, there are several avenues that can be studied; however, these aspects of in-store marketing have been studied in this research as

Bobby Christopher CTL id: 105226-84 they appeal to the authors. They bring into consideration that though there are other key areas that can be studied to improve in-store marketing strategies; they have still chosen these two key dimensions as they appeal to them the most (p. 165). The authors come from very strong background of marketing research as all of them are professors and work in the field of marketing. As such, this provides for a strong justification of the personal rational for choosing this topic. These areas have also been supported through evidence (such as Fam & Yang, 2006; Jin & Kim, 2003) and others (p. 166). These areas have been identified by several authors as the primary areas that need to be investigated with respect to in-store marketing. As per the academic knowledge that the paper is supposed to provide, the justification is that this paper will provide an insight into the in-store marketing strategies that are followed in the retail sector, with particular emphasis on the New Zealand market. This paper will also provide insight particularly into the retail marketing strategies of the in-store promotions with special reference to small countries. As such, the academic justification for the study is found to be in order. With respect to the business rationale, this authors claim that this paper will provide an insight into the strategic aspects of in-store marketing which are becoming more and more common in the modern business world (example TESCO, ASDA, and Lidl in the UK).

Theoretical Framework
Before carrying out a deductive study, it is imperative that the theoretical frameworks should be established. Also, factors such as what is known about the research topic should be clearly identified. This sets the perspective for the research and researchers can carry on from where previous researchers have left out. Tharenou et al (2007) state that A theoretical framework, no matter how tentative, is needed to structure the study, so as not to be overwhelmed by the amount of data and not end up just in a descriptive narrative. (p. 84) Having considered the importance of the theoretical framework, it is evident that the researchers have spent adequate time on identifying and discussing relevant theories on this subject in-store promotions and marketing. However, the literature review is very brief which could be an indication that the researchers went into the study with pre-conceived notions or in other words, researcher bias. The authors also state that although there are many more avenues to consider when it comes to in-store promotions and marketing strategies, they have focused on in-store promotions and price markdowns as these seem to the most important factors related to in-store marketing (according to Fam & Yang, 2006; Jin & Kim, 2003) (p. 166, 167). The authors seem to have been able to identify most of the relevant studies that are related to the topic in question, despite the lack of adequate studies on the subject. Also, as the authors have acknowledged, there are indeed more studies that are related to the store atmosphere and the spatial stock management aspects of in-store marketing. As such, this topic makes a

Bobby Christopher CTL id: 105226-84 good topic for a research study seeing that there are not too many studies already conducted in this area. One of the major flaws that seem to come across through the literature review is the fact that most of the studies that have been identified and discussed have taken place more than 5 years prior to this research. This could either indicate that no one has ventured to conduct research in this area or that the researcher has been unable to identify current/ recent studies around the subject. For instance, one of the more recent studies that has been ignored/ omitted/ missed by the researchers is the study by Smith & Sinha (2000) which is quite relevant to the topic of in-store promotions. Although this study may also be more than 5 years older, it is certainly more recent than many of the other research papers that have been identified by the authors. Critically, the authors, although they have managed to identify most of the research papers that pertain to the topic in question, it may have been better if they could have studied the literature a little more than that did. Fam et al (2011) have proposed research propositions instead of research questions or research hypotheses. However, it seems unlikely that 6 propositions can be proposed from such a short literature review. Although the propositions seem to be well founded, there may certainly be an aspect of researcher bias in the formulation of these propositions. The reason for that is the fact that the literature has not been discussed in detail and even though the authors have introduced the works of several researchers, the discussion and the presentation seems to be like they are just supporting their personal views rather than analysing their findings and conclusions. According to Gill & Johnson (2002, p. 152) ...without a theoretical framework the researcher is in danger of providing description without wider meaning. Overall, there seems to be a lack of the development of the theory in order to arrive at the propositions. Also, since the literature review is very short, the credibility of the research propositions can be questioned. Additionally, the review of the literature does not provide a strong framework for the development of the research. Due to these reasons, it is highly probable that the findings that emerge from this study may be subject to researcher bias and also may not be credible as the literature review does not show that the researcher has sufficiently studies the existing literature.

Sampling and Data Collection Methods

The nature of this study is a deductive, explanatory study. The authors have formulated the testing criteria (the hypotheses) from the literature which have the elements that have to be tested. As such the study can be called a hypotheses testing study. According to (Sekaran, 1992), hypotheses testing explains the various relationships between the variables that are being tested. He goes on to say that testing hypothesis can provide much more insight into the relationships and the nature in which the variables are interlinked to each other. The research design that is followed here in this study is a questionnaire. The proposed population for the sample were the clothing and shoe retailers in New Zealand. It may be argues that food retailers should have also been included in the study as the food retailers are also involved in in-store marketing strategies. The absence of testing the propositions with

Bobby Christopher CTL id: 105226-84 respect to the food retailers may have a limited effect on the validity and the reliability on the study. In other words, this study may not be generalisable to the entire retail industry as the sample does not consider the food retailers as well as the other general retail stores. As such, although the validity of the research may not be limited by too much, it can be argued that general retail outlets and food retail stores should have also been considered for the sample. Additionally, the sample should have consisted of the customers and the other levels of employees so as to eliminate all respondent bias (Wright & Marsden, 2010). The research design section of the paper states that the questionnaire was pre tested before actually sending them out to the field (Fam et al., 2011, p.169). However, although the results of the pre-testing have not been mentioned, it can be assumed that the necessary corrections were made and that the questionnaire was error free to the highest possible extent. This does not remove the element that the questionnaire may still have a certain degree of error in them. However, it does ascertain the fact that the questionnaire was tested and checked for any anomalies. The process of determining the sample has also been explicitly stated. The sample for the study consisted of the managers of the retail outlets as they were the ones who made the decisions about the in-store marketing campaigns. However, although the marketing decisions are made by the managers, it may have been useful to include the perspective of the employees as well (Wright & Marsden, 2010). To get a clearer understanding of the measures that are being tested, it is advisable that the sample should include any variable that may affect the outcome of the result. The sampling frame was taken from the yellow pages in which the list of clothing and shoe retail stores were identified. However, the reliability of the yellow pages can be questioned as the records are not updated in real time. Some of the details on the yellow pages may be incorrect and as a result, the reliability of the data that is received from the yellow pages can be questioned. The response rate from this survey indicated that only 39% of the recipients of the questionnaire responded to the survey. This may be an indication that the questions in the survey may not have been framed properly or may not have been as clear and concise as required to produce a better result (Kothari, 2004). Although it was stated that the questionnaire were tested before fielding them, there are chances that there may have been some errors in the questionnaire that might have led to the low response rate. Also, since the questionnaire was mailed out to the respondents, there is no surety that the intended person may have replied to the mail and there is no surety that the person may have even looked at the mail. As such, care should have been taken to inform the intended recipients about the survey. Fam et al (2011) have not ensured that the recipients were notified about the surveys in any other way other than emails. This may have been another factor that caused the low response rate. It may also be argued that the reason for the low response rate could be due to the fact that the sample was chosen from the yellow pages and that many of the intended recipients may not have received the questionnaire (Fam et al., 2011, p.169). This is another factor that could deter the reliability and the validity of the findings. Although it may not be a huge factor, it could certainly lead to error in computation and analysis. Although the researchers state that they have tested the questions for non-response bias, it may be a possibility that although there seemed to be no bias evident from the responses,

Bobby Christopher CTL id: 105226-84 there could have been an element of response bias in the survey. Any bias in a survey undermines the validity and the reliability of the study. With as response rate of just 39%, the possibility of response bias is high and as such, the validity and the reliability of the study suffer to an extent (Kothari, 2004). According to a study by Baruch (1999), it was found that the average response rate for a study that involved collecting data from managerial level representatives was just about 36% and studies that involved middle management level representatives had an average response rate of about 60%. Considering these factors, it may be safe to assume that the response rate that was received by the researchers in this study was below par, the reason being that most of the managers in the survey represented middle level managers. As such, the reliability and the validity of the study may be greatly affected by the low response rates in this case. The second objective of the study was ...to identify the capabilities that lead to successful application of in-store marketing, especially in-store promotions. (Fam et al., 2011, p.169). The 18 promotional activities that were taken into consideration were the ones that were identified by Merrilees & Fam (1999). Considering the fact that this research was published in the International Review of Retail Distribution & Consumer Research, this was a good model to choose in order to evaluate the various in-store promotional activities. The analysis and the interpretations of the data was done by ANOVA analysis which was used to ascertain whether there is a significant difference between the high and low performers for any particular activity, such as having creative wall posters, coordinating media, forecasting demand, etc. (Fam et al., 2011, pp.169,170). The methods of interpreting the data have been clearly specified.

Generalisability, Validity and Reliability

From the critical review, it is seen that there are a few problems that are observed with respect to the sampling methods. The first problem with the sample frame and the sample is the credibility of the sample. This sample frame was extracted from the yellow pages which may contain invalid details and also incorrect details at times. As such, the credibility of the sample suffers. This is turn affects the validity and the generalisability of the findings. Another primary factor that affects the generalisability of this study is that the sample was chosen from the yellow pages of which the response rate was just about 39%. The low response rate and the sample frame may place a limitation on the generalisability of the findings in this study. Additionally, the participants for the survey were middle level managers in the retail outlets of only the shoe and clothing stores. As such, the sample may not be a representation of the ideal population which should have included the customers as well as the employees at various other levels. Also, the question of researcher bias as well as respondent bias also seems to exist in this study which further undermines the validity and the generalisability of the study (Kothari, 2004).

Bobby Christopher CTL id: 105226-84

Contributions to Knowledge
With this study, (Fam et al., 2011) aimed to add to the knowledge base of the existing literature around the topic of in-store promotions. While this paper does add to the existing knowledge around the topic, the credibility of the study can be questioned. One of the reasons as to why the study can be questioned is that the literature review is very brief and does not discuss any issue in detail. As the authors claim, there are not many studies in the area of in-store marketing with respect to in-store promotions and price mark downs. Interestingly, it is indeed true that there are more studies that are concerned with the in-store atmosphere and the other aspects of the instore marketing than in-store promotions and price mark downs. As such, this paper does provide an insight into the various practices that are undertaken in the retail industry, with particular emphasis on the shoe and clothing sectors (with special emphasis on New Zealand). Although it may be assumed that the propositions for the research were researcher biased, the findings proved that the researchers views were in fact correct. Crucially, where the authors had set out to examine two key dimensions of in-store marketing (Fam et al., 2011, p.165), they have been able to achieve this goal.

Recommendations
The key recommendations that stem from this critical review can be summed up by the following: The sample frame should be a more reliable source than the yellow pages which often tends to have out-dated information and incorrect information as well The sample should have consisted of other levels of employees as well as customers. The reason being that the customers may be the among the best persons to be able to identify if a particular in-store marketing strategy is working or not and also, it would prevent the findings from being biased to the point of view of the managers. The literature review of this study is very brief, thus undermining the credibility of the study. As such, the literature review of a deductive study should have more importance so as to increase the validity of the study.

Conclusion
Fam et al (2011) have brought out an interesting aspect of in-store marketing an area that has not been explored much in previous studies. This study has provided an insight into the promotional strategies that retail outlets undertake, with special reference to in-store promotions and price markdowns. Interestingly, both these strategies seem to be targeting one particular area of the consumers behaviour the in-store excitement that drives consumers to purchase more. The authors have also discussed the various related theories concerning in-store marketing and have also managed to bridge the gap in the studies, i.e., they have explored the previously unexplored area of the in-store marketing strategies promotions and price markdowns.

Bobby Christopher CTL id: 105226-84

Works Citied
Agnew, J., 1987. P-O-P displays are becoming a matter of consumer convenience. Marketing News, October. p.14. Alvarez, A.B. & Casielles, R.V., 2005. Consumer evaluations of sales promotion:the effect on brand choice. European Journal of Marketing, 39(1), pp.54-70. Baruch, Y., 1999. Response rate in academic studies - a comprative analysis. Human Relations, 52, pp.421-38. Belk, R.W., 2006. Handbook of Qualitative Research Methodds in Marketing. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd. Bennett, R., 1998. Customer recall of promotional displays at supermarket checkouts: arousal, memory and waiting in queues. International Review of Retail, Distribution & Consumer Research, 8(4), pp.383-98. Dawson, D.C., 2002. Practical Research Methods. Oxford: How To Books Ltd. Fam, K.-S. et al., 2011. In-Store marketing: a strategic perspective. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, 23(2), pp.165-76. Fam, K.S. & Yang, Z., 2006. Primary influences of environmental uncertainity on promotion budget allocation and performance: a cross-country study of retail advertisers. Journal of Business Research, 59(2), pp.23-31. Gill, J. & Johnson, P., 2002. Research Methods for Managers. 3rd ed. London: SAGE Publications Ltd. Jin, B. & Kim, J.-O., 2003. A typology of Korean discount shoppers: shopping motives, store attributes, and outcomes. International Journal of Service Industry Management, 14(4), pp.396419. Johnson, G. & Scholes, K., 1999. Exploring Corporate Strategy. 5th ed. London: Prentice Hall Europe. Kothari, C.R., 2004. Research Methodology: Methods and Techniques. 2nd ed. Bangalore: New Age International (P)Ltd Publishers. Merrilees, B. & Fam, K.S., 1999. Effective methods of managing retail sales. International Review of Retail Distribution & Consumer Research, 9(1), pp.81-92. Sekaran, U., 1992. Research methods for business: A skill-building approach. 2nd ed. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Smith, M.F. & Sinha, I., 2000. The impact of price and extra product promotions on store preference. International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, 28(2), pp.83-92. Tharenou, P., Donohue, R. & Cooper, B., 2007. Management Research Methods. New York: Cambridge University Press. Wright, J. & Marsden, P., 2010. Handbook of Survey Research. 2nd ed. Emerald Publishing Group.