ejm_cover_(i).qxd 3/18/04 2:47 PM Page Volume 38 Number 3/4 2004 ISBN 0-86176-932-5 ISSN 0309-0566 European Journal of Marketing Action research in marketing Guest Editor: Chad Perry www.emeraldinsight.com European Journal of Marketing ISSN 0309-0566 Volume 38 Number 3/4 2004 Action research in marketing Guest Editor Chad Perry Access this journal online 291 Editorial advisory board _ 292 Abstracts and keywords _ 293 French abstracts _ 296 German abstracts 299 Spanish abstracts 302 Guest editorial 305 COMMENTARY Action research in marketing Chad Perry and Evert Gummesson _ 310 Action research reviewed: a market-oriented approach David Ballantyne 321 Improving customer relationship management through database/Internet marketing: a theory-building action research project Chris O’Leary, Sally Rao and Chad Perry Access this journal electronically The current and past volumes of this journal are available at: www.emeraldinsight.com/0309-0566.htm You can also search over 100 additional Emerald journals in Emerald Fulltext at: www.emeraldinsight.com/ft See page following contents for full details of what your access includes 338 CONTENTS CONTENTS continued Action research in turbulent environments: an example in e-commerce prioritisation Elizabeth Daniel and Hugh N Wilson _ 355 Towards rigour in action research: a case study in marketing planning Hugh N Wilson 378 Generalising results of an action research project in one work place to other situations: principles and practice Frank Thompson and Chad Perry 401 Adapting action research to marketing: a dialogic argument between theory and practice Steven M Kates and Judy Robertson _ 418 There can be no learning without action and no action without learning: a case study Damien McLoughlin _ 433 Uncovering ‘‘theories-in-use’’: building luxury wine brands Michael Beverland _ 446 About the authors _ 467 www.emeraldinsight.com/ejm.htm As a subscriber to this journal, you can benefit from instant, electronic access to this title via Emerald Fulltext Your access includes a variety of features that increase the value of your journal subscription How to access this journal electronically To benefit from electronic access to this journal you first need to register via the Internet Registration is simple and full instructions are available online at www.emeraldinsight.com/ rpsv/librariantoolkit/emeraldadmin Once registration is completed, your institution will have instant access to all articles through the journal’s Table of Contents page at www.emeraldinsight.com/0309-0566.htm More information about the journal is also available at www.emeraldinsight.com/ ejm.htm Our liberal institution-wide licence allows everyone within your institution to access your journal electronically, making your subscription more cost effective Our Web site has been designed to provide you with a comprehensive, simple system that needs only minimum administration Access is available via IP authentication or username and password Key features of Emerald electronic journals Automatic permission to make up to 25 copies of individual articles This facility can be used for training purposes, course notes, seminars etc This only applies to articles of which Emerald owns copyright For further details visit www.emeraldinsight.com/ copyright Online publishing and archiving As well as current volumes of the journal, you can also gain access to past volumes on the internet via Emerald Fulltext Archives go back to 1994 and abstracts back to 1989 You can browse or search the database for relevant articles Key readings This feature provides abstracts of related articles chosen by the journal editor, selected to provide readers with current awareness of interesting articles from other publications in the field Reference linking Direct links from the journal article references to abstracts of the most influential articles cited Where possible, this link is to the full text of the article E-mail an article Allows users to e-mail links to relevant and interesting articles to another computer for later use, reference or printing purposes Additional complementary services available Your access includes a variety of features that add to the functionality and value of your journal subscription: E-mail alert services These services allow you to be kept up to date with the latest additions to the journal via e-mail, as soon as new material enters the database Further information about the services available can be found at www.emeraldinsight.com/usertoolkit/ emailalerts Emerald WIRE (World Independent Reviews) A fully searchable subject specific database, brought to you by Emerald Management Reviews, providing article reviews from the world’s top management journals Research register A web-based research forum that provides insider information on research activity world-wide located at www.emeraldinsight.com/researchregister You can also register your research activity here User services Comprehensive librarian and user toolkits have been created to help you get the most from your journal subscription For further information about what is available visit www.emeraldinsight.com/usagetoolkit Choice of access Electronic access to this journal is available via a number of channels Our Web site www.emeraldinsight.com is the recommended means of electronic access, as it provides fully searchable and value added access to the complete content of the journal However, you can also access and search the article content of this journal through the following journal delivery services: EBSCOHost Electronic Journals Service ejournals.ebsco.com Huber E-Journals e-journals.hanshuber.com/english/index.htm Ingenta www.ingenta.com Minerva Electronic Online Services www.minerva.at OCLC FirstSearch www.oclc.org/firstsearch SilverLinker www.ovid.com SwetsWise www.swetswise.com Emerald Customer Support For customer support and technical help contact: E-mail support@emeraldinsight.com Web www.emeraldinsight.com/customercharter Tel +44 (0) 1274 785278 Fax +44 (0) 1274 785204 EJM 38,3/4 EDITORIAL REVIEW BOARD Professor Nicholas Alexander University of Ulster, Northern Ireland Dr Ali Bin Al-Khalifa University of Bahrain, State of Bahrain Professor George Avlonitis Athens University of Economics & Business, Greece Professor Michael Baker Westburn Publishers Ltd, UK Dr Susan Baker Cranfield University, UK Professor John Balmer Bradford Management Centre, UK Professor Jim Bell University of Ulster, Magee College, Northern Ireland Professor Bjoărn Bjerke Malmoă University, Sweden Professor Stephen Brown University of Ulster at Jordanstown, Northern Ireland Professor Francis Buttle Macquarie University, Australia Professor Tamar Cavusgil Michigan State University, USA Professor Bill Clarke University of Ulster, Northern Ireland Professor Brett Collins Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand Professor Nicole Coviello University of Auckland, New Zealand Professor David Cravens Texas Christian University, USA Professor Anthony Cunningham Co Dublin, Ireland Professor Tevfik Dalgic University of Texas at Dallas, USA Dr Ken Deans University of Otago, New Zealand Professor Adamantios Diamantopoulos Loughborough University, UK Dr John Egan Middlesex University Business School, UK Professor John Fahy University of Limerick, Ireland Dr Kim Fam City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Professor Gordon R Foxall Cardiff University, UK Professor Pervez Ghauri Manchester School of Management, UMIST, UK Professor Christina Goulding University of Wolverhampton, UK Ken Grant Monash University, Australia Professor Gordon Greenley Aston Business School, UK Professor Kjell Grønhaug Norges Handelshoyskole, Norway Professor Lloyd Harris Cardiff Business School, UK Dr Phil Harris Manchester Metropolitan University, UK Professor Roy Hayhurst University of Limerick, Ireland Professor Graham J Hooley Aston Business School, UK European Journal of Marketing, Dr Gillian Hopkinson Vol 38 No 3/4, 2004 Lancaster University Management School, UK p 292 Professor Ga´bor Hova´nyi # Emerald Group Publishing Limited Panno´nia UTCA, Hungary 292 0309-0566 Professor Claes Hultman ă rebro University, Sweden O Professor Mark Jenkins Nottingham University Business School, UK Professor David Jobber University of Bradford, UK Dr La´szlo´ Ka´rpa´ti University of Debrecen, Hungary Professor Hans Kasper University of Maastricht, The Netherlands Professor Erdener Kaynak Pennstate Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, USA Professor David Kirby University of Surrey, UK Professor Philip Kitchen The University of Hull, UK Professor Simon Knox Cranfield University, UK Professor Raymond LaForge University of Louisville, USA Professor Uolevi Lehtinen University of Tampere, Finland Professor Barbara Lewis Manchester School of Management, UMIST, UK Professor Veronica Liljander Swedish School of Economics and Business Administration, Finland Professor Andrew McAuley University of Stirling, UK Professor Jan Mattsson Roskilde University, Denmark Professor Bill Merrilees Griffith University, Australia Professor Morgan Miles Georgia Southern University, USA Professor dr Carla Millar TSM Business School, The Netherlands Professor Luiz Moutinho University of Glasgow Business School, UK Professor Patrick Murphy University of Notre Dame, USA Professor Aron O’Cass The University of Newcastle, Australia Professor Adrian Palmer University of Gloucestershire, UK Professor Paul Patterson University of New South Wales, Australia Professor Chad Perry The Gap, Queensland, Australia Professor Nigel Piercy University of Warwick, UK Professor David Shipley University of Dublin, Ireland Dr Wai-sum Siu Hong Kong Baptist University, Hong Kong Professor Richard Speed Melbourne Business School, Australia Professor Peter Turnbull University of Birmingham, UK Professor Caroline Tynan Nottingham University Business School, UK Professor Eduard Urban University of Economics, Czechoslovakia Professor Salvatore Vicari Bocconi University, Milan, Italy Dr Cleopatra Veloutsou University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK Professor Martin Wetzels Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands Professor Len Tiu Wright De Montford University, UK Action research in marketing Chad Perry and Evert Gummesson Keywords Action learning, Marketing, Learning methods, Marketing strategy Develops a definition of action research that is particularly suitable for marketing and based on the articles in this issue of European Journal of Marketing, emphasising the breadth of action research in marketing and its distinctive interest in analytic generalisation, that is, in building a theory that extends beyond the particular situation that is being action researched to other situations The three sections of this commentary include: definition of traditional action research, action learning and case research Second, drawing of four implications from the articles within this special issue about how action research can be done in marketing Finally, presents a broad definition of action research in marketing Action research reviewed: a market-oriented approach David Ballantyne Keywords Action learning, Customer orientation, Knowledge management, Market orientation, Relationship marketing, Australia The purpose of this article is to provide an understanding of the methodology of action research, especially its use in a marketing context A retrospective account of a market-oriented action research project in which the author was involved is provided in the form of a summative evaluation of the methodology used The status of research claims for action research in scholarly publications is discussed and found to be problematic A hermeneutic case research pathway is recommended as a solution Links between action research as methodology and internal marketing as strategy are made A conclusion is reached that the basis of market-oriented action research is “knowledge renewal” This is achieved through an iterative process of action and learning, facilitated by the relationships formed between those involved Improving customer relationship management through database/Internet marketing: a theory-building action research project Chris O’Leary, Sally Rao and Chad Perry Keywords Internet marketing, Database marketing, Customer relations, Action learning Firms have only just begun to use the Internet to obtain customer information in their database marketing processes to enhance customer relationship management This research uses an action research approach to develop a new framework about how they can this The action research project was carried out in a large Australian database company because no other sources of empirical information about the topic were available and it could provide rich findings about an under-researched, practical area Results showed that integration of the Internet and database marketing enhances the effectiveness of customer relationship management practices For example, the Internet offers benefits such as increased consumer data collection accuracy and speed, cost savings, greater interaction and better relationships with customers This research also identifies that organizational culture, top management support and collaboration between marketing and IT teams need to be in place to provide a supportive environment that is critical for the success of the integration Action research in turbulent environments: an example in e-commerce prioritisation Elizabeth Daniel and Hugh N Wilson Keywords E-commerce, Action learning, Predictive techniques Planning tools originating from logical rational models of strategy formation still have their place in e-commerce, albeit complemented with elements of incrementalism and vision Tools for prioritisation specifically, though, are unvalidated in this sphere Action research would seem to be well suited to turbulent Abstracts and keywords 293 European Journal of Marketing Vol 38 No 3/4, 2004 Abstracts and keywords q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0309-0566 EJM 38,3/4 294 environments such as e-commerce, due to its immediacy of outcome, its future orientation, its respect for practitioners as co-producers of knowledge and its cyclical process An action research study is described which modifies the directional policy matrix (DPM) to take account of competition between business models, not just between individual organisations Conclusions are drawn on the wider applicability of the matrix, the role of strategy tools in situations of uncertainty, and the role of action research in reducing the gap between theory and practice Towards rigour in action research: a case study in marketing planning Hugh N Wilson Keywords Action learning, Marketing planning, Decision support systems, Data analysis, Bias A research study is described exploring the potential of decision support systems to improve marketing planning practice, using a combination of project action research and case research approaches The paper focuses on solutions to two practical methodological problems: how to analyse action research data in as rigorous a way as possible; and how to minimise the biases which can arise from the action researcher’s dual role as participant and observer In particular, the paper describes an adaptation of the research design termed analytic induction to the complex, multi-propositional theory common in action research, and indeed in much qualitative management research The findings of the study itself are also reported briefly Generalising results of an action research project in one work place to other situations: principles and practice Frank Thompson and Chad Perry Keywords Action learning, Analytical methods, Management research, Paradigms An action research project is usually restricted to improving one workgroup’s practices within one organisation However, after that project is done, some academics or consultants may want to try to generalise the findings from that one particular project to several other situations The aim of this paper is to identify the two scientific paradigms appropriate for each of these two purposes, and to identify the criteria that could be used to judge how well each purpose is achieved Essentially, it argues that the critical theory paradigm underlies the action research project of a workgroup within one organisation, and the realism paradigm underlies the generalisation from those findings to other situations Criteria from the two paradigms can be used to evaluate the validity and reliability of these two processes An example of how this has been done in practice is provided Adapting action research to marketing: a dialogic argument between theory and practice Steven M Kates and Judy Robertson Keywords Action learning, Organizational theory, Change management, Organizational culture The purpose of this article is to offer a perspective on adapting action research principles and methods in academic marketing research contexts From combined theoretical and practical perspectives, the article provides a dialogical argument about the issues associated with implementing action research, addressing three important and related questions First, are marketers specifically (and people in organizations, more generally) truly reflective? Is reflection suited to some organizations’ authoritarian realities? Second, how is a strong organizational culture a barrier to change and further learning, and how might this difficulty be overcome by action research? Third, what is the role of the researcher in the process, and what skills, knowledge, and influence must this person have to successfully implement an action research program? The article concludes by proposing that an incremental orientation to change and intervention effectiveness is needed for these approaches to work in demanding marketing contexts There can be no learning without action and no action without learning: a case study Damien McLoughlin Keywords Action learning, Marketing theory, Education, Curriculum development The purpose of this paper is to present an example of action learning in marketing – the unique postgraduate programme in marketing called the marketing development programme (MDP) This uniqueness arises in three main ways First, the MDP is open only to those students with no work experience Second, it employs action learning as the central pedagogy rather than an add-on Finally, it is a rolling programme with overlapping intakes and as such appears to have no beginning and no end There are two important streams of learning to be harvested from such a programme First, the MDP has for more than 20 years educated young marketers through affording them the opportunity to learn from marketing action within a supportive learning environment The second is that there can be no action without learning, that is, the MDP has learned from its experience and created new learning for participants as a result The paper concludes by considering the implications of the MDP for marketing education, theory and practice Abstracts and keywords Uncovering “theories-in-use”: building luxury wine brands Michael Beverland Keywords Wines, Brand names, Brand image, Premier brands Despite the high profile of many international luxury brands, little is known about the processes by which these brands are created and how their market position is maintained Research and practitioner experience suggests that these brands focus on building abstract, “timeless” images or dreams However, no systematic research has been carried out on the processes and strategies of luxury marketers Based upon case studies in the luxury wine trade, this research sought to uncover the tacit processes underlying the creation and maintenance of luxury wine brands Results highlight that luxury brands are a complex combination of dedication to product quality, a strong set of values, tacit understanding of marketing, a focus on detail, and strategic emergence 295 EJM 38,3/4 296 French abstracts Recherche active en mercatique Chad Perry et Evert Gummesson Mots-cle´s Apprentissage actif, Mercatique, Me´thodes d’apprentissage, Strate´gie de mercatique L’article met au point une de´finition de la recherche active qui convient particulie`rement bien a` la mercatique et qui est fonde´e sur les articles publie´s dans le nume´ro de European Journal of Marketing que voici; il souligne l’ampleur de la recherche active en mercatique et l’inte´reˆt distinct qu’elle montre envers la ge´ne´ralisation analytique, c’est-a`-dire l’e´laboration d’une the´orie qui va au-dela` de la situation particulie`re, qui est soumise a` la recherche active et applique´e a` d’autres situations Le commentaire que voici comprend les trois sections suivantes: il de´finit tout d’abord la recherche active traditionnelle, l’apprentissage actif et la recherche sur des cas pratiques Il tire ensuite quatre implications des articles renferme´s dans le nume´ro spe´cial que voici, concernant la manie`re dont la recherche active peut eˆtre entreprise en mercatique, et pour terminer il pre´sente une de´finition ge´ne´rale de la recherche active en mercatique Examen de la recherche active: une approche oriente´e vers le marche´ David Ballantyne Mots-cle´s Apprentissage actif, Orientation vers le consommateur, Mercatique interne, Gestion des connaissances, Orientation du marche´, Mercatique des rapports Le but de l’article que voici est de permettre de comprendre la me´thodologie poursuivie par la recherche active, surtout son utilisation dans un contexte de mercatique Il donne un compterendu re´trospectif sur un projet de recherche active oriente´ sur le marche´, dans lequel l’auteur fut implique´; ce compte-rendu prend la forme d’une e´valuation sommaire de la me´thodologie utilise´e Il discute l’e´tat actuel des demandes pour une recherche active dans les publications e´rudites et de´couvre la pre´sence de proble`mes Il recommande l’herme´neutique comme solution pour la recherche pratique Il e´tablit des rapports entre la recherche active en tant que me´thodologie et la mercatique interne en tant que strate´gie Il arrive a` la conclusion que le fondement de la recherche active oriente´e vers le marche´ re´side dans le ‘‘renouveau des connaissances’’ Ce renouveau s’obtient par un processus ite´ratif d’action et d’apprentissage, facilite´ par les rapports qui se forment entre les personnes implique´es European Journal of Marketing Vol 38 No 3/4, 2004 French abstracts #Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0309-0566 Ame´liorer la gestion des relations avec les clients au moyen de la mercatique sur bases de donne´es/par l’Internet: un projet de recherche active qui permet d’e´laborer une the´orie Chris O’Leary, Sally Rao et Chad Perry Mots-cle´s Mercatique par Internet, Mercatique sur base de donne´es, Relations avec les clients, Apprentissage actif Les entreprises viennent a` peine de commencer a` utiliser l’Internet pour obtenir des informations sur leurs clients dans leurs processus de mercatique sur base de donne´es qui leur permettent d’ame´liorer la gestion des relations avec leurs clients La recherche que voici se sert d’une me´thode de recherche active afin de mettre au point une nouvelle structure qui leur permette de le re´aliser Le projet de recherche active fut entrepris dans une grosse socie´te´ australienne de bases de donne´es, parce qu’aucune autre source d’information empirique n’e´tait disponible sur le sujet et qu’elle permettait de fournir des informations pre´cieuses sur un domaine pratique qui avait fait l’objet de peu de recherches Les re´sultats indiquaient que l’inte´gration de la mercatique par l’Internet et sur bases de donne´es permet de rehausser l’efficacite´ des pratiques de gestion des relations avec les clients Par exemple, l’Internet offre les avantages suivants: une pre´cision et une rapidite´ accrues lors de la collecte des donne´es sur les clients, une re´duction des couˆts, une inte´gration plus grande et de meilleures relations avec les clients La recherche que voici identifie e´galement que la culture organisationnelle, le soutien de la direction supe´rieure et la collaboration entre l’e´quipe de mercatique et l’e´quipe d’informatique doivent eˆtre en place pour pouvoir fournir l’environnement de soutien qui est essentiel pour le succe`s de l’inte´gration Recherche active dans les environnements turbulents: un exemple dans la prioritisation du commerce e´lectronique Elizabeth Daniel et Hugh N Wilson Mots-cle´s Commerce e´lectronique, Apprentissage actif, Techniques pre´dictives Les outils de planification, provenant de mode`les de formulation de la strate´gie qui sont rationnels et logiques, occupent toujours une place dans le commerce e´lectronique, bien qu’ils soient comple´te´s par des e´le´ments d’incre´mentalisme et de vision Cependant, la validite´ des outils de prioritisation, plus spe´cifiquement, est infirme´e dans cette sphe`re La recherche active semblerait bien convenir aux environnements turbulents, comme le commerce e´lectronique, en raison de l’imme´diacite´ de ses re´sultats, de son orientation future, de son respect pour les praticiens en tant que coproducteurs des connaissances et de son processus cyclique L’article de´crit une e´tude de recherche active qui modifie la matrice de politique directionnelle (directional policy matrix DPM) pour prendre en conside´ration la concurrence entre les mode`les commerciaux, et pas seulement entre les organisations individuelles Il tire des conclusions quant a` l’applicabilite´ plus ge´ne´rale de la matrice, au roˆle des outils de strate´gie dans des situations d’incertitude, et au roˆle de la recherche active, lorsqu’il s’agit de re´duire la lacune qui existe entre la the´orie et la pratique Aspirer a` la rigueur en recherche active: une e´tude pratique dans la planification de la mercatique Hugh N Wilson Mots-cle´s Apprentissage actif, Planification de la mercatique, Syste`mes de soutien de´cisionnel, Analyse des donne´es, Pre´juge´s L’article de´crit une e´tude de recherche en explorant les possibilite´s offertes par les syste`mes de soutien de´cisionnel d’ame´liorer la pratique de planification de la mercatique, en combinant la me´thode de recherche active sur un projet et la me´thode de recherche sur des cas pratiques Il se concentre sur les solutions que l’on peut apporter a` deux proble`mes me´thodologiques pratiques: comment analyser les donne´es de la recherche active de manie` re aussi rigoureuse que possible, et comment re´duire au minimum les pre´juge´s pouvant provenir du roˆ le double que joue le chercheur actif, en tant que participant et en tant qu’observateur Plus spe´cifiquement, il de´crit l’adaptation du mode`le de recherche, appele´ induction analytique, a` la the´orie complexe et multi-propositionnelle qui est commune en recherche active, et certes dans de nombreuses recherches de gestion qualitatives Il de´crit e´galement brie`vement les re´sultats de l’e´tude elle-meˆme Ge´ne´raliser les re´sultats d’un projet de recherche active, entrepris dans un lieu de travail, pour les appliquer a` d’autres situations: principes et pratiques Frank Thompson et Chad Perry Mots-cle´s Apprentissage actif, Me´thodes analytiques, Recherche en gestion, Paradigmes Un projet de recherche active se limite normalement a` l’ame´lioration des pratiques d’un groupe de travail au sein d’une seule organisation Cependant, une fois ce projet termine´, certains acade´miciens ou consultants voudront peut-eˆtre essayer de ge´ne´raliser les re´sultats de ce projet particulier et les appliquer a` plusieurs autres situations Le but de l’article que voici est d’identifier les deux paradigmes scientifiques qui conviennent a` chacun de ces deux buts, et d’identifier les crite`res qui pourraient servir pour de´terminer la qualite´ du but obtenu Essentiellement, nous postulons que le paradigme the´orique critique est sous-jacent au projet de recherche active d’un groupe de travail au sein d’une organisation et que le paradigme re´aliste est sous-jacent a` la ge´ne´ralisation provenant de ces re´sultats et a` leur application a` d’autres situations Les crite`res emprunte´s aux deux paradigmes peuvent servir pour e´valuer la validite´ et la fiabilite´ de ces deux proce´de´s L’article donne un exemple de la manie`re dont ceci a e´te´ fait en pratique French abstracts 297 EJM 38,3/4 Sub-categories Producer text example Consumer text example Product quality Q1 “Great producers can make good wines in bad vintages They will never reach the heights of a great vintage, but they will still express the unique vintage conditions, and have the right to bear our name” Attention to detail Q2 “A great wine comes from a combination of details” Q3 “It’s all in the detail Understanding this tells you what to do, and more importantly, what not to do” Q4 “We don’t pick by the bunch, we pick by the grape This results in us gaining the best quality possible” Credibility Q5 “There is a reason we have the classification in Bordeaux – it is true For the last 300 years or more, certain pieces of land produce better wines No amount of work in the winery will change that” Q6 “If we had a terrible vintage, I would pour the wine down the drain and apologise to my customers” Q7 “By distilling our product for the fourth time, we produce the very best in quality We lose around 25% of the product by doing this, which is why other producers don’t it, and it also why they don’t have our reputation” Q8 “The Bordelaise say to us Burgundians, ‘where is the art?’ For them, their wine is a blend of different parcels and varieties in a vineyard For us, our wine comes from a single variety, and a single vineyard Therefore we are hands off, letting nature her work” Q9 “I’m not interested in fabulous flash in the pan vintages, I’m more interested in a quality wine that has a reputation for quality.” Q10 “Consistently excellent as well They are usually wines that although there is vintage variation the variation is very small” Q11 “It’s got to have the works, as far as winemaking techniques goes its got to have everything, really good oak, really vibrant fruit.” Q12 “I think it’s the structure really, how it all works, whether it’s balanced and everything is where it should be and nothing is too out of whack” Q13 “That’s the other thing – it’s the perceived value – you weigh up all the things like brand, vintage, style and so on and at the end of the day I know I’m going to enjoy this bottle of wine” Q14 “Small firms are more likely to produce a great wine than large corporates, who will be under pressure to take short cuts Just look at Southcorp and Yattarna [White Grange] – they forgot the great story of Grange, and produced a commercial wine style” Q15 “Guigal – best Cote Rotie single vineyard, and then they have all their other labels supporting it This means they recognise the different levels of quality within their vineyard, and gives them more credibility in my view” Q16 “The second labels of the 1st growths are normally very good (they can’t afford to let standards slip too much)” 454 Product/production integrity Table I Text evidence from interviews Sub-categories Producer text example Consumer text example De-marketing Q1 “What I am trying to say is that we not have a true marketing approach, nor our own distribution channels For that matter I could not even give you accurate numbers concerning our export markets” Q2 “I not make a wine for a consumer I make a wine that best expresses the vineyard and the vintage I not change it to suit a particular segment” Q3 “Putting Champagne in a small bottle with a straw is false marketing My customers not drink anything out of a straw! Doing this is not going to get them to drink and appreciate the top wines” Q4 “In languages far removed from French, people who have never seen, let alone tasted – the wines of Champagne use the word as an image” Q5 “A cellar door customer may never buy my luxury wine, he may never be able to afford to However, if he tastes that wine, he’ll talk about it, and he will help maintain the image I’m after He’ll know that for a special occasion, my wine is one he should consider” Q6 “Regardless of how much we produce, we always make sure we only have 100,000 cases of wine in the market at any one time This means that in years where we produce more we hold back part of our stocks, and in years were we produce less, we release those old stocks into the market” Q7 “We cannot produce more Champagne The area of the region is fixed, therefore consumers know that only so much can ever be in the market at once” Q8 “We feel we must live up to the brand that has been gifted to us, and pass it on to the next generation” Q9 “I think that all the Icon wines that I’ve ever been switched onto and tried has always been through word of mouth Its always been through someone saying ‘you’ve got to try this wine, it’s the absolute bees knees,’ and that is what provoked me to go out an buy it” Awareness Perceived scarcity Branding Building luxury wine brands 455 Q10 “Let’s face it, you are not going to buy any wine for $A100 if you don’t know about it” Q11 “I think Icon wines are always limited on release” Q12 “I would say that the limited quantities would probably be a key element that I would look for” Q13 “I don’t believe quantity has anything to with it Look at Grange for example, there’s heaps of it, and it’s the highest priced Australian wine in retail, with the greatest reputation” Q14 “Limited quantities can be manipulated sometimes Sometimes there can be lots of quantity but it would be made to seem limited” Q15 “The brand or the label on the bottle signifies what’s in it so it has to take some part Labels like the Dalwhinnie label are really quite plain and there’s nothing about those labels that will make you gravitate to them on the shelves like the razzmatazz of the lower segments, so it sort of works in reverse for luxury wines” Table II Text evidence from interviews EJM 38,3/4 456 Table III Text evidence from interviews Sub-categories Producer text example Strategic emergence Q1 “We had a great vineyard that consistently produced better wine than all our other vineyards, but we always blended it in with the other stuff We thought why shouldn’t we make a single vineyard wine that is truly different?” Q2 “We have an obvious link today with Churchill While the firm started out in the nineteenth century to produce a style that would appeal to the English taste, we could never have foreseen that one of the most influential politicians of the twentieth century would take a liking to our wine” Dominant design Q3 “My only concern is that the change definition of what constitutes a great wine will change Certain wine critics are doing enormous damage to our region, and ultimately to the consumer” Q4 “You don’t think that phenomenon has already happened Look at Cabernet The thing about Burgundy is that we can prove that we have got better in the face of the competition” Q5 “We sell it at a high price We position ourselves strictly as a quality producer and make sure that we’re placed in the right places to maximize the yield We’re not in supermarkets We are generally on the shelves of the better retailers and good wine lists” Consumer text example Q6 “I’m not interested in fabulous flash in the pan vintages, I’m more interested in a quality wine that has a reputation for quality” Q7 “There is nothing in the store that is going to convince us” Not tested in this study A common example was in the production of wine barrels (which in a young state add some flavour to wine) Each firm was careful to select suppliers that sourced oak from the best plantations, but they then took ownership of the wood, stored it themselves (to dry), and made their own barrels rather than allowing the suppliers to produce barrels This was done because the wineries believed that they could cure the wood to their exacting standards Each winery saw that this emphasis on quality gave their producers significant credibility The seriousness with which they took this is exemplified by Q6 in Table I The decision not to bottle any wine in a very poor year was made by some smaller wineries, which further emphasised their commitment to quality While all strove to produce greater wines in each season, seasons that were so poor (2001 in Champagne for example) saw wineries either refuse to Building luxury wine brands 457 Figure Proposed components of a luxury brand release products under their own labels into the market or develop second labels (Q9-10, Q15-16 Table I) These labels were becoming more popular and were also used in high quality seasons to further re-emphasise the dedication to quality, via greater selectivity in raw material (Q15-16 Table I) Credibility was further gained by the endorsement of each product by an external system such as an independent wine writer, or in the case of Europe, an institutionalised quality classification system (Q5 Table I) In each case, the dedication to quality and the refusal to take short cuts formed a crucial part of each firm’s marketing strategy Tours of each firm focused exclusively on two things – the historical events associated with the firm (many of which emphasise the dedication to quality) and how the production processes lead to enhanced product quality Likewise, promotional material also focuses almost exclusively on these factors Value-driven emergence The cases differed as to whether they had deliberately set out to target the luxury market Some were fairly deliberate, with one producer setting out over 200 years ago to make the very best quality product from the region and sell it at prices higher than others in the region Most agreed that their strategy had been emergent (Q1-2 Table III), and for many, their current top of the range products had often been priced lower than their other products However, the firms also undertook deliberate strategic moves to exploit emergent situations For example, Q2 Table III noted that “we would have been foolish not to take advantage of the fact that Churchill liked our wine, and we have made the link ever since” Champagne brands in particular had often been used in popular television series (e.g Absolutely Fabulous) or movies (the James Bond series) In these cases, firms had not sought out these associations but had used them as a EJM 38,3/4 458 further endorsement following their adoption Producers from Australia and New Zealand had also adopted this strategy, with one winery finding that the action movie star, Jackie Chan, liked their wine (and subsequently used Chan to endorse their product range in lucrative Asian markets), while another had their wine mentioned in a popular detective novel – an association that was given deliberate widespread coverage Culture/history The importance of history to each of the firms was also self-evident All of the firms involved were very old, with the French and Portuguese firms deliberately drawing upon their histories in their marketing This would consist of a detailed description of when and how the house was founded, the age of the house, and the back catalogues of products that they could produce to the public (often used for very high profile tastings) For example, it was not uncommon for these producers to be able to provide a complete back catalogue of their wines, in some cases going back to the late 1800s In each visit I gained a copy of a published history for each house, which was made available to all journalists, researchers and consumers During the tours of facilities the historical links these firms had were made obvious, with firms in Burgundy having cellars going back to the fourteenth century, the Port houses using seventeenth-century port boats to promote each house’s flagship label being just two examples In Australia and New Zealand, the use of history was different In Australia, the wineries were either very old (and behaved in the same way as the European ones), or relatively young In New Zealand, they were very young In all cases, these wineries placed a greater emphasis on their pioneering history, focusing on how they were the first to pioneer a regional style and/or varietal of wine All the firms retained their links to their history via a number of ways These can be classified as “stories” and policies There were several important stories that each firm used – stories of people, stories of product, stories of association and stories of events These, together with their supportive policies, helped retain a link to the past, as well as inform the present culture (Q8 Table II) They were also used in any promotion campaign, or tourism program Stories of people were always related to the actions of the founder and previous owners These may have involved their pioneering efforts in starting the firm, or their actions in past wars, or their efforts in pioneering new technologies or products, or strategies Stories of product, related to issues such as great vintages, the development of new products (e.g the luck involved in making the first sweet wine), and stories about poor vintages (often linked romantically to events – such as the poor vintages during the First World War, and the great Bordeaux vintage of 1945), and the choice not to make products in very poor years Stories of associations related to links between famous users of the product (Q2 Table III) or associations with sport stars, events, movie stars and political events Stories of events related to special events that occurred in the life of the firm For example, the Lebanese firm used stories about bringing in the harvest during wartime in its promotion, while the French also used stories about the role of wine in wartime France, provision of wine for the troops in 1914-1918, and the actions of winemakers in the occupation of 1940-1944, as part of their marketing, but also as part of their collective histories This helped reinforce a culture dedicated to the past, and maintained the integrity of that past (Q8 Table II) Finally, these stories were integrated into a culture that attempted to bridge the past and the present This was often helped by specific policies For example, houses that made a specific style of wine were keen to ensure that the style evolved but also remained distinctive Port houses for example blended various parcels of wine into the final blend for their vintage port They used teams of three to five (always an odd number to ensure a result if a vote was required) tasters to put together the final blend One taster was in their 60s (the senior taster), one in their 40s and one in their 20s This process meant that the house style was retained over time, while also being open to new ideas and influences While this ensured continuity, it also meant that change was slow Marketing/endorsements Most producers had a good idea of who their consumers were, although they all stated that it was difficult to generalise about them However, in terms of business-to-business customers, beyond their immediate agents, the European producers had less knowledge (Q1 Table II) However, they did not view their customers in a traditional marketing sense (Q15 Table II), with many stating forcefully that they did not make a product to please a customer (Q2-3, Q9 Table II) Despite this lack of market information or orientation, awareness of their products and their quality remained high, not just with consumers, but among the general market place (Q4 Table II) This awareness was deliberately cultivated, either through endorsement from the press (which most wineries did not count as marketing, rather it was viewed as entertainment expenditure), or through promotion and experiential strategies (cellar door sales or “wine by the glass” strategies in up-market restaurants) Many of the wineries had budgets that allowed them to sponsor high profile events (such as providing the champagne at sporting events), and run a number of mass marketing campaigns, which helped establish the positioning of the product (Q4 Table II) Smaller wineries often ran special events so that people could taste their wines (anyone could come), or offered their finest wines for tasting at cellar door (a practice which is not common) (Q5 Table II) This strategy was believed to create a mass awareness, even among non-involved wine consumers, that this brand was special and something to aspire to, which of course gave the brand Building luxury wine brands 459 EJM 38,3/4 460 widespread social approval (Q9 Table II) – a critical purchase motivator for some luxury consumers (Vigneron and Johnson, 1999) Virtually all the cases stated, “We no marketing” Experience had shown me that this was not the case, so I pressed on, asking what each participant meant by marketing Many of the producers viewed marketing as programs that created market awareness about a product (they contrasted this with their programs which were seen as endorsements or promotional activities, which they did not count as “marketing”), or that targeted a product to a certain segment (Q1-3 Table II), rather than as a wider philosophy or strategy While the wineries mostly placed a great deal of emphasis on selecting agents and distributors (Q5 Table III), the day-to-day business relationships with distributors were often deliberately competitive, so that consumers thought they weren’t abusing their position By giving the impression that the wineries and agents battled over prices (this was usually done very publicly – public tastings or auctions – prior to the first public tasting of wines, which was critical for determining release prices), the producers believed consumers would see that prices were not just enforced top down, but were subject to some negotiation As part of their commitment to product integrity, the firms all kept the volumes of products low, as vine yield has a direct impact on final wine quality (one firm managed to produce just one glass of wine per hectare!), and perceived scarcity was believed to be important to positioning (see Q11-14 Table II) However, many of the producers also realised that given the link between a certain place and their positioning, there was always going to be a limited amount of wine, and therefore higher prices had to be achieved because of competition from newer producers (Q7 Table II) Others viewed this issue differently, preferring to have a fixed amount of product in the market at any one time (Q6 Table II) as this gave consumers certainty, and helped build relationships with agents and distributors Finally, others were affected by legislation governing the amount of products allowed to be in the market at any one time (Port producers are allowed to sell just one third of total stocks) This saw them seek higher prices due to higher costs Finally, the attention to detail shown in relation to production also came through in marketing I was present at a meeting when one producer sought to change the colours of their label (essentially giving the colours a “lift”) The number of mock-ups, and detailed discussion of what seemed a minor issue indicated the commitment to detail and quality, as well as the conservatism of the culture (see below) This attention to detail affected other public aspects of the mix, such as the presentation of the winery/house (which were regularly visited), the selection of service staff, and the promotional advertising undertaken Attention to detail also drove the selection of agents and representatives Other issues An emergent finding came from the cases from Bordeaux, who are the least market oriented of all the firms (Brook, 2001) These firms commanded the highest prices of all the cases, and were also the ones that faced the most competition from New World producing nations The firms were concerned that the dominant design (Utterback, 1994) of a great wine was changing (Q3-4 Table III) These firms were aware that the preferred style among some consumers was moving away from that typically made in the region, towards a more alcoholic, up front style (in contrast to a more herbaceous, lower alcohol, longer lived style) This was partly driven by the influential American wine critic, Robert Parker, whose ratings could have a major affect on prices and demand (a 90/100 was seen as positive, an 89/100 as disastrous) This had encouraged the emergence of a number of cult or “garage wines” as the Bordelaise called them There was concern that this development was undermining the region, but more importantly, that the incumbent houses could lose their status The brand components and research sub-categories highlighted why this was so Attention to detail highlighted the source of each firm’s positioning, but also the source of its potential problems For example, attention to detail is an important strategy in making a great product, particularly wine, in which seasonal changes may require hand harvesting of grapes by bunch, or grape, and the use of many seemingly insignificant techniques that when combined produced a product of exceptional quality, and distinctiveness However, so much attention to detail at a product and packaging level limited the ability of these firms to see the bigger picture at a business level (compare this with Q5 Table III) Coupled with a highly emergent strategy in which owners see themselves as stewards of great names (Q8 Table II), this means that many firms continue to what has always been done, as opposed to questioning the appropriateness of their actions The stewardship role that many of the owners take often means they take few risks For example, one firm took ten years to adopt a new technology that would assist in cost savings and a more consistent product Others feel that something needs to be done but will not take the decisive step as they are worried about what others in the region may think or These problems are exacerbated in very old firms that have little knowledge of their past, or understanding of the context in which the brand was established Also, these firms were consistent “strategic systems”, and may be inappropriate to the future wine market Change, would by necessity, be revolutionary because it involved changes to culture and theories in use (Schein, 2001; Argyris and Schon, 1978) Discussion A proposed model of a luxury brand is presented in Figure From Figure we can see that a luxury brand is an integrated system, involving a range of levels Building luxury wine brands 461 EJM 38,3/4 462 – from the strategic, the historical, down to the technical Firms developed these brands over a period of time through a dedication to product integrity This commitment to produce such quality was made at founding, although the actual strategy of the firm in terms of positioning emerged over a period of time The dedication to quality over a long period of time enabled these firms to build up a reputation, and a set of library stocks that provided them with a significant barrier to entry This was enforced through marketing programs and endorsements Finally, the brand was supported by a strong culture dedicated to preserving the reputation of the brand, by balancing the need to evolve, with a strong sense of history While each component is important, it is highly likely that different firms will place greater emphasis on some components, than on others, because the development of these brands is path dependent For example, younger firms, having little history to draw on, may place less weight on this component, and more weight on endorsements and product integrity, whilst more established firms may place greater emphasis on history and their endorsements Practitioners aiming to develop these brands need to address all of these issues, although they can so in unique ways (in line with the cases) Importantly, practitioners need to understand the systemic nature of luxury brands As Figure indicates, it is necessary to address all the components of a luxury brand, and ensure that they are integrated into a consistent approach, that is maintained over a period of time These firms could all be classified in terms of a strong product orientation, yet they achieved a formidable brand presence and all the firms tacitly undertook marketing, although they did not call it so This is not due to ignorance, however; many of the interviewees had undertaken marketing courses and had read widely on the subject The main barrier was the belief that marketing was short term, and in some sense “false” – that it was an attempt to sell something that was not already there These producers tended to view their reputations, relationships to place, and product quality as intrinsic facts – they were either obvious to consumers, or the product was not for that consumer Their main marketing approach focused on getting consumers to experience the product, rather than mass promotion This could explain the concern expressed by some that the dominant design was changing for luxury wines, and that newer and more marketing savvy firms were challenging these producers Their cultures or theories in use in this sense worked against them, and only a leadership change or major loss of positioning would turn this around In this case, luxury marketers needed to supplement their historical approach with a greater degree of intelligence gathering This high product orientation supplemented by a tacit marketing approach suggests that these firms are subject to unique market forces Although their reputations may provide a buffer against increased competition, constant action is required to maintain this edge What is important is that luxury firms are seen as the standard by which a product class is judged, that is, the dominant design While the four components identified by Phau and Prendergast (2000) were found to be elements of luxury brands, they appear to only scratch the surface of what it means to be a “luxury” brand Luxury brands enjoy high awareness and retain sales levels, but these are outcomes enjoyed by any successful brand, as are a well-known identity, and perceived quality Only exclusivity in Phau and Prendergast’s definition seems important for luxury brands – although this often has more to with perception than reality, suggesting once again that this is an implementation issue, as opposed to an intrinsic characteristic of a luxury brand As such, luxury marketers can (where possible) expand production, and retain their positioning, if they manage consumer perceptions of exclusivity Conclusions This research sought to address three gaps in the literature on luxury brands First, through an examination of the actions undertaken by luxury marketers, this research identified six interrelated components of a luxury brand In contrast to previous studies that defined luxury brands in terms of surface level phenomena, this research uncovered a number of deeper level values and processes underpinning luxury brands Firms seeking to build such brands develop values and theories-in-use to ensure the continued credibility of these brands, as opposed to simply charging a high price or developing an exclusive image These six components partly answered the second aim of this research, which was to understand how these brands were developed and maintained over time In terms of creation, while all the brand owners made substantial commitments to quality from the beginning of their existence, the differing circumstances of each firm led them to place greater emphasis on one or more of the six components This meant that each brand’s evolution is path dependent Brand evolution is primarily an emergent process, although this evolution is guided by a strong set of values Links to the past are maintained through the use of images, stories, cultures and systems as a means of ensuring stability and continued relevance The third aim of this research was to examine the paradoxical nature of luxury brands that have simultaneously achieved mass awareness and high loyalty, whilst being managed by owners who are often deeply opposed to marketing The findings suggested a number of answers to this paradox First, the brand owner often has an intuitive understanding of marketing while rejecting traditional definitions of marketing (akin to mass marketing and reacting to customers) Second, some of the brand owners practise marketing but it is based on timeless images of craftsmanship, quality, dedication to place, and links with historical personalities and events to convey an image of being above the need to undertake marketing Third, the long-term success of each brand owner suggests that our definitions of marketing may be too narrow For example, many of these firms have achieved a brand positioning both within Building luxury wine brands 463 EJM 38,3/4 464 their niche, and in mass-market terms that many companies can only aspire to However, one is hard pressed to find examples of these firms in many standard marketing texts – small firms, with long histories, a heavy product orientation, and strong brand presence This raises a number of issues for marketers For example, how important is timing to brand positioning? Is product orientation an appropriate form of marketing, opposed to being the polar opposite? In conclusion, this study is one of the first to systematically examine the development of luxury brands, and their components As such it makes a number of contributions, which should be the subject of further study However, the results from this research should be interpreted with caution While many of these findings are transferable to other luxury producers, there are some (such as the focus on “place”) that could be context specific Further research should seek to replicate these findings, using a mixed method approach (a grounded theory study across a range of different luxury producers, as well as quantitative consumer research, is one approach) The deliberate focus on producers from a number of countries should limit concerns about these findings being limited to one particular cultural context (e.g France); however, the emphasis on certain cultural values and the institutional context of luxury production highlights important path dependent and institutional issues that should be accounted for in future studies Finally, future research needs to understand these brands from a historical perspective, because these brands were very much products of history Rich, individual case histories of these brands, and the marketing approaches used could provide useful insights into this market References Alvesson, M and Skoăldberg, K (2000), Reflexive Methodology: New Vistas for Qualitative Research, Sage Publications, London Argyris, C and Schon, D (1978), Organizational Learning: A Theory of Action Perspective, Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA Bjoărkman, I (2002), “Aura: aesthetic business creativity”, Consumption, Markets and Culture, Vol No 1, pp 69-78 Brook, S (2001), Bordeaux: People, Power and Politics, Mitchell-Beazley, London Carson, D., Gilmore, A., Perry, C and Grønhaug, K (2001), Qualitative Marketing Research, Sage Publications, London Charters, S (2002), “The two wines”, in Cullen, C., Pickering, G and Philips, R (Eds), Proceedings of the Bacchus to the Future Conference, Brock University Press, St Catherines, pp 521-42 Creswell, J.W (1998), Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Traditions, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA Dovaz, M (1998), Chaˆteau La, Assouline, Paris Dubois, B and Czellar, S (2002), “Prestige brands or luxury brands? An exploratory inquiry on consumer perceptions”, Marketing in a Changing World: Scope, Opportunities and Challenges: Proceedings of the 31st EMAC Conference, University of Minho, Portugal, 28-31 May Dubois, B and Paternault, C (1995), “Understanding the world of international luxury brands: the ’dream formula’”, Journal of Advertising Research, Vol 35 No 4, pp 69-76 Dubois, B., Laurent, G and Czellar, S (2001) “Consumer rapport to luxury: analyzing complex and ambivalent attitudes”, Working Paper 736, HEC School of Management, Jouy-en-Josas (The) Economist (2002), “Special report: luxury goods”, 23 March, The Economist, pp 61-3 Eisenhardt, K.M (1989), “Building theories from case study research”, Academy of Management Review, Vol 14 No 4, pp 532-50 Folwell, R.J., Bales, T.A and Edwards, C.G (2001), “Cost economies and economic impacts of pricing and product mix decisions in premium table wine trade wineries”, Journal of Wine Research, Vol 12 No 2, pp 111-24 Garud, R and Karnøe, P (2001), Path Dependence and Creation, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc., Mahwah, NJ Geene, A., Heijbroek, A., Lagerwerf, H.A and Wazir, R (1999), The World Wine Business, Rabobank International, Utrecht Grønhaug, K and Olson, O (1999), “Action research and knowledge creation: merits and challenges”, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, Vol No 1, pp 6-14 Gutsatz, M (2001), “Le sage et le cre´ateur: elements pour une analyse des strategies des marques de luxe”, De´cisions Marketing, Vol 23 May-August, pp 23-33 Guy, K.M (1997), “Wine, work, and wealth: class relations and modernisation in the Champagne wine industry, 1870-1914”, Business and Economic History, Vol 26 No 2, pp 298-303 Healy, M and Perry, C (2000), “Comprehensive criteria to judge validity and reliability of qualitative research within the realism paradigm”, Qualitative Market Research: An International Journal, Vol No 3, pp 118-26 Heller, R (2000), “Le brand c’est moi”, Forbes Global, Vol 13, pp 74-83 Hunt, S.D (2000), A General Theory of Competition: Resources, Competences, Productivity, Economic Growth, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks CA Kapferer, J-N (2001), [Re]inventing the Brand: Can Top Brands Survive the New Market Realities?, Kogan Page, Milford, CT King, E (2001), “The mask of glamour slips”, The Financial Review: The Weekend Fin, August, p Kirk, J and Miller, M.L (1986), Reliability and Validity in Qualitative Research, Sage Publications, Newbury Park, CA Koehn, N.F (2000), Brand New: How Entrepreneurs Earned Consumers’ Trust from Wedgwood to Dell, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA Kotler, P (2002), Marketing Management, 11th int ed., Prentice-Hall International, Sydney Lindgreen, A and Beverland, M.B (2002), “Wind of changes: marketing strategies in the wine trade”, in Marketing in a Changing World: Scope, Opportunities and Challenges: Proceedings of the 31st EMAC Conference, University of Minho, Portugal, 28-31 May MacDonogh, G (2000), “Wine, politics & economics”, in Brook, S (Ed.), A Century of Wine: The Story of a Wine Revolution, Mitchell Beazley, London, pp 24-37 McKenna, R (1991), “Marketing is everything”, Harvard Business Review, Vol 69 No 1, pp 65-80 Mahoney, J (2000), “Path dependence in historical sociology”, Theory and Science, Vol 29, pp 507-48 Miles, M.B and Huberman, A.M (1994), Qualitative Data Analysis, 2nd ed., Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA Building luxury wine brands 465 EJM 38,3/4 466 Moore, C.M., Fernie, J and Burt, S (2000), “Brands without boundaries: the internationalisation of the designer retailer’s brand”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol 34 No 8, pp 919-37 O’Cass, A and Frost, H (2002), “Status brands: examining the effects of non-product-related brand associations on status and conspicuous consumption”, Journal of Product and Brand Management, Vol 11 No 2, pp 67-88 Petersen, F (2002), “Beaujolais boss’s ‘philistine’ comments dismissed as a little French whine”, The Sydney Morning Herald, July, p Phau, I and Prendergast, G (2000), “Consuming luxury brands: the relevance of the ‘rarity principle’”, Journal of Brand Management, Vol No 2, pp 122-38 Polyani, M (1962), Personal Knowledge: Towards a Post-Critical Philosophy, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL Prendergast, G., Phau, I and Wong, C (2000), “An exploratory study of the purchase of luxury brands on infant apparel”, in Chetty, S and Collins, B (Eds), Visionary Marketing for the 21st Century: Facing the Challenge: Proceedings 2000 ANZMAC Conference, available at: www.anzmac.org, pp 1005-8 Quelch, J.A (1987), “Marketing the premium product”, Business Horizons, Vol 30 No 3, pp 38-45 Robinson, J (1999), The Oxford Companion to Wine, 2nd ed, Oxford University Press, London Schein, E.H (2001), “Clinical inquiry/research”, in Reason, P and Bradbury, H (Eds), Handbook of Action Research: Participative Inquiry & Practice, Sage Publications, London, pp 228-37 Spawton, T (1991), “Marketing planning for wine”, European Journal of Marketing, Vol 24 No 3, pp 6-48 Stanley, T.J (1988), Marketing to the Affluent, McGraw-Hill, New York, NY Strauss, A.S and Corbin, J (1994), “Grounded theory methodology”, in Denzin, N.K and Lincoln, Y.S (Eds), Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA, pp 273-85 Twitchell, J.B (2002), Living It Up: Our love affair With Luxury, Columbia University Press, New York, NY Utterback, J.M (1994), Mastering the Dynamics of Innovation: How Companies Can Seize Opportunities in the Face of Technological Change, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, MA Vigneron, F and Johnson, L.W (1999), “A review and a conceptual framework of prestige-seeking consumer behavior”, Academy of Marketing Science Review, Vol No 1, pp 1, available at: www.amsreview.org/amsrev/theory/vigneron0l-99.html Walton, S (2001), You Heard It Through the Grapevine: Shattering the Myths about the Wine Business, Audrum Press, London Weitz, B.A and Jap, S.D (1995), “Relationship marketing and distribution channels”, Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, Vol 23 No 4, pp 305-20 Wetlaufer, S (2001), “The perfect paradox of star brands: an interview with Bernard Arnault of LVMH”, Harvard Business Review, Vol 79 No 9, pp 117-23 Whiteman, G and Cooper, W.R (2000), “Ecological embeddedness”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol 43 No 6, pp 1265-82 Yin, R.K (1994), Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 2nd ed., Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA Zaltman, G (1997), “Rethinking market research: putting people back in”, Journal of Marketing Research, Vol 35, November, pp 424-37 Further reading Mintzberg, H (1994), The Rise and Fall of Strategic Planning, Free Press, New York, NY About the authors David Ballantyne David Ballantyne is a Senior Lecturer in relationship marketing and service management at Monash University, Australia He is the founder of the Colloquia in Relationship Marketing, an international conference series held every year at a different university setting The Colloquia is now in its 11th year He is also co-author of Relationship Marketing: Bringing Quality, Customer Service and Marketing Together (1991) (2nd ed., 2002), which was the first text published internationally in this now established field About the authors 467 Michael Beverland Michael Beverland is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Marketing at Monash University in Australia He completed his PhD at the University of South Australia in the field of organizational strategy He has published in the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management, Journal of Small Business Management, and the Proceedings of the American Marketing Association, and has research interests including marketing strategy, brand evolution, and luxury product marketing Elizabeth Daniel Elizabeth Daniel BSc, PhD, MBA is a Senior Research Fellow in the Information Systems Research Centre at Cranfield School of Management Elizabeth has a first degree and PhD in Physics and an MBA from London Business School She spent over ten years in industry, starting her career as a Medical Engineer at GEC and more recently working in a leading strategy management consultancy, the LEK Partnership, where she undertook assignments across a number of industry sectors Elizabeth undertakes teaching and research in the fields of e-business and new technologies in marketing She has published on these topics in a variety of journals, such as Long Range Planning, European Journal of Marketing and Journal of Marketing Management Books include Electronic Banking in Europe (The Stationery Office, 1998), Profiting from eCRM (FT Prentice Hall, 2001) and Marketing Strategy in the Digital Age (FT Prentice Hall, 2002, with Hugh Wilson) Evert Gummesson Evert Gummesson is Professor of Service Management and Marketing at the Stockholm University School of Business, Sweden After graduation he worked for 25 years as marketing manager and management consultant His research is directed to relationship marketing, CRM, and quality management In 1977 he published the first book on service marketing in Scandinavia; in 2000 he received the American Marketing Association’s Award for Leadership in Services Marketing; and in 2003, The Chartered Institute of Marketing, UK, included him in its list of the 50 most important contributors to the development of marketing His book Total Relationship Marketing has won two prizes for excellence and his book Qualitative Methods in Management Research has been reprinted ten times He has authored more than 20 books and 100 articles in, among others, European Journal of Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing Management, Management Decision, Long Range Planning and Service Industry Management He is a member of ten editorial and review boards of, among others, Journal of Academy of Marketing Science, Journal of Marketing Management and Journal of Service Research Steven M Kates Steven M Kates is an Associate Professor of Marketing at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada He received his MBA and PhD at York University, Toronto, Canada Steven does most of his present research in the area of branding, including the social European Journal of Marketing Vol 38 No 3/4, 2004 pp 467-468 q Emerald Group Publishing Limited 0309-0566 EJM 38,3/4 468 legitimacy of brands, brand relationships, and children’s consumption of brands He has published in the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Advertising, and Psychology and Marketing Damien McLoughlin Damien is a Lecturer in the Department of Marketing at the Smurfit School of Business, UCD, where he is also Director of the Marketing Development Programme His PhD is from the University of Lancaster His main research interests lie in explaining exchange and markets from a relational perspective He is currently working on a number of projects designed to enhance the career development of young marketers Chris O’Leary Chris O’Leary is a Senior Project Manager at Acxiom Corporation, Sydney He has been involved in many information management and marketing consulting projects in the USA, the UK and Australia His research interests include data management, Internet marketing and information system management Chad Perry Chad Perry has recently retired from being Professor of Marketing and Management at the Graduate College of Management, Southern Cross University, Gold Coast His research interests included relationship marketing and qualitative methods He has written or co-written three textbooks, eight book chapters and more than 100 refereed journal articles and conference papers He has presented management development workshops in Africa, Asia, Papua New Guinea, the UK and Australia, as well as doing occasional management consulting projects in some of those countries Sally Rao Sally Rao is a Lecturer in Marketing at the School of Commerce, Adelaide University Her research interests include relationship marketing, Internet marketing and services marketing Her PhD was about how the Internet affects business-to-business relationships She has several conference papers and journal articles about her research, one of which won the best paper award at an international conference Judy Robertson Judy Robertson is Joint Coordinator of the Public Relations course and Lecturer in Public Relations, Marketing and Package Design at Monash University, Melbourne, Australia She has a Master’s degree from Monash and is currently undertaking research into her PhD Frank Thompson Frank Thompson is a PHD student at the Graduate School of Management, Southern Cross University, Tweed Heads, New South Wales, Australia Hugh N Wilson Hugh N Wilson MA(Oxon), DipCompSci(Cantab), PhD is a Visiting Fellow and Director of the Centre for e-Marketing at Cranfield School of Management, and an independent consultant in marketing and IT After a mathematics degree at Oxford University and a postgraduate computer science degree at Cambridge University, he spent 13 years in the computing industry, before gaining a prize-winning PhD from Cranfield University on decision support systems for marketing planning He has published in British Journal of Management, Journal of Marketing Management and European Journal of Marketing amongst others Books include e-Marketing: Improving Marketing Effectiveness in a Digital World (FT Prentice Hall, 1999) and The New Marketing: Transforming the Corporate Future (Butterworth-Heinemann, 2002) (both with M McDonald) ... articles within this special issue about how action research can be done in marketing Finally, presents a broad definition of action research in marketing European Journal of Marketing Vol 38 No... science world of marketing in an appropriate way In brief, these four implications suggest action research in marketing should be called ? ?marketing action research? ?? or “interactive marketing research? ??... all of whom are involved in joint cycles of planning/acting/observing/reflecting In contrast, action learning emphasises individual learning from experience, and taking action as a result of this