Editorial
Article Type: Editorial From: Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Volume 25, Issue 2
The second issue of 2013 opens with five papers on branding, retail and logistics. In the first paper, Hsu and Lin designed a model for selecting brand names on the basis of the perceptions of enterprises. The modified Delphi method and the analytic hierarchy process were used to identify suitable criteria and determine relative weights of evaluation criteria and ranking of alternatives of brand names. It is shown that enterprises ranks criteria in sequential order of emotional appeal, linguistics appeal, marketing appeal and legal appeal. Academia and practitioners can pick up some useful tips from this practical study. The aim of the second paper by Karim et al. is to verify a measurement scale of shopping values in the Malayisan context. The findings revealed that hedonic shopping value measurement scale is a reliable and valid scale to be used for Malaysian consumers but not for the utilitarian shopping value measurement scale. There are also significant differences between groups based on gender, age and marital status, most notably for the sense of joy and escape. This finding is especially useful for segmentation strategies. However,it is acknowledged that Malaysians is a small representation of Asian consumers,hence further studies are warranted.
The third paper by Liu et al. investigates how perceived benefits,perceived risk and trust influence Chinese consumers’ online group buying behaviour organized by institutional initiators. Using an online survey, 578 valid responses were collected and tested using multiple regressions. It was found that perceived benefits and trust significantly positively influenced consumers’ attitudes towards online group buying. Whereas, consumers’perceived risks did not influence consumers’ attitudes towards online group buying. The study further enhances and reinforces online buying behaviour theories with empirical support. The fourth paper by Chi empirically tested a consumer perceived value (CPV) formation model in the context of US casual sportswear market. With 4,949 responses, the author showed that race did not affect the formation of the four dimensions of CPV whereas, age, gender, income and retailer type held some significant relationships towards CPV. Chi has also highlighted several implications for marketers. The fifth paper on logistics by Gorane and Kant aimed to identify the supply chain management enablers (SCMEs)and established relationships among them using interpretive structural modeling(ISM). Using fuzzy MICMAC analysis as the framework, it was found that there are 24 SCMEs. Further, each SCME was tested on SCM implementation to reveal direct and indirect effects. Findings provide important insights for top management to formulate effective strategies.
The second half of this issue also incorporates the special issue on “Branding in Asia” Guest Edited by Professor T.C. Melewar and Dr Sharifah Alwi. This section is a compilation of two articles and a spotlight paper which showcases the growth of branding in Asia. Clearly, branding takes the centre stage in this region and has become increasingly competitive in the global economy. A point that is deemed interesting is the glaring lack of branding even though there are significantly large companies of the Asian origin that lacks investment in brand building. With the growing interest and investment in the region, the special issue attempts to shed some light in the branding developments within an important commercial region of the world.
Once again we thank the EAB and reviewers for their timely reviews. We also have to thank the authors who have chosen the APJML as an outlet of their high-calibre research. 2012 also marked a year with a more than 100 percent increase in submission which certainly is a testament to the quality of papers we have published so far. In addition, we would like to acknowledge the special issue editors for undertaking the task of compiling a special issue on Branding in Asia.
Ian Phau
