In the 1990s many companies have acknowledged the critical importance of being customer-oriented. However, as retailers contemplate the higher costs and higher revenues of increased customer service levels, they need to understand the relative importance to consumers of various aspects of customer service, particularly those delivered by salespeople. This research investigates the impact of selected salesperson service attributes and levels on consumer patronage intentions in a consumer electronics store setting. The study uses conjoint analysis to measure consumer priorities. The results indicate that salesperson's respect for the customer, knowledge, and responsiveness are the most important attributes. Where three service levels are presented, there is a greater difference in impact between the lowest and middle levels than between the middle and highest levels. This suggests that retailers do not necessarily have to offer the best service levels to satisfy customers, but must avoid poor service levels.

This research analyses the in-store behaviour of children and their parents while shopping for children's clothing. Data were collected by unobtrusively observing and recording the behavior of parents and children in retail stores. Results indicate that a purchase was more likely where both parties were highly involved in the search, the interaction was collaborative, the parent had positive evaluations of quality, price, practicality and style, the child had positive evaluations of price, style and colour, and the salesperson addressed the needs of both the parent and the child. It is recommended that retailers' strategies for merchandise selection, sales force training and in-store promotions, address the needs of both parent and child.Support for this research was provided by a Rider University Summer Fellowship.Parent-child decision making in children's clothing stores

Investigates whether consumers′ time availability is an important segmentation variable in the convenience and fast‐food markets. Very time‐poor, somewhat time‐poor, and not time‐poor consumers are compared, and three types of food are examined: fast foods, frozen dinners, and ready‐to‐eat foods. For weekday dinners, similarities and differences between the three segments are investigated with respect to usage of each type of food, importance of benefits sought in a weekday dinner, and perceptions of each type of food. Managerial implications of differences between segments and of overall patterns are discussed.

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Increasingly, U.S. businesses are breaking down barriers between functional departments and focusing on interdepartmental teams aimed at providing customer satisfaction. Cooperation between marketing and production/operations is critical to this objective. This article describes integrating a marketing elective and a required operations management course through coordinated instruction that integrates topics and projects. This approach teaches business students that effective management involves close cooperation between these two functional areas in providing competitive and profitable products. Teamwork is emphasized by utilizing self-managed teams of students who work on functionally integrated projects that include locating a facility, aggregate production planning, and monitoring and improving service quality.