Marketing's evolution toward a new dominant logic requires the focus of marketing to be on the intangible, dynamic, operant resources that are at the heart of competitive advantage and performance. First, building on resourceadvantage theory's notion of basic resources and higher-order resources, this article proposes a hierarchy of basic, composite, and interconnected operant resources. Second, reviewing research on business strategy and marketing strategy, several resources that correspond to the proposed hierarchy are identified and discussed. Third, the notion of developing masterful operant resources is introduced. Fourth, based on the proposed hierarchy and the notion of masterful operant resources, some exemplars of potential research avenues for marketing strategy are provided. Finally, the article concludes with the discussion of implications for marketing practitioners, researchers, and educators. In sum, this article extends and elaborates the concept of operant resources in the servicedominant logic of marketing.Marketing's evolution toward a service-dominant (S-D) logic requires a focus on the intangible, dynamic resources that form the heart of competitive advantage and performance (Vargo and Lusch 2004;Lusch and Vargo 2006a). That is, differentiating between operand resources (those on which an act or operation is performed) and operant resources (those that act on other resources), marketing should focus on specialized skills and knowledge as operant resources that provide competitive advantage. However, marketing's shift to a focus on operant resources raises several questions: What is a resource? What are the kinds of operand and operant resources? How can previous research (e.g., on resources, competences, resourceadvantage theory, capabilities, and dynamic capabilities) inform marketing's understanding of operant resources? Within the S-D logic, can operant resources be arranged in a hierarchical manner? Which specific operant resources need to be investigated further?As to what a resource is, resource-advantage theory defines resources as the "tangible and intangible entities available to the firm that enable it to produce efficiently and/or effectively a market offering that has value for some market segment(s)" (Hunt 2000b, p.138). As to exemplars of operand and operant resources, while operand resources are typically physical (e.g., raw materials), operant resources are typically human (e.g., the skills and knowledge of individual employees), organizational (e.g., controls, routines, cultures, competences), informational (e.g., knowledge about market segments, competitors, and technology), and relational (e.g., relationships with competitors, suppliers, and customers) (Hunt 2004).As to how previous research can inform marketing's understanding of operant resources, because of how Constantin and Lusch (1994) initially conceptualized operant resources, concepts such as competences, capabilities, and dynamic capabilities can be viewed as operant resources and, therefore, within the S-D logic....

Purpose-Drawing on resource-advantage theory and a diverse literature base, this article seeks to further the development of the explanatory foundations of relationship marketing theory by proposing, and then providing, tentative answers to three "why?" questions in relationship marketing: why is relationship marketing so prominent now? Why do firms and consumers enter into relationships with other firms and consumers? Why are some efforts at relationship marketing more successful than others? Design/methodology/approach-Before addressing the three questions, the paper begins by discussing the different forms of relationship marketing. Findings-Although relationship marketing is a relatively young field of inquiry, relationship marketing theory is an extremely rich area of research. Relationship marketing can take many forms and, as a result, relationship marketing theory has the potential to increase one's understanding of many aspects of business strategy. Research limitations/implications-The answers to the three questions in this paper provide a strong foundation for the further development relationship marketing theory and are useful for both relationship marketing theorists and practitioners. Originality/value-As relationship marketing theory and practice are developed further, the authors hope that the article will provide useful guidance to those involved. From a marketing theory standpoint, the eight kinds of factors provide guidance to researchers exploring the many forms of relational marketing. For practitioners, they provide a useful framework for evaluating extant relationship marketing strategies and for developing future strategies.

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Drawing from research on retailing, online shopping behavior, and theories of cognitive psychology, we develop and test a framework that investigates purchase intentions in online stores of multi-channel retailers. The framework simultaneously examines the influence of transference of attitude and trust from the multi-channel retailer's physical to online stores, image congruence between the multi-channel retailer's physical and online stores, and image congruence between the multi-channel retailer's online store and a prototypical online store. Further, recognizing that several retailers now operate as multi-channel retailers in different countries, we examine the influence of cultural differences in thought processes (i.e., holistic versus analytic thinking) on shoppers' evaluation of online stores of multi-channel retailers. Toward this end, we test the framework using data collected from respondents in the U.S. (analytic thinkers) and South Korea (holistic thinkers). We conclude with a discussion of the findings, suggestions for future research, and potential limitations.

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