2011 IJRM Best Article Award

The European Marketing Academy (EMAC) and the International Journal of Research in Marketing (IJRM) are pleased to announce the winners of the 2011 IJRM Best Paper Award:

Jeremy J. Michalek, Peter Ebbes, Feray Adigüzel, Fred M. Feinberg, Panos Y. Papalambros. Enhancing marketing with engineering: Optimal product line design for heterogeneous markets. IJRM, Vol 28 (1), pp 1-12.

ABSTRACT:

Successful product line design and development often require a balance of technical and market tradeoffs. Quantitative methods for optimizing product attribute levels using preference elicitation (e.g., conjoint) data are useful for many product types. However, products with substantial engineering content involve critical tradeoffs in the ability to achieve those desired attribute levels. Technical tradeoffs in product design must be made with an eye toward market consequences, particularly when heterogeneous market preferences make differentiation and strategic positioning critical to capturing a range of market segments and avoiding cannibalization.

We present a unified methodology for product line optimization that coordinates positioning and design models to achieve realizable firm-level optima. The approach overcomes several shortcomings of prior product line optimization models by incorporating a general Bayesian account of consumer preference heterogeneity, managing attributes over a continuous domain to alleviate issues of combinatorial complexity, and avoiding solutions that are impossible to realize. The method is demonstrated for a line of dial-readout scales, using physical models and conjoint-based consumer choice data. The results show that the optimal number of products in the line is not necessarily equal to the number of market segments, that an optimal single product for a heterogeneous market differs from that for a homogeneous one, and that the representational form for consumer heterogeneity has a substantial impact on the design and profitability of the resulting optimal product line — even for the design of a single product. The method is managerially valuable because it yields product line solutions efficiently, accounting for marketing-based preference heterogeneity as well as engineering-based constraints with which product attributes can be realized.

Selection process:

The winning article was chosen from two rounds of voting open to all the members of the IJRM Editorial Board. In the first round, each voter could nominate up to three (3) papers that were published in IJRM in 2011. Four (4) papers received the most nominations and they composed the shortlist. In the second/final round, the Board Members voted for one paper from the shortlist. The winning paper is the one with the most votes.

Finalists:

• Enhancing marketing with engineering: Optimal product line design for heterogeneous markets. Jeremy J. Michalek, Peter Ebbes, Feray Adigüzel, Fred M. Feinberg, Panos Y. Papalambros. Vol 28 #1, Pages 1-12.
• The different roles of product originality and usefulness in generating word-of-mouth. Sarit Moldovan, Jacob Goldenberg, Amitava Chattopadhyay. Vol 28, #2, Pages 109-119.
• Generalizations on consumer innovation adoption: A meta-analysis on drivers of intention and behavior. Joep W.C. Arts, Ruud T. Frambach, Tammo H.A. Bijmolt. Vol 28, #2, Pages 134-144.
• Will the frog change into a prince? Predicting future customer profitability. Roland T. Rust, V. Kumar, Rajkumar Venkatesan. Vol 28, #4, Pages 281-294

 

---

The Hardware and Software Behind ELMAR Is Paid for with AMA Dues Please Support ELMAR by joining the AMA or renewing your membership