THE PERFORMANCE OF MULTIPLE CHANNEL SYSTEMS

The strategic importance of marketing channels has
been recognized by practitioners and
researchers. Their long-term consequences make
channel decisions one of the most strategically
important elements of the marketing mix. They are
even more critical in light of today s multiple-
channel systems. Despite its importance, multiple
channel performance has received limited
attention.This book addresses this issue by adopting
a configuration theoretic approach to examine the
fit between multiple-channel system structure,
business strategy, and environmental conditions.
Two ideal configurations of strategy, multiple-
channel structure, and environment are offered and
their existence is verified with data from a survey
of 291 manufacturing firms. This book
demonstrates that multiple-channel systems are able
to make greatest contributions to firm performance
when their structures are properly aligned with the
strategy of the firm and with the environment. This
work should help shed some light on multiple channel
system performance, and should be
useful to marketing professionals who may
be in charge of channel design and strategy
decisions.

Autorentext

is Assistant Professor of Marketing at Fordham University in New
York. He received his Ph.D. in Marketing from Baruch College,
CUNY. His research interests include distribution channels and
web site trust and loyalty. His work has been published in a
variety of academic journals including Journal of Marketing,
Journal of Business Research.

Klappentext

The strategic importance of marketing channels has
been recognized by practitioners and
researchers. Their long-term consequences make
channel decisions one of the most strategically
important elements of the marketing mix. They are
even more critical in light of today's multiple-
channel systems. Despite its importance, multiple
channel performance has received limited
attention.This book addresses this issue by adopting
a configuration theoretic approach to examine the
fit between multiple-channel system structure,
business strategy, and environmental conditions.
Two ideal configurations of strategy, multiple-
channel structure, and environment are offered and
their existence is verified with data from a survey
of 291 manufacturing firms. This book
demonstrates that multiple-channel systems are able
to make greatest contributions to firm performance
when their structures are properly aligned with the
strategy of the firm and with the environment. This
work should help shed some light on multiple channel
system performance, and should be
useful to marketing professionals who may
be in charge of channel design and strategy
decisions.