• Journal of the Korean Operations Research and Management Science Society
• /
• v.41 no.4
• /
• pp.55-73
• /
• 2016

Marketing activities play an important role in determining sales performances for B2B companies; however, prior research implies that the effect of marketing activities in the industrial market cannot be inferred from findings in the consumer market due to their differences such as types of customers or products. We further note that B2C companies (i.e. B2B client companies) serve individual consumers, and thus, B2B sales performance can be better understood as consumer market contexts are also taken into account. In this research, we study B2B marketing activities and B2C market contexts, and their effects on B2B sales performance. To this end, we focus on three factors : sales calls conducted by B2B companies, and market commercialization and social interactions in regions where B2C companies operate. Our empirical analyses provide the following results. First, B2B sales performance improves in proportion to sales calls. When sales calls serve as the means to provide product information, they help client companies understand product benefits and make purchases accordingly. Second, B2B sales performance increases as B2C markets become more commercialized, but the effect of sales calls on B2B sales declines. Commercialized markets are more attractive to individual consumers and thus, lead to greater sales in the consumer market. However, the role of sales calls as information sources weakens as B2C companies share product information themselves and develop expertise in commercialized markets. Finally, B2B sales are greater in urban markets compared to suburbs. However, the effect of sales calls on B2B sales increases in suburban markets compared to the urban counterpart. Cohesive social interactions in suburbs hinder information diffusion among B2C companies, which in turn strengthens the role of sales calls as information sources. We theoretically contribute to the B2B marketing literature and managerially suggest strategies to improve B2B sales performance.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business
• /
• v.14 no.4
• /
• pp.289-303
• /
• 2023

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to investigate the types and forms of various marketing activities actually used in pharmaceutical companies and to empirically analyze the impact of these marketing activities on sales. Design/methodology/approach - This study categorize five years' worth of marketing activity data from a foreign pharmaceutical company 'A' which operates in South Korea into five categories. Multiple regression analysis and interaction effects are employed for data analysis. Findings - First, CRM calls, Detail calls, GP, and Web events have a positive impact on sales, but SoV does not show significant differences. Second, in the comparison between HQ1 and HQ2 based on patent ownership, Detail calls and Web events had a stronger impact on sales in HQ2, where the patent period is still in effect, compared to HQ1. However, SoV showed no difference between HQ1 and HQ2. Research implications or Originality - First, Detail Calls are more effective for drugs with active patents, while CRM Calls work better for drugs with expired patents. This emphasizes the need to customize call strategies based on patent status. Second, the significant impact of Web Events on sales in HQ2 compared to HQ1 suggests that online information access is crucial, indicating that customer receptivity varies based on product nature. Third, these insights, derived from data analysis, call for a shift in pharmaceutical marketing analysis methods away from traditional approaches. Finally, this study holds significance as one of the first empirical analyses using actual marketing data from pharmaceutical companies in South Korea.

• Journal of Information Technology Services
• /
• v.18 no.3
• /
• pp.17-35
• /
• 2019

Call centers do not simply play a role of responding to customers' calls, but they have developed into a core unit for maintaining competitiveness through services, marketing, or sales. Since the service quality of call centers heavily affects customer satisfaction, organizations have focused on enhancing it by reducing waiting time and increasing service level. One of the techniques, which improve the service quality of call centers, is to employ multi-skilled agents that can handle more than one type of calls. This study deals with three issues relevant to multi-skilled agents. First, we analyze how the way of allocating a specific group of agents to a set of skills affects the performance of call centers. Secondly, we investigate the relationship between the number of multi-skilled agents and the performance of call centers. Finally, we examine the impact of agent selection rules on the performance of call centers. Two selection rules are compared : the first rule is to assign a call to any available agent at random while the other rule is to assign a call preferably to single-skilled agents over multi-skilled agents when applicable. Based on simulation experiments, we suggest three implications. First, as the length of cycles in the agent-skill configuration network becomes longer, call centers achieve higher service level and shorter waiting time. Secondly, simulation results show that as the portion of multi-skilled agents increases, the performance of call centers improves. However, most of the improvement is attained when the portion of multi-skilled agents is relatively low. Finally, the agent selection rules do not significantly affect the call centers' performance, but the rule of preferring single-skilled agents tends to distribute the workload among agents more equally.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
• /
• v.12 no.5
• /
• pp.203-214
• /
• 2007

The global mobile Internet service market is growing very rapidly, shooing drastic increases in its sales volume. Despite this growth of the market, it has not yet reached its full-grown stage, and this calls for a study on the service preference based on the characteristics of the users. As most of the existing studies in this area have centered on its technical features, they fall short of providing to the related companies any useful data to which they can practically refer in developing the future mobile services that suit for various user needs, and making plans to increase the sales volume. Based on these circumstances, this study is to investigate how the mobile contents preference is differed in accordance with the user characteristics of the Korean and Chinese mobile Internet service users. This study is also to analyze how the relationship between the user characteristics and the preferred mobile contents types is moderated by nations, Korea and Chinese. To accomplish these research purposes, this study developed a set of research model and hypotheses based on a comprehensive review of the related studies. To prove the research hypotheses, this study conducted a survey among the Korean and Chinese nubile Internet service users and performed a variety of analyses of the data collected including the questionnaires, using the SAS version 9.

• International Journal of Costume and Fashion
• /
• v.10 no.2
• /
• pp.73-88
• /
• 2010

Study aims to identify customer equity drivers and their relative importance, to represent customer lifetime value (CLV) distribution, and to investigate the effect of customer equity drivers and demographics on CLV when shopping apparels at the four big department stores in Seoul. Recently, Korean department stores marked significant decrease in sales volume and it calls for more focus on customer orientation. Customer equity is a managerial concept which considers customers as a valuable asset for business success. Sustainable competitive advantage is attainable when customer equity drivers and CLV are measured, managed and enhanced. results identified four dimensions of customer equity drivers such as 'retail brand equity: 'relationship equity', 'retail service equity', and 'price value equity'. Among them, 'relationship equity' was proved to be the most influencing factor on the customer's store patronage intention. The CLV distribution represented unique characteristics of each department store. The level of CLV depended on such demographics as age and income. Marital status influenced the relationship between perceived customer equity drivers and CLV. It also analyzed competitive structure of the four big department stores in Seoul and offered managerial suggestions. This study provided conceptual framework for the future study of customer equity related to apparel shopping at the department stores as well as managerial implications.

• Journal of Society of Preventive Korean Medicine
• /
• v.19 no.2
• /
• pp.37-50
• /
• 2015

Objective : In order to understand the scale of medicinal expenditure in the Korean medicine, an analysis has been made of Korean National Health Account and statistic archives used to estimate the Korean National Health Account and also of such archives as are contributory to learn the scale of total health expenditures in the Korean medicine. Method : From the Korean National Health Account archives, an analysis has been made of National health insurance statistic annual reports, National health insurance non-payment items, Korean Economic Census (The Service Industy Survey), and Korea Health Panel data. Moreover, in order to know the sales of overall Korean medicine clinics, relevant data have been utilized and cited from investigations into National tax statistics, Korean medicine medical institutions and Korean medicines used, and current states of medicinal herbs and Korean medicine industry. Results : It is found that the average scale of each section of the medical expenditures archives in the Korean medicine in 2012 was KRW 3.5638 billion and that the average medical expenditures in the Korean medicine derived from Total Health Expenditure, The Service Industy Survey, National tax statistic, and Korean medicine industry are approximately KRW 3.3901, 3.4796, 3.7218 and 3.9634 billion. And the average expenditures derived from National health insurance patients and Korea Health Panel data are 2.5162 and 2.2292 billion won and those from the users and consumers of Korean medicines and herbs are 5.6,461 billion won. In order to verify the appropriateness of estimated medical expenditures in the Korean medicine included in the archives, an analysis has been made of uninsured costs which come from the aggregate sales amount surveyed minus health insurance treatment expenditures and it is found that the ratio of insured costs against total health expenditures in 2006 was 50.67% and 41.92% in 2012 and that the ratio based on National tax statistics and The Service Industy Survey was 52.19% and 49.28% in 2006 and 50.54% and 50.64% in 2012 and that the ratio of uninsured costs against Korean medicines and herbs and Korean medicine industry was 37.5% and 58.27% in 2013. Conclusion : It calls for the improvement of the accuracy of an investigation into Total Health Expenditure which comprise the actual conditions of health insurance and Korea Health Panel, the development of statistic schemes for understanding and classifying medical expenditures of all the Korean medicine medicinal institutions like medicinal clinics, and enhanced methods for independent panels to comprehensively collect and analyze the number of sampled Korean medicine medical institutions.