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Visiting Scholars

Visiting Scholars 2024-25

Simone Wies
Dr. Simone Wies

Goethe University Frankfurt
Friday, November 1 | 10 a.m. | Zoom
Presentation Title: The Value of Marketing Competence in Startup Ventures

Abstract While the benefits of marketing competence are well-recognized for mature firms, insights on how startup ventures should develop their marketing competence are sparse. Because startups are heavily resource-constrained, deciding to develop marketing competence might come at the expense of other competences—a major challenge for new ventures that seek to grow beyond their founding team. To address this challenge, we propose a conceptual framework and empirical strategy to examine the value of developing marketing competence ahead of other competences, that is, prioritized marketing competence. First, does prioritized marketing competence increase startup innovation outcomes? Second, how does marketing’s relative contribution to venture decision-making within the startup moderate the impact of prioritized marketing competence on innovation outcomes? Analyzing a sample of 272 startups, we find that prioritized marketing leads to higher startup innovation outcomes. Results further suggest a moderating role of marketing’s relative contribution: founder marketing competence and additional non-marketing responsibilities weaken the effect of prioritized marketing on innovation outcomes, while marketing competence intensity partially strengthens the effect of prioritized marketing on innovation outcomes. Altogether, the findings demonstrate the value of committing resources to developing marketing competence early in a venture’s life.

Biography Simone Wies is Professor of Marketing Strategy & Performance at Goethe University Frankfurt. Prior to her appointment, she held the SAFE Junior Professorship for Marketing and Finance at the Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE at Goethe University Frankfurt and a Post-Doctoral research position in Marketing at the Fuqua School of Business, Duke University. She received her M.Sc. in Marketing and Finance and Ph.D. in Finance from Maastricht University.

Prof. Wies' research centers on the interaction of firm financing choices and marketing decision-making, focusing on firm innovation. In her work, she investigates how the stock market values marketing and innovation activities and how these valuations, in turn, influence the strategic choices marketing managers make. Prof. Wies' research appears or is forthcoming in top academic journals such as the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Management Science, Marketing Science, and the International Journal of Research in Marketing. She is an Editorial Review Board member and a Developmental Editor for the Journal of Marketing.

Previous Visiting Scholars

The Department of Marketing hosts Visiting Scholars to meet with and present their research to faculty and graduate students. Visiting Scholars have included:

Dr. Craig Andrews

Craig Andrews is Professor and Charles H. Kellstadt Chair in Marketing, Marquette University. Craig also served as a Consumer Research Specialist in the Division of Advertising Practices with the Federal Trade Commission in Washington, DC, earning the FTC’s Award for Meritorious Service. He also has been Chair of the Marketing and Society Special Interest Group of the American Marketing Association. Craig also has held visiting professor positions with Coca-Cola Foods in Houston and with the Fitzgerald and Co. advertising agency in Atlanta. He has worked as a consultant for the Wisconsin Tobacco Control Board, Federal Trade Commission, and Food and Drug Administration, among others. Craig currently serves on four editorial boards. His work has appeared in the Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Public Policy and Marketing, Journal of Advertising, Journal of Current Issues and Research in Advertising, Journal of International Business Studies, Journal of Retailing, Tobacco Control and the American Journal of Public Health, among others.

Dr. William Bearden

William O. Bearden is the Bank of America Professor in Business Emeritus and Distinguished Professor Emeritus in the Moore School of Business at the University of South Carolina. He is currently on the editorial review boards of the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Psychology, the Journal of Marketing and Marketing Letters. He served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Consumer Research during 1999-2002, and as a member of the editorial review board for the Journal of Marketing Research from 1983-2002 and 2008-2014. Professor Bearden also served as the University Faculty Athletic Representative to the SEC and NCAA from 2006 to 2010, and received the first Distinguished Service Award from the Journal of Consumer Research in 2006. He was faculty co-director for the USC Lilly Teaching Fellows Program from 1992-1995, and has chaired over twenty doctoral dissertations. Dr. Bearden has published a number of articles in the Journal of Marketing Research, the Journal of Marketing, and the Journal of Consumer Research, among others. He has also coauthored three books including Marketing Principles and Perspectives, 5th Edition, 2006, Irwin/McGraw-Hill, Inc. and the Handbook of Marketing Scales: Multi-Item Measures for Marketing and Consumer Behavior Research, 3rd Edition, 2011, published by Sage Publications.

Dr. Russel W. Belk

Eldon Tanner Professor of Business, has taught at the University of Utah for the past 20 years. His areas of expertise are consumer behavior, qualitative research, and marketing. He has published more than 250 books, articles, and videotapes including Collecting in a Consumer Society (Routledge, 2001); "The Double Nature of Collecting: Materialism and Antimaterialism" in Etnofoor (1998) and "The Fire of Desire: A Multi-Sited Inquiry into Consumer Passion" in the Journal of Consumer Research. He has received several awards for best journal articles, best journal reviewer, and best instructor. He is president of the Society of Marketing and Development and past president of the Association for Consumer Research. He has received two Fulbright grants (1991-92 and 1998-99). Dr. Belk gave the keynote address at the International Quilt Study Center Second Biennial Symposium, "Collectors, Collecting & Collections" and later presented to members of the Marketing Department, "Consumer Ethics Across Cultures," a 26-minutes video-in-progress from a work in-progress with Giana Eckhardt and Tim Deviney.

Dr. Leonard L. Berry

has been identified as the most frequent contributor to the English-language services marketing literature in the world. During the 2001-2002 academic term he served as a Visiting Scientist at Mayo Clinic studying healthcare service. He is a Distinguished Professor of Marketing and holds the M.B. Zale Chair in Retailing and Marketing Leadership in the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University. As founder of the Texas A&M Center for Retailing Studies, he served as its director from 1982 through June 2000. He is a former national president of the American Marketing Association, and serves on the board of directors for several major public companies. Articles written by Dr. Berry have been published in such prominent journals as the Harvard Business Review, Journal of Marketing, Marketing Management, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and many others. Dr. Berry currently teaches Services Marketing and Seminar on Becoming a Professor at Texas A&M. His presentation, "Reflections and Lessons From My Services Marketing Journey" traced the evolution of his work in services marketing. He reflects on some career management lessons, and discussed what he would do differently if he knew then what he knows now.

Dr. Joseph Cannon

Colorado State University, "A Cross-Cultural Examination of the Effects of Trust and Supplier Performance on Long-Term Buyer-Supplier Relationships." This study examines and compares the role of trust and supplier performance on supplier attitudes across cultures. Studies of relationship marketing and organizational buyer behavior suggest that a buyer's commitment to a supplier is influenced by both the buyer's expectations of the supplier's performance and the buyer's trust of the supplier. Cross-cultural theory suggests that some cultures place a greater emphasis on interpersonal relationships - while others emphasize objective performance. Together, these theories suggest that culture moderates the trust-commitment and performance-commitment relationships. The proposed model is tested on data collected from over 600 purchasing professionals in the United States, Anglophone Canada, Francophone Canada, and Mexico. The results indicate differences across the cultures.

Jan and Cornelia Flora

Dr. Cornelia Flora is a Professor at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa. Dr. Flora's research interests include international and domestic development, community, and the sociology of science and technology, particularly as related to agriculture and participatory change.

Dr. Jan Flora is a Professor of Sociology and Extension Community Sociologist. His extension work focuses on involving Latino immigrants in the affairs of rural Iowa communities. His current research analyzes the relationship of community social capital to economic, community, and sustainable development in the United States and Latin America.

Cornelia and Jan Flora's presentation was, "Entrepreneurial Social Infrastructure: Bridging and Bonding Social Capital."

Dr. Jerry Goolsby

is the Hilton/Baldrige Eminent Scholar of Music Industry Studies. He comes to Loyola from University of South Florida, where he was on the marketing faculty for eleven years. He received his Ph.D. from Texas Tech University, following a successful career in the musical instrument industry. A very student-oriented professor, Dr. Goolsby has won numerous teaching awards. His primary teaching interests are in music marketing, quality methods, market research, sales management, marketing management, marketing theory and marketing ethics. An active researcher and writer, Dr. Goolsby's articles have been published in marketing's most prestigious journals including Journal of Marketing, Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management. An expert in quality management, Dr. Goolsby is a senior examiner and site visit team leader for quality awards. He has written award-winning applications and has assisted numerous organizations, both public and private, in their improvement efforts. Dr. Goolsby is most proud of his efforts in public education and children's services, which have been duplicated in numerous states and countries. In addition to academic research, Dr. Goolsby has served as a research consultant to numerous companies and industry associations. He is an active proponent of quality management and incorporates continuous improvement philosophies into all his classes. Dr. Goolsby's presentation, "Marketing's Role in Setting System Requirements: The Pendulum Swings Back" focused on the idea that a central key to success is ensuring that system requirements are established so that the organization as a whole is competitive in the marketplace. During the last fifty years marketing has become increasingly prominent in dictating system requirements, based on the notion that customer satisfaction will drive profitability in the marketplace. This over-reliance on marketing and customer satisfaction has been responsible for numerous corporate disasters, such as Andersen's fiasco with Enron. The presentation will explore the proper role that marketing and customer satisfaction should play in setting system requirements. Some intricate distinctions will be explored between valid and invalid customer requirements and accurate and inaccurate customer selection. A balanced multi-disciplinary approach is found to yield more accurate and viable system requirements.

Dr. Jan Heide

University of Wisconsin-Madison, presented, "Transaction Cost Research in Marketing: Questions and Opportunities." Dr. Heide discussed the current state of transaction cost research in marking, with particular emphasis placed on unanswered research questions, underlying assumptions, and opportunities for future research.

Dr. Douglas B. Holt

is Assistant Professor at the Harvard Business School where he currently teaches first year marketing. Holt holds a Ph.D. in Marketing from the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management (with a minor in anthropology), an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business, and an A.B. from Stanford University. Before returning to school to receive his doctorate, Holt worked in brand management at Clorox and Dole. Holt moved to Harvard in 2000, following appointments at Penn State and the University of Illinois. Dr. Holt met with faculty and graduate students for an informal discussion on marketing and consumer behavior.

Dr. Tomas G. Hult

Dr. Tomas Hult is Professor, Byington Endowed Chair, and Director of the 38-member International Business Center in the Eli Broad College of Business at Michigan State University. He is also Executive Director of the Academy of International Business, President of the Sheth Foundation, and serves on the U.S. District Export Council. Dr. Hult is one of the world's leading academic authorities (citations, publications) on international business, international marketing, strategic management, and supply chain management, and one of only 97 Elected Fellows of the Academy of International Business.

Dr. Sandy Jap

presented, "The Impact of Online Price Competition on Buyer-Supplier Relationships." In this talk, Dr. Jap presented the results of her research on this subject, including differences in cost savings, changes in supplier attitudes and strategic positions vis-à-vis the buyer, and opportunities going forward.

Dr. Jakki Mohr

University of Montana, "Channels Research and the Internet: Issues For Discussion." Dr. Mohr discussed the potential applicability of extant channels theory (transaction cost analysis, agency theory, and relationship marketing) to the new Internet channels being used. In addition, based on theories of channel governance, she will present a conceptual model of how to successfully manage the addition of an Internet channel. In essence, Dr. Mohr proposes a contingency approach to the successful deployment of a "click and brick" model. Dr. Mohr is also the author of the book, Marketing of High-Technology Products and Services, published by Prentice-Hall.

Dr. Meg Meloy

Dr. Meg Meloy is Professor, and Zimmerman University Endowed Fellow, Smeal College of Business, The Pennsylvania State University. Her research examines consumer and managerial decision making biases and heuristics, with a special emphasis on how moods influence consumer information processing, preference construction, and choice behavior. Her work has been published in journals including Journal of Consumer Research and Journal of Marketing Research.

Dr. Christine Moorman

Professor of Marketing, Duke University, whose area of expertise is nature and effects of market information utilization activities by consumers, managers, and organizations. Currently focused on how information utilization activities impact the design and implementation of marketing strategies and new product development as well as the effective functioning of markets. Dr. Moorman's teaching and research interests include marketing strategy, new products, and consumer behavior.

Dr. Moorman presentation was "The Effect of Standardized Information on Firm Survival and Marketing Strategies," by Christine Moorman, Rex Du and Carl F. Mela.

Dr. Cele Otnes

Cele Otnes is an Associate Professor of Marketing in the department of Business Administration at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. She is co-author with Elizabeth Pleck of Cinderella Dreams: The Allure of the Lavish Wedding, and co-editor with Tina M. Lowrey of Contemporary Consumption Rituals: An Interdisciplinary Anthology. Her primary area of interest is in the study of ritualistic consumption. As such, she has published and presented research on Christmas shopping, gift giving, weddings, Valentine's Day and the transformative power of products. At Illinois, she has taught Consumer Behavior, Promotions Management and Retailing at the undergraduate and MBA levels.

Dr. Mike Reilly

Professor of Marketing at Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, where he teaches courses in Principles of Marketing, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management of Technical Innovations. Dr. Reilly performs research in the fields of Market Analysis for Innovations, and Entrepreneurship and Technological Innovation.

Dr. Reilly's presentation was, "Teaching the New Marketing: the CEOS Model." The paper proposes a new recursive and fractal model for understanding and teaching marketing, the CEOS model. Based on the idea of systematically decomposing value, it integrates multiple marketing concepts.

Dr. Aric Rindfleisch

Associate Dean for Research and PhD Programs at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in Madison, Wisconsin, where he teaches Doctorate courses in Marketing Strategy, Graduate courses in Emerging Issues in NPD and Product and Price Management, and Undergraduate courses in Consumer Behavior.

Dr. Rindfleisch's presentation was, "God and Mammon: The influence of Religiosity on Brand Connections." Religiosity is a topic seldom broached by marketing scholars. Thus, the influence of religiosity upon customer behavior is relatively unknown. We test the relative influence of these two dimensions. Collectively, the results suggest that religiosity fosters both brand loyalty across multiple product categories.

Dr. Hope Jensen Schau

Assistant Professor of Marketing, Temple University, presented "When the Consumer Becomes the Marketer: The Abandoned Apple Newton Brand Community," by Dr. Albert M. Muniz, Jr. and Dr. Hope Jensen Schau. This paper explores the boundaries of consumer co-creation and production in the context of a brand community centered on an abandoned technological product, the Apple Newton PDA. The results demonstrate that consumers can assume control of a brand and effectively manage all aspects of the marketing mix. These results have implications for the understanding and management of consumer co-creation and brand communities.

Dr. Jagdip Singh

Professor of Marketing at the Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, where he teaches graduate courses in Marketing Research and doctoral courses in Research Methodology and Measurement. Dr. Singh has received the Case Western Reserve University's John S. Diekhoff award for excellence in graduate teaching, and the Weatherhead School of Management's Research Recognition Award for outstanding contributions to research. In addition, Dr Singh has received the excellence in reviewing award from the Journal of Marketing, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, and the Journal of Personal Selling and Sales Management.

Dr. Singh's met with faculty and graduate students and presented, "Curvilinearities in Consumer Loyalty Dynamics."

Dr. Suresh Subramanian

who talked about his directorship of The Waitt Family Foundation. Suresh has been Vic-President of marketing strategy and global strategy for Gateway Computers before taking this position. The Waitt Family Foundation funds projects investigating how technology can help the poor and underprivileged. Dr. Subramanian earned his Ph.D. in Marketing at Nebraska under the supervision of Dr. Robert Mittelstaedt.

Ms. Tuba Ustuner

Ph.D. Student, Harvard Business School, who is currently in the process of writing her dissertation proposal. Tuba's interest included business-to-business relations, marketing relations, and how firms engage with their marketing service suppliers, like ad agencies and market research firms, all those kinds of marketing services acquirers. She wants to explore how they select, how they evaluate, and how they coordinate their relationships. Economic theory and sociological theory have some grounds in these questions. Ms Ustuner's presented her work, "Selling in Complex Contexts: The Role of Social Capital."

Dr. Alladi Venkatesh

is Professor of Management and Associate Director of CRITO (Center for Research on Information Technology in Organizations) at the University of California, Irvine. His research focus is on the impact of new media and information technologies on consumers/households. He is also the principal investigator of Project Noah. His current work involves Electronic Commerce and the Consumer Sector, and the future of the Networked Home. Professor Venkatesh has given several invited presentations including at Intel (Oregon), Interval Research Corporation (Palo Alto), Philips (Netherlands), Electrolux (Sweden), Domus Academy (Germany) on new media technologies and consumers/households. Professor Venkatesh's scholarly publications have appeared in journals, including Journal of Consumer Research, Management Science, Communications of the ACM, Journal of Product Innovation and Management, International Journal of Research in Marketing, Telecommunications Policy. Professor Venkatesh is co-editor of a new journal, Consumption, Markets and Culture (CMC). Learn more about Dr. Venkatesh. Dr. Venkatesh's presentation, "Design Ethnography: Development of a Family Portal for Home Use" focused on the use of information technology at home prevails as a promising area of inquiry among scholars and practitioners (Kraut et. al 2000, Harper 2002, Lally 2002, Turow and Kavanaugh 2003,). In the past couple of years, products such as home Internet appliances, intelligent refrigerators, and WebTV consoles have been released into the market with much promise but with somewhat mixed results (Bergmann 2000, Business Week 2003). In spite of the slow adoption of such home-oriented technologies, the interest to introduce information technologies into the home is quite intense. This research reports preliminary findings from an ethnographic study on ways the Internet and computer technology could be integrated into the homes from the perspective of household users/consumers. We designed a prototype that we have labeled The Family Portal as a tool to help families explore more satisfactorily and with greater receptivity the usability and applicability of information technology at home. Issues concerning the design and development of the Family Portal and its implementation were discussed in his presentation.

Dr. Melanie Wallendorf

Dr. Melanie Wallendorf, Soldwedel Professor of Marketing and Professor of Sociology, Eller College of Management, University of Arizona. Her areas of expertise include sociological aspects of consumer behavior; political ideology and consumption; socio-cultural embeddedness of price fairness; ethnic, gender, racial, and class differences in consumption and its meanings; and soci-cultural embeddedness of youths’ understanding of smoking. She has published a number of articles in the Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Advertising and Society Review, and Journal of Macromarketing.

Dr. Richard Wilk

is Chair of the Department of Anthropology at Indiana University. He has done research with Mayan people in the rainforest of Belize, in West African markets, and in the wilds of suburban California. He has published on topics as diverse as beauty pageants, household decision-making, economic anthropology, and the effects of television on culture. Most of his recent work concerns the global environmental impact of mass consumer culture, and he works with organizations devoted to finding more sustainable alternatives. When he is not teaching and writing, he is a devoted fan of African and Caribbean music, woodworking, and scuba diving. His eclectic website, including the museum of weird consumer culture, is at: www.indiana.edu/~wanthro. Dr. Wilk's talk was titled, "Food Consumption and Creolization in Belize: From Buccaneers to Frozen Pizza." His visit was sponsored by the Departments of Marketing and Anthropology.