http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
Marketing managers' interpretation of and response to strategic marketing information
the influence of cognitive style and perceived organizational culture
xii, 180 leaves : illustrations ; 28 cm.
The purpose of this dissertation was to investigate cognitive influences on the interpretation of and response to strategic marketing information. The research focus and specific research objectives were guided by a review of the relevant literature that revealed: (1) a paucity of research concerning cognitive influences on the use of information, especially as these differences pertain to sources and types of information; (2) the need to investigate the relationship between the interpretation of information and the magnitude of a subsequent strategic response; and (3) the need to develop and test a model linking both antecedents and consequences of interpretation. This study attempted to close these gaps in prior research by investigating the role of cognitive style and perceived organizational culture on the use of strategic marketing information. In addition, this study examined the relationship between interpretation of and response to strategic marketing information by developing and testing a model specifying the links between two cognitive influences, interpretation, and strategic response. Data was collected from the directors of marketing and public relations of 750 hospitals and hierarchical regression analysis was used to test the conceptual model. Results indicate that marketing managers with judging-dominant cognitive styles use more strategic marketing information, especially when that information is received from personal sources. Marketing information with an external strategic focus was used more by managers with intuiting- and judging-dominant cognitive styles. Next, findings show that marketing managers who used more strategic marketing information were more likely to characterize a strategic situation as controllable and positively valenced. Cognitive style had an additional direct influence on interpretation as managers with intuiting-, thinking-, and judging-dominant cognitive styles were more likely to characterize a strategic situation as controllable. Marketing managers who perceived their organizational culture as more informal-oriented showed a preference for personal sources of strategic marketing information and were also more likely to characterize a strategic situation as positively valenced. Finally, marketing managers who characterized a strategic situation as controllable and positively valenced were more likely to interpret that situation as an opportunity, and as a result, recommended a strategic response of greater magnitude.
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Includes bibliographical references: pages 142-163.