IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ias/mpaper/03-mrp5.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Emerging Forms of Competitive Advantage: Implications for Agricultural Producers

Author

Listed:
  • Michael J. Barone
  • Thomas E. DeCarlo

Abstract

Traditional recommendations for building sustainable competitive advantages revolve around differentiating a product from the competition along attributes that are important and relevant to customers. However, strategic approaches based on such notions do not represent viable options for companies competing in commodity markets characterized by a lack of physical product differentiation. The objective of this paper is to conduct a literature review with the aim of identifying alternative approaches to creating competitive advantage that can be used even under conditions in which no differences in actual quality exist across products. This review of the literature uncovered three non-traditional strategies that provide a basis for perceptually differentiating products in the face of physical homogeneity. Agricultural producers operating in parity markets should consider these recommendations when developing strategies aimed at creating the competitive advantages that drive sales performance in the marketplace.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael J. Barone & Thomas E. DeCarlo, 2003. "Emerging Forms of Competitive Advantage: Implications for Agricultural Producers," Midwest Agribusiness Trade Research and Information Center (MATRIC) Publications (archive only) 03-mrp5, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
    • Handle: RePEc:ias:mpaper:03-mrp5
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.card.iastate.edu/products/publications/pdf/03mrp5.pdf
    File Function: Full Text
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.card.iastate.edu/products/publications/synopsis/?p=472
    File Function: Online Synopsis
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kirmani, Amna, 1990. "The Effect of Perceived Advertising Costs on Brand Perceptions," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 17(2), pages 160-171, September.
    2. Stigler, George J., 2011. "Economics of Information," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 5, pages 35-49.
    3. Brown, Christina L & Carpenter, Gregory S, 2000. "Why Is the Trivial Important? A Reasons-Based Account for the Effects of Trivial Attributes on Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 26(4), pages 372-385, March.
    4. Lynch, John G, Jr & Marmorstein, Howard & Weigold, Michael F, 1988. "Choices from Sets Including Remembered Brands: Use of Recalled Attributes and Prior Overall Evaluations," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 15(2), pages 169-184, September.
    5. Dhar, Ravi, 1997. "Consumer Preference for a No-Choice Option," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 24(2), pages 215-231, September.
    6. Milgrom, Paul & Roberts, John, 1986. "Price and Advertising Signals of Product Quality," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(4), pages 796-821, August.
    7. Shimp, Terence A & Stuart, Elnora W & Engle, Randall W, 1991. "A Program of Classical Conditioning Experiments Testing Variations in the Conditioned Stimulus and Context," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 18(1), pages 1-12, June.
    8. Meyvis, Tom & Janiszewski, Chris, 2002. "Consumers' Beliefs about Product Benefits: The Effect of Obviously Irrelevant Product Information," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 28(4), pages 618-635, March.
    9. Miniard, Paul W & Sirdeshmukh, Deepak & Innis, Daniel E, 1992. "Peripheral Persuasion and Brand Choice," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 19(2), pages 226-239, September.
    10. Ippolito, Pauline M, 1990. "Bonding and Nonbonding Signals of Product Quality," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 63(1), pages 41-60, January.
    11. Mukherjee, Ashesh & Hoyer, Wayne D, 2001. "The Effect of Novel Attributes on Product Evaluation," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 28(3), pages 462-472, December.
    12. Luce, Mary Frances, 1998. "Choosing to Avoid: Coping with Negatively Emotion-Laden Consumer Decisions," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 24(4), pages 409-433, March.
    13. Nelson, Phillip, 1970. "Information and Consumer Behavior," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(2), pages 311-329, March-Apr.
    14. Timothy B. Heath & Michael S. Mccarthy & David L. Mothersbaugh, 1994. "Spokesperson Fame and Vividness Effects in the Context of Issue-Relevant Thinking: The Moderating Role of Competitive Setting," Post-Print hal-00670493, HAL.
    15. Menon, Geeta & Raghubir, Priya & Schwarz, Norbert, 1995. "Behavioral Frequency Judgments: An Accessibility-Diagnosticity Framework," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 22(2), pages 212-228, September.
    16. Kihlstrom, Richard E & Riordan, Michael H, 1984. "Advertising as a Signal," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 92(3), pages 427-450, June.
    17. Simmons, Carolyn J & Bickart, Barbara A & Lynch, John G, Jr, 1993. "Capturing and Creating Public Opinion in Survey Research," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 20(2), pages 316-329, September.
    18. Kirmani, Amna & Wright, Peter, 1989. "Money Talks: Perceived Advertising Expense and Expected Product Quality," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 16(3), pages 344-353, December.
    19. Aaker, David A. & Shansby, J. Gary, 1982. "Positioning your product," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 56-62.
    20. Heath, Timothy B & McCarthy, Michael S & Mothersbaugh, David L, 1994. "Spokesperson Fame and Vividness Effects in the Context of Issue-Relevant Thinking: The Moderating Role of Competitive Setting," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 20(4), pages 520-534, March.
    21. Stuart, Elnora W & Shimp, Terence A & Engle, Randall W, 1987. "Classical Conditioning of Consumer Attitudes: Four Experiments in an Advertising Context," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 14(3), pages 334-349, December.
    22. Baron, Jonathan & Ritov, Ilana, 1994. "Reference Points and Omission Bias," Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Elsevier, vol. 59(3), pages 475-498, September.
    23. Boulding, William & Kirmani, Amna, 1993. "A Consumer-Side Experimental Examination of Signaling Theory: Do Consumers Perceive Warranties as Signals of Quality?," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 20(1), pages 111-123, June.
    24. Anderson, Eugene W & Shugan, Steven M, 1991. "Repositioning for Changing Preferences: The Case of Beef versus Poultry," Journal of Consumer Research, Journal of Consumer Research Inc., vol. 18(2), pages 219-232, September.
    25. Michael Spence, 1973. "Job Market Signaling," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 87(3), pages 355-374.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Oghojafor Ben Akpoyomare & Ladipo Patrick Kunle Adeosun & Rahim Ajao Ganiyu, 2012. "Differentiation and Positioning Strategy: A Toss of the Same Coin," International Journal of Management and Sustainability, Conscientia Beam, vol. 1(2), pages 53-65.
    2. Boesch Irene & Weber Michael, 2012. "Processor's Preferences and Basic Differentiation Strategies for Potatoes, Milk, and Wheat in Switzerland," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-24, October.
    3. Abdul Manaf Bohari, 2013. "Computeralization of Seaport Operation Management: Competitive Issues and Need of ICT Advancement," Information Management and Business Review, AMH International, vol. 5(5), pages 217-224.
    4. Hongyu Wang & Apurbo Sarkar & Lu Qian, 2021. "Evaluations of the Roles of Organizational Support, Organizational Norms and Organizational Learning for Adopting Environmentally Friendly Technologies: A Case of Kiwifruit Farmers’ Cooperatives of Me," Land, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-23, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Michael J. Barone & Thomas E. DeCarlo, 2003. "Emerging Forms of Competitive Advantage: Implications for Agricultural Producers," Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) Publications 03-mrp5, Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) at Iowa State University.
    2. Ernst, Holger & Wickede, Anje, 1999. "Einflußfaktoren auf die Glaubwürdigkeit kundenorientierter Produkt-Vorankündigungen: Ein signaltheoretischer Ansatz," Manuskripte aus den Instituten für Betriebswirtschaftslehre der Universität Kiel 515, Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, Institut für Betriebswirtschaftslehre.
    3. Pracejus, John W. & O'Guinn, Thomas C. & Olsen, G. Douglas, 2013. "When white space is more than “burning money”: Economic signaling meets visual commercial rhetoric," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 211-218.
    4. Laurent Cavenaile & Pau Roldan-Blanco, 2021. "Advertising, Innovation, and Economic Growth," American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 251-303, July.
    5. Khaled Obaid & Kuntara Pukthuanthong, 2021. "Informativeness of mutual fund advertisements: Does advertising communicate fund quality to investors?," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 50(1), pages 203-236, March.
    6. Heribert Gierl & Julia Koncz, 2007. "Unternehmenswachstum und Internationalität als Qualitätssignale," Metrika: International Journal for Theoretical and Applied Statistics, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 389-409, January.
    7. Régis Chenavaz & Sajjad M. Jasimuddin, 2017. "An analytical model of the relationship between product quality and advertising," Post-Print hal-01685892, HAL.
    8. Abraham Koshy & . Abhishek, 2010. "Quality Perceptions of Private Label Brands Conceptual Framework and Agenda for Research," Working Papers id:2756, eSocialSciences.
    9. Abhishek & Koshy, Abraham, 2008. "Quality Perceptions of Private Label Brands: Conceptual Framework and Agenda for Research," IIMA Working Papers WP2008-02-04, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    10. repec:ebl:ecbull:v:10:y:2004:i:8:p:1-8 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Thomas de Haan & Theo Offerman & Randolph Sloof, 2015. "Money Talks? An Experimental Investigation Of Cheap Talk And Burned Money," International Economic Review, Department of Economics, University of Pennsylvania and Osaka University Institute of Social and Economic Research Association, vol. 56(4), pages 1385-1426, November.
    12. Jie Bai, 2016. "Melons as Lemons: Asymmetric Information, Consumer Learning and Seller Reputation," Natural Field Experiments 00540, The Field Experiments Website.
    13. Tomi Rajala, 2019. "Mind the Information Expectation Gap," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 10(1), pages 104-125, March.
    14. Carlyle Farrell & Gervan Fearon, 2005. "Renting Goodwill in International Marketing Channels: An Analysis of Pricing Strategies and Bargaining Power," Atlantic Economic Journal, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 33(3), pages 285-296, September.
    15. repec:dau:papers:123456789/4215 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Cambier, Fanny & Poncin, Ingrid, 2020. "Inferring brand integrity from marketing communications: The effects of brand transparency signals in a consumer empowerment context," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 260-270.
    17. Kyle Bagwell & Garey Ramey, 1994. "Advertising and Coordination," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 61(1), pages 153-171.
    18. Bagwell, Kyle & Ramey, Garey, 1993. "Advertising as Information: Matching Products to Buyers," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 2(2), pages 199-243, Summer.
    19. Bronnenberg, Bart & Dube, Jean-Pierre, 2016. "The Formation of Consumer Brand Preferences," CEPR Discussion Papers 11648, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    20. Mark N. Hertzendorf & Per Baltzer Overgaard, 2001. "Price Competition and Advertising Signals: Signaling by Competing Senders," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(4), pages 621-662, December.
    21. Eckardt, Martina, 2007. "Does signaling work in markets for information services? An empirical investigation for insurance intermediaries in Germany," Thuenen-Series of Applied Economic Theory 77, University of Rostock, Institute of Economics.
    22. de Haan, Thomas & Offerman, Theo & Sloof, Randolph, 2011. "Noisy signaling: Theory and experiment," Games and Economic Behavior, Elsevier, vol. 73(2), pages 402-428.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ias:mpaper:03-mrp5. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/maiasus.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.