Marketing Effectiveness and Profitability

This theme includes research on measured and perceived effects of marketing activities for the company, other stakeholders and society.

Responsible faculty member:

Prof. Jaakko Aspara

Researchers focusing on the area:
Prof. Jaakko Aspara
Prof. Emer. Christian Grönroos
Prof. Maria Holmlund-Rytkönen
Prof. Tore Strandvik
Asst. Prof. Paul Viio

Asst. Prof. Johanna Frösén

Specific topics

Marketing metrics and accountability
Service productivity, relationship productivity
Return on relationships
Sales-marketing interface and effectiveness
Corporate marketing in financial markets; investor perceptions of brands and marketing activities
Pricing models; interactions of price and other promotional variables

Focus industries studied in the area

Financial services and banking industry
FMCG industry
Entertainment and events industry
Public services sector
Welfare services sector
Healthcare industry

Our latest publications on marketing effectiveness and profitability

Jaakko Aspara, Jan Klein, Yuchi Zhang, Tomas Falk, Xueming Luo 2020, 'Customer journey analyses in digital media: Exploring the impact of cross-media exposure on customers’ purchase decisions', Journal of Service Management,

Jaakko Aspara, Simone Wies, Arvid Hoffmann, Joost Pennings 2019, 'Can Advertising Investments Counter the Negative Impact of Shareholder Complaints on Firm Value?', Journal of Marketing, vol. 83, no. 4, pp. 58-80 . https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242919841584

Jaakko Aspara, Markku Kallio, Merja Halme 2019, 'Consumer price effects: Loss aversion in value vs. in demand', Journal of the Operational Research Society, https://doi.org/10.1080/01605682.2019.1609884

Johanna Frösén, Xiaoning Liang 2019, 'Examining the link between marketing controls and firm performance', Journal of Business Research, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2019.01.021

Jaakko Aspara, Xueming Luo, Ravi Dhar 2017, 'Effect of intelligence on consumers' responsiveness to a pro-environmental tax: Evidence from large-scale data on car acquisitions of male consumers', Journal of Consumer Psychology, vol. 27, no. 4, pp. 448-455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcps.2017.03.002

Henrik Virtanen, Peter Björk, Elin Sjöström 2017, 'Follow for follow: marketing of a start-up company on Instagram', Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 468-484. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSBED-12-2016-0202

Christian Kowalkowski, Mario Kienzler 2017, 'Pricing strategy', Journal of Business Research, vol. 78, no. September, pp. 101-110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.05.005

Jaakko Aspara, Maria Jose del Rio Olivares, Kristina Wittkowski, Tomas Falk, Pekka Mattila 2017, 'Relational price discounts: Consumers' metacognitions and nonlinear effects of initial discounts on customer retention', Journal of Marketing, vol. 82, no. 1, pp. 115-131. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.16.0267

Johanna Frösén, Matti Jaakkola, Iya Churakova, Henrikki Tikkanen 2016, 'Effective forms of market orientation across the business cycle', Industrial Marketing Management, vol. 52, no. January, pp. 91-99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2015.05.012

Johanna Frösén, Jaakko Aspara, Matti Jaakkola, Henrikki Tikkanen, Antti Vassinen, Petri Parvinen 2016, 'Is more capability always beneficial for firm performance? Market orientation, core business process capabilities and business environment', Journal of Marketing Management, vol. 32, no. 13-14, pp. 1359-1385. https://doi.org/10.1080/0267257X.2016.1181098

Johanna Frösén, Jaakko Aspara, Jukka Luoma, Matti Jaakkola, Henrikki Tikkanen 2016, 'What Counts Versus What Can Be Counted: The Complex Interplay of Market Orientation and Marketing Performance Measurement', Journal of Marketing, vol. 80, no. 3, pp. 60-78. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.15.0153

Johanna Gummerus, Veronica Liljander, Reija Sihlman 2015, 'Do Ethical Social Media Communities Pay Off? An Exploratory Study of the Ability of Facebook Ethical Communities to Strengthen Consumers' Ethical Consumption Behavior', Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 144, no. 3, pp. 449-465. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-015-2830-y

Jaakko Aspara, Amitav Charkavarti, Arvid O. I. Hoffmann 2015, 'Focal versus background goals in consumer financial decision-making: Trading off financial returns for self-expression?', European Journal of Marketing, vol. 49, no. 7/8, pp. 1114-1138. https://doi.org/10.1108/EJM-04-2014-0244

Jaakko Aspara, Arvid Hoffmann 2015, 'Selling losers and keeping winners', Marketing Letters, vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 201-211. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11002-013-9275-9

Christian Grönroos, Katri Ojasalo 2015, 'Service productivity as mutual learning', International Journal of Quality and Service Sciences, vol. 7, no. 2-3, pp. 296-311. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJQSS-03-2015-0035

Jaakko Aspara, Michelle Andrews, Xueming Luo, Zheng Fang 2014, 'Cause marketing effectiveness and the moderating role of price discounts', Journal of Marketing, vol. 78, no. 6, pp. 120-142. https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.14.0003

Jaakko Aspara, Xueming Luo, Ran Zhang, Weining Zhang 2014, 'Do institutional investors pay attention to customer satisfaction, and why?', Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, vol. 42, no. 2, pp. 119-136. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11747-013-0342-9

Jaakko Aspara, Bram Van Den Bergh 2014, 'Naturally designed for masculinity vs. femininity?', International Journal of Research in Marketing, vol. 31, no. 1, pp. 117-121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2013.09.001

Jaakko Aspara 2013, 'The role of product and brand perceptions in stock investing', Journal of Behavioral Finance, vol. 14, no. 3, pp. 195-212. https://doi.org/10.1080/15427560.2013.819803

Johanna Gummerus 2013, 'Value Creation Processes and Value Outcomes in Marketing Theory - Strangers or Siblings?', Marketing Theory, vol. 13, no. 1, pp. 19–46. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470593112467267

Christian Grönroos, Pekka Päiviö Helle 2012, 'Return on relationships:', Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 27, no. 5, pp. 344-359.

Christian Grönroos, Pekka Päiviö Helle 2010, 'Adopting a service logic in manufacturing Conceptual foundation and metrics for mutual value creation', Journal of Service Management, vol. 21, no. 5, pp. 564-590. https://doi.org/10.1108/09564231011079057