Kersi D. Antia

• Mani, S.; Astvansh, V.; Antia, K. D., 2024, "Buyer–Supplier Relationship Dynamics in Buyers’ Bankruptcy Survival", Journal of Marketing, May 88(3): 127 - 144.
  Abstract: A bankrupt buyer firm's interactions with its suppliers during bankruptcy have critical implications for both parties and for the broader economy, yet these interactions remain poorly understood. The authors build on research on buyer–supplier relationship dynamics to demonstrate that accommodative and exploitative velocities—the rate and direction of change in the corresponding acts—serve as signals affecting bankruptcy survival. They show how signal characteristics (i.e., the variability in accommodative and exploitative acts) and signaler characteristics (i.e., whether the party undertaking the acts is the buyer or its suppliers) moderate the impact of accommodative and exploitative velocities on bankruptcy survival. Study 1 examines the bankruptcy survival outcome of 310 U.S. bankruptcies over 14 years and finds that a 1% increase in accommodative (exploitative) velocity increases (decreases) the buyer's survival by 39% (33%). Further, variability in accommodative acts weakens their effect, and suppliers' (vs. the buyer's) accommodative and exploitative velocities are less deterministic of the buyer's bankruptcy survival. Study 2 uses a scenario-based experiment to shed light on the mechanism underlying the impact of the two velocities on bankruptcy survival. The findings from both studies demonstrate the key role played by buyer–supplier interactions in a buyer's bankruptcy survival.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/00222429231193994

• Pauwels, K.; Sud, B.; Fisher, R.; Antia, K. D., 2022, "Should You Change Your Ad Messaging or Execution? It Depends on Brand Age", Applied Marketing Analytics
  Abstract: Should advertisers change their message (what is said), just as they do the execution (how it is said) to reflect changing consumer preferences? This paper is the first to quantify how these ad components and their interplay affect brand sales. The authors define the concepts of Market Consistency and changes in ad executions and show how they interact with each other and with the brand’s age in their sales outcome. The empirical analysis confirms the hypotheses in the U.S. minivan market. As a brand matures, executional variations become increasingly beneficial, but changing advertising messaging to remain consistent with customer preferences becomes less effective. For older brands with little executional variation, changing the ad message even reduces sales. The authors thus uncover important boundary conditions for the opposing theories that brands should ‘stick with their message’ versus ‘change with the times’ and advice how to manage advertising as the brand matures.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3913055

• Butt, M.; Antia, K. D.; Murtha, B.; Kashyap, V., 2018, "Clustering, Knowledge Sharing, and Intrabrand Competition: A Multiyear Analysis of an Evolving Franchise System", Journal of Marketing, January 82(1): 74 - 92.
  Abstract: As franchise systems expand, the clustering and resulting proximity of same-brand outlets often become contentious issues. The increased interactions among outlets may facilitate knowledge sharing, even while inducing intrabrand competition. Prior research has considered each possibilityknowledge sharing or intrabrand competitionin isolation, resulting in conflicting recommendations to the central question whether multiple same-brand outlets should be close to or distant from one another. In this study, the authors take the perspective of the focal outlet and show that the opportunity to share knowledge afforded by clustering-based proximity may or may not be realized, depending on the motivation and ability of the proximal outlets to share knowledge, the focal outlet’s ability to absorb knowledge, and the governance context. An analysis of more than 8,000 observations on the 988 outlets of a U.S.-based automotive service franchise system from 1977 to 2012, and corresponding outlet-level sales information from 2004 to 2012, provides support for the authors’ hypotheses.

  Link(s) to publication:

  https://doi.org/10.1509/jm.16.0173

• Antia, K. D.; Mani, S.; Wathne, K. H., 2017, "Franchisor-Franchisee Bankruptcy and the Efficacy of Franchisee Governance", Journal of Marketing Research, December 54(6): 952 - 967.
  Abstract: Franchisors' long-run viability is tied to the ongoing operations of their franchisees. To ensure the ongoing performance of franchisees, franchisors deploy multiple governance mechanisms. This study assesses how governance mechanisms deployed to enhance franchisee ability (via selection and socialization) and motivation (via incentives and monitoring) impact franchisee bankruptcy. We examine the individual and joint effects of deploying governance mechanisms that share the same underlying objective, namely to enhance franchisee ability and motivation. As well, we assess how motivation-inducing mechanisms may serve to counter the motivation dampening effect of an increased royalty rate. Relying on data from multiple archival sources, we identify all bankruptcy filings by franchisees and their franchisors across 1,115 franchise systems over a thirteen-year observation window. Our findings document a positive and significant relationship between franchisee and franchisor bankruptcy. We also find main and interaction effects of the ability- and motivation-influencing governance mechanisms on the likelihood of franchisee bankruptcy, and the existence of significant bankruptcy spillovers among franchisees within the same franchise system. We discuss implications for franchise theory and management.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1509/jmr.14.0182

• Kopalle, P.; Fisher, R. J.; Sud, B. L.; Antia, K. D., 2017, "The Effects of Advertised Quality Emphasis and Objective Quality on Sales", Journal of Marketing, March 81(2): 114 - 126.
  Abstract: Given that consumers value quality, and such advertising content informs consumers' beliefs about quality, it is not surprising that high quality brands emphasize quality in their advertising content. What is less obvious is whether firms with lower quality brands should also follow suit and emphasize quality in their advertising to signal a higher quality. We examine this issue and study the effectiveness of quality-based advertising messages. Our field study relates brands' monthly sales to their advertised quality claims across 1,876 print ads in national magazines and Consumer Reports-based product quality ratings over more than two decades. Contrary to the generally held yet erroneous belief in the efficacy of low-quality products emphasizing quality in their advertising, we demonstrate that (a) it is not beneficial for a low quality firm to emphasize quality in its advertising, and (b) it is effective for a high quality firm to do so. An analysis of parameter values from a published category-agnostic simulation, and an experiment that examines consumers' responses to quality claims in a second product category yields convergent insights.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1509/jm.15.0353

• Antia, K. D.; Zheng, X.; Frazier, G. L., 2013, "Conflict Management and Outcomes in Franchised Channel Relationships: The Role of Regulation", Journal of Marketing Research, October 50(5): 577 - 589.
  Abstract: Franchise relationships are prone to conflict. To safeguard the rights of individual franchisees, several states have legislated greater franchisor disclosure (registration law) ex ante andor franchisor termination for good cause (relationship law) ex post. The impact of regulatory oversight on franchisorfranchisee conflict, however, remains unclear. Relying on agency theory arguments, the authors first assess the influence of the regulatory context, both by itself and in combination with the franchise ownership structure, on the incidence of litigated conflict. Conditional on litigation, they also predict the impact of franchise regulation on both the parties' litigation initiation and resolution choices and the resulting outcomes. The authors test the hypotheses using a unique multisource archival database of 411 instances of litigation across 75 franchise systems observed over 17 years. The results indicate that the regulatory context, by itself as well as in combination with the franchise ownership structure, significantly shapes parties' conflict management choices. The authors also find evidence of a trade-off between prevailing in the particular conflict and achieving franchise system growth objectives.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1509/jmr.11.0144

• Kashyap, V.; Antia, K. D.; Frazier, G. L., 2012, "Contracts, Extracontractual Incentives, and Ex Post Behavior in Franchise Channel Relationships", Journal of Marketing Research, April 49(2): 260 - 276.
  Abstract: Grounded in agency theory, this study examines how franchisors’ ex ante contracts and extracontractual incentives influence their ex post monitoring and enforcement efforts and how combinations of the ex post governance mechanisms drive franchisee behavior. Integrating three archival data sources and a survey of 206 franchisees across eight automotive brands, the authors find that franchisor reliance on contractual completeness appears to result in reduced ex post behavior monitoring and enforcement efforts, while contractual one-sidedness is associated with higher levels of behavior monitoring but reduced enforcement. Extracontractual incentives, when offered to the franchisee, are associated with increases in monitoring and enforcement. In isolation, franchisor monitoring and enforcement efforts are ineffective in eliciting desired franchisee behaviors. However, different combinations of franchisor monitoring and enforcement efforts affect franchisee compliance and opportunism, sometimes with counterproductive results. The study provides an initial baseline of understanding on how ex ante governance characteristics and combinations of ex post governance mechanisms function to facilitate or deter franchisee compliance and opportunism.

  Link(s) to publication:

  http://dx.doi.org/10.1509/jmr.09.0337

• Rindfleisch, A.; Antia, K. D.; Bercovitz, J.; Brown, J. R.; Cannon, J.; Carson, S.; Helper, S.; Ghosh, M.; Robertson, D. C.; Wathne, K. H., et al., 2010, "Transaction costs, opportunism, and governance: Contextual considerations and future research opportunities", Marketing Letters, September 21(3): 211 - 222.
  Abstract: Transaction cost theory (TCT) is one of the most dominant theoretical perspectives in contemporary business-to-business (B2B) research. Our article provides a brief review of this theory and identifies six important contextual considerations for future research. These considerations center on the topics of opportunism and governance and are intended to help refine and extend TCT’s theoretical, methodological, and substantive scope. In addition to exploring these particular ideas, we also encourage B2B scholars to contemplate ways of enriching TCT to meet the challenges posed by today’s rapidly shifting economic landscape.
• Van Bruggen, G. H.; Antia, K. D.; Jap, S.; Reinartz, W.; Pallas, F., 2010, "Managing Marketing Channel Multiplicity", Journal of Service Research, August 13(3): 331 - 340.
  Abstract: Advances in information technology and changing customer needs for channel service outputs have dramatically affected the routes to markets in many industries. The authors propose that these changes have led to significant alterations in how customers interact with firms and consequently to a phenomenon that we dub channel multiplicity.’’ Channel multiplicity is characterized by the customer’s reliance on multiple sources of information from independent (and often disparate) channel organizations and increasing demand for a seamless experience throughout the buying process. The authors identify the new market operating realities driving channel multiplicity and provide an overview of the consequences for channel design and channel management: a broadened view of products and services, channel leadership challenges, alterations in channel structure, and an expanded view of distribution intensity. The authors also identify issues triggered by these developments, which calls for further research in this field.
• Frazier, G. L.; Maltz, E.; Antia, K. D.; Rindfleisch, A., 2009, "Distributor Sharing of Strategic Information with Suppliers", Journal of Marketing, July 73(4): 31 - 43.
  Abstract: Distributor sharing of strategic information with suppliers is an important but underresearched issue within the marketing discipline. The authors develop and test a conceptual framework based on exchange theory that focuses on the degree to which distributors share external and internal strategic information with associated suppliers. Relying on survey data collected from 479 distributors across three industries, the authors find that distributors share strategic information with suppliers according to factors that affect the perceived benefits, costs, and risks of such behavior. The sharing of internal strategic information has distinct determinants compared with those of external strategic information. The interrelationships between environmental uncertainty and the sharing of internal strategic information, including both main and interactive effects, are especially notable.
• Fisher, R. J.; Vandenbosch, M. B.; Antia, K. D., 2008, "An Empathy-Helping Perspective on Consumers' Responses to Fund-Raising Appeals", Journal of Consumer Research, October 35(3): 519 - 531.
  Abstract: The research examines viewers' actual responses to four televised fund-raising drives by a public television station over a 2-year period. The 584 pledge breaks we studied contain 4,868 individual appeals that were decomposed into two underlying dimensions based on the empathy-helping hypothesis: the appeal beneficiary (self versus other) and emotional valence (positive versus negative). We find that the most effective fund-raising appeals communicate the benefits to others rather than to the self and evoke negative rather than positive emotions. Appeals that emphasize benefits to the self significantly reduce the number of calls to the station, particularly when they have a positive emotional valence.
• Mani, S.; Antia, K. D.; Rindfleisch, A., 2007, "Entry Mode and Equity Level: A Multilevel Examination of Foreign Direct Investment Ownership Structure", Strategic Management Journal, August 28(8): 857 - 866.
  Abstract: Over the last two decades, strategy researchers have sought to understand the ownership structure of firms' foreign direct investments (FDI) as reflected in entry mode and equity level. However, prior FDI research has ignored the interrelated nature of these key FDI decisions. In addition, prior research does not fully account for the fact that individual ownership structure decisions occur within the context of a firm's broader FDI portfolio, and thus reflect a wide and frequently unobserved range of parent firm and host nation effects. Our research seeks to address both of these limitations. Using a rich dataset of 4,459 subsidiaries established by 858 Japanese firms across 38 countries over a 9-year period, we specify a conditional bivariate, cross-classified multilevel model of FDI ownership structure. Our model enables the joint estimation of entry mode and equity level, accounts for the portfolio nature of FDI, and compares the relative predictive power of transaction cost- and experience-based explanatory variables across both facets of ownership structure.
• Hulland, J. S.; Antia, K. D.; Wade, M., 2007, "The Impact of Capabilities and Prior Investments on Online Channel Commitment and Performance", Journal of Management Information Systems, March 23(4): 109 - 142.
  Abstract: Attracted by the promise of greater market exposure and increased revenues, firms across a wide variety of industries have undertaken significant investments in online channels. However, while some firms’ entire business models revolve around this initiative, others have made only limited commitments to online channel ventures. What accounts for these marked differences in commitment to online initiatives, and do firms reap the performance benefits of increased levels of commitment? Furthermore, how do firms’ internal and external capabilities affect their propensity to establish and succeed with online channel ventures? Drawing on marketing, innovation, and information systems perspectives, along with insights from the resource-based view of the firm, we propose an integrative conceptual framework that helps answer these questions. We ground our hypotheses in the context of retailers’ online channel development efforts, and test our conceptual framework with data collected via a Web-based survey of 550 retailers. We find evidence of significant positive returns to investments in online channels. Furthermore, we observe the divergent effects of different sets of capabilities on commitment and performance. Importantly, although we find that the direct effect of firms’ information systems capabilities on online performance appears to be negative, the indirect effect (mediated by commitment) is positive. Our study also examines the impact of firms’ established distribution channels on levels of commitment to, and performance of, the online channel. We find that firms’ established distribution channels act as double-edged swords, with divergent effects on commitment and performance. We also find evidence of diminishing returns to commitment as a function of established distribution presence, thereby suggesting that the rewards of commitment do not accrue equally to all firms.
• Hesford, J.; Antia, K. D., 2007, "A Process-Oriented View of Competitive Intelligence and its Impact on Organisational Performance", Journal of Competitive Intelligence and Management, January 4(1): 3 - 31.
  Abstract: This cross-industry, two phase, empirical study examines the firm’s CI mission, the resources committed by the firm to its CI activities and the organizational location of CI activities. Through the testing of a series of hypotheses, and the subsequent development of a structural equation model (SEM), evidence is found of a significant association between a firm’s competitive strategy emphasis and the CI administration and structure, which in turn, influences the subsequent intelligence analysis and extent to which information is disseminated. It is also found that, when CI is located in the marketing area, there is greater dissemination within marketing, relative to other functional areas within the firm. The impact of CI activities on organizational performance is also identified. A comprehensive framework illustrating the effect of competitive strategy on the CI process is provided. This maps the relationships and inter-connectivity between various aspects of a typical CI program. The potential for future research is discussed as the authors attempt to open up the black box of competitive intelligence to understand how the CI process leads to improved organizational performance.
• Antia, K. D.; Bergen, M. E.; Dutta, S.; Fisher, R. J., 2006, "(How) Does Enforcement Deter Gray Market Incidence?", Journal of Marketing, January 70(1): 92 - 106.
  Abstract: Gray market activity has become increasingly prevalent. The prevailing wisdom in marketing is to use more severe enforcement to deter gray marketing. However, the certainty and speed of enforcement may also have a bearing on the incidence of violations. This article examines whether and how enforcement deters gray marketing. The results from a field survey of manufacturers and an experimental design suggest that, by itself, enforcement severity has no impact. Deterrence results only when the multiple facets of enforcement are used in combination.

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