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assistant professor of organizational behavior and HR management at the University of Toronto; and Faye Taxman, director of the Center for Advancing Correctional Excellence at George Mason University. x Sweet news for specialty stores Specialty stores do not have to compete w i t h s u p e r m a rk e t prices to increase sales, according to a recent Trivedi study from the School of Management. Researchers found that consumers are not concerned about higher prices when shopping at specialty stores, and that they are more likely to buy items Bezawada related to their main purchase than at a supermarket. In addition, specialty store customers are more apt to respond to holiday promotions than to sale prices. The study was conducted by Ram Bezawada, assistant professor, and Minakshi Trivedi, professor, in the School of Management���s Marketing Department, along with two School of Management doctoral graduates: Ashish Kumar, assistant professor of marketing, Aalto University, Finland, and Karthik Sridhar, assistant professor of marketing, Ashland University. Specialty retailers can benefit from the study by adjusting their sales strategy to focus on premium selection, cross-category items and holiday promotions, rather than price cuts, to increase sales, the researchers say. The researchers analyzed data from 225 households, comparing candy sales in supermarkets to sales in specialized confectionary stores. They found that consumers preferred buying premium items, like boxed chocolates, from the specialty stores and were not averse to paying higher prices for them in comparison to similar items at supermarkets. The results showed also that consumers were more likely to buy additional premium candies when at confectionary stores than they were to buy such related items at supermarkets. Finally, the researchers found that promotions featuring sale prices at the specialty stores did not have as great an effect on increasing sales as similar lower-price promotions at the larger markets. Instead, consumers responded more favorably to promotions featuring seasonal or holiday themes, such as Valentine���s Day or Easter items. x CMO has a place in the C-suite A company���s chief marketing officer can be a critical component of a company���s top management team, according to a study by Inho Suk, assistant professor of accounting in the School of Management. In an invited editorial for the Journal of Accounting and Marketing, Suk argues that a company���s chief marketing officer (CMO) should be part of the top management team, along Suk with the chief executive officer (CEO) and chief financial officer (CFO), who determine the firm���s corporate strategy. Because the CMO is responsible for many of the activities that drive a firm���s earnings, such as new product innovations, price promotions and advertising, Suk says the CMO would be a valuable asset in the C-suite. Most firms do not follow this practice, however. ���Although the CMO is the marketing executive responsible for various marketing activities, only 12 percent of Standard & Poor���s 1,500 U.S. firms choose to have the CMO on their top management team,��� Suk says. Furthermore, because the average tenure for a CMO at the top 100 U.S. branded companies is less than two years, it hinders him or her from implementing marketing policies that are consistent with accounting practices and financial policies, he adds. Bringing the CMO on to the top management team and lengthening his or her tenure will allow the CMO to exert marketing policies that will provide long-term benefits to the company. In addition, the CMO is likely to gain a corporate-level perspective if on the team with the CEO and CFO. ���Under such circumstances, the quality of the information the CMO can provide about marketing and accounting will be higher and thus better reflect the firm���s value,��� Suk says. This will lead to better longterm results. x Spring 2013 Buffalo Business 19