Archive for June, 2017

DSEF Welcomes Its Newest Fellows

DSEF Welcomes Its Newest Fellows

DSEF’s academic partnerships serve to inform and educate students – highlighting direct selling as a go-to-market strategy and pathway to entrepreneurship and micro-entrepreneurship. DSEF has partnered with more than 75 professors over the past year, and is making significant process toward mainstreaming the channel on college campuses across the country.

DSEF will continue creating partnerships within the academic community by reaching 200 DSEF Fellows by 2019 and expanding student reach to promote deeper knowledge of direct selling as a legitimate channel of distribution and path to entrepreneurship. We are excited to welcome our newest Fellows:

Dr. Mark Bergen
Associate Dean, James D. Watkins Chair in Marketing
University of Minnesota

Dr. Nawar N. Chaker
Assistant Professor of Marketing
Elon University

Dr. Angeline Close Scheinbaum
Associate Professor
University of Texas at Austin

Dr. Honghui Deng
Professor of Business Administration, IC2 Fellow
University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Dr. Ramarao Desuraju
Professor of Marketing
University of Central Florida

Mary Hunt (PhD candidate)
Assistant Professor of Business & Psychology, Internship Coordinator
Ave Maria University

Dr. Kacy Kim
Assistant Professor of Marketing
Elon University

Dr. Annie Liu
Associate Professor of Marketing
Texas State University

Dr. James Lynch
Associate Professor of Management and Law
Brooklyn College

Dr. Ronald Michaels
Professor of Marketing
University of Central Florida

U. N. Umesh
Professor of Marketing
Washington State University Vancouver

Cutting Out the Middle Man: New Video

Cutting Out the Middle Man: New Video

DSEF recently released its newest video teaching tool, The Direct Selling Business Model: Cutting Out the Middle Man.

The new video was filmed live at the University of Texas at Arlington during DSEF’s Business Ethics Forum Campus Event. Al Bala, President and CEO of Mannatech, explains the direct selling business model in a way that business students and entrepreneurs can understand. “Eighty percent of the cost of a product in normal retail channel is in distribution. A large percentage of that is spent on advertising. Direct selling cuts out the middle man by redistributing the costs of advertising and distribution to pay independent contractors.” says Al.

The video was distributed to DSEF Fellows and is designed to be used both by direct selling companies and easily incorporated into a variety of university and community college courses, such as:

  • marketing classes
  • distribution channels courses
  • sales classes
  • entrepreneurship classes
  • management, communications and ethics/reputation courses

DSEF’s growing bank of video content also includes the Ask the Experts series, which may be viewed on our Vimeo channel.

DSEF-Funded Research Wins Best Paper Award

DSEF-Funded Research Wins Best Paper Award

At the 2017 Global Sales Science Institute (GSSI) Conference held in Mauritius in June, Julian Allendorf (Ph.D. Candidate, Institute of Marketing, University of Muenster, Germany) received the GSSI 2017 Best Doctoral Student Paper Award for his paper on “Direct Selling Distributors – Why Do They Stay or Leave!”, developed through a grant and data provided by DSEF. The prize-winning paper is based on Allendorf’s joint work with DSEF Fellows Dr. Anne T. Coughlan, PhD (Northwestern University) and Dr. Manfred Krafft (University of Muenster, Germany), and demonstrates how DSEF ‘s academic partners are producing data-driven research that validates the channel. The award was presented to Manfred Krafft by the President of the island nation of Mauritius, Ameenah Firdaus Gurib-Fakim, during a conference reception on June 8.

“Being awarded the GSSI Best Doctoral Student Paper Award for the work we have done so far feels like a great honor to us and provides the motivation for future endeavors,” said Allendorf.

In their joint research, the authors highlight similarities and differences between traditional sales and direct selling, and build on Agency Theory to develop predictions about the ways in which individuals stay in the direct selling distributorship, and what explains their intention to leave.

The authors analyzed a unique dataset of over 13,000 individual direct-selling distributors from 68 firms and asked the the “nature vs. nurture” question: does a “stayer” retain the same motivations as a “joiner,” or do distributors develop and change their motivations over time? Nurture doesn’t refer only to environment. Joiner-Stayers do indeed receive support and training from their companies and uplines, but they also learn about themselves (personal development).

The Stay-Leave decision is represented by the question, “How likely are you to continue representing the company for the next year?” Dr. Coughlan and Dr. Krafft used regression analysis to determine which factors are most likely to have a positive or negative impact on the decision to stay versus the decision to leave.

The drivers of income identified in the study, also called predictor variables, are consistent with those used in academic research and the long history of research on selling. The incremental effect, in dollars, of a change in a predicted variable – either positive or negative – is explained in the study. All effects assume that other drivers are held constant and should be interpreted for changes on the margin.

The results are consistent with the authors’ modified Agency Theory model and suggest academic, managerial and policy implications regarding direct selling investments and assessments.

Twenty-Five DSEF Fellows Attend DSA’s Annual Meeting; Several Present Research on Direct Selling Channel

Twenty-Five DSEF Fellows Attend DSA’s Annual Meeting; Several Present Research on Direct Selling Channel

The 2016 formation of the DSEF Fellows program is an important step in deepening the Foundation’s connection to academic leaders who advance knowledge of the direct selling channel in their field of study. To support and sustain these important partnerships, DSEF created Fellows Learning Journeys – a pathway for exploration and discovery through immersive experiences with executive leadership and staff – for Fellows participating in DSA’s Annual Meeting.

“I appreciated the opportunity to attend the Direct Selling Association’s Annual Meeting as a DSEF Fellow,” says Dr. Andy Gold, Business Administration and Entrepreneurship Professor, Hillsborough Community College.  “It was a unique opportunity to learn about this complex and growing marketing channel. The insights from the Annual Meeting and keynote speakers will certainly help inform my students about this channel.”

The Fellows Learning Journey began with the Direct Selling Boot Camp, which provided academics with a comprehensive understanding of the business challenges that new direct selling companies face, and continued with a DSEF Fellows Workshop, in which Fellows shared their direct selling white papers and teaching successes with incoming Fellows.

Fellows also participated in networking and education tracks throughout the conference. “Throughout the Boot Camp and Annual Meeting, I saw countless examples of leaders doing the right thing, both for their companies and for their representatives,” says Dr. Bonnie Canziani, Associate Professor, Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Hospitality & Tourism Department; Coleman Fellow in Entrepreneurship at University of North Carolina at Greensboro (UNCG).

DSEF invests in dynamic partnerships with leading academics, who bring short-term impact through research and data-driven third-party validation for the channel. Seven Fellows highlighted recent and upcoming research during three business intelligence panels for executive attendees.

“It was wonderful to receive instant validation of our research from people who are living the reality of direct selling and entrepreneurship every day,” says Dr. Canziani, who co-presented with Dr. Dianne Welsh (UNCG) research comparing satisfaction rates among franchisees and direct sellers. “Our findings suggest that being aware of the field’s needs for flexibility and recognition is an important step in keeping sellers interested and motivated to maintain connections with their companies.”

DSEF Presents First Educator of the Year Award to Dr. Brenda Cude of UGA

DSEF Presents First Educator of the Year Award to Dr. Brenda Cude of UGA

To recognize the significant contributions and achievements of its valued academic partners, the Direct Selling Education Foundation created the Educator of the Year award, and presented the inaugural award to Dr. Brenda Cude, University of Georgia (UGA), during the Awards Gala, at the Annual Meeting held in Orlando in June.

“I was incredibly surprised and honored by this recognition,” says Dr. Cude, who serves as Professor and Undergraduate Coordinator at UGA’s College of Family and Consumer Sciences. “Serving as a member of the DSEF Board has been a great experience, and I appreciate DSEF’s support of educational programs to expand students’ knowledge of direct selling.”

Recipients of DSEF’s Educator of the Year Award demonstrate outstanding service to the Foundation through leadership, personal involvement, teaching and research.

“Brenda served two terms on DSEF’s Board of Directors, and has made immeasurable contributions as a strategic and tactical advisor to the Foundation’s Academic Advisory Council.” said Gary Huggins, DSEF Executive Director. “Brenda has also hosted multiple DSEF Campus Events, reaching thousands of students with accurate information about the direct selling channel and the industry’s commitment to ethics.”