Sales – Response Model in Marketing Revisited in the Times of Uncertainty and Global Turmoil

Abstract The marketing performance models, regardless of their nature and applications, should ultimately lead to creation of cash flows efficiently. This common objective emphasizes on a basic proposition: the output (dependent) variable must be intrinsically correlated to the financial behavior of the firm at the micro level. The four criteria for marketing performance and evaluation are Financial relevance, Actionable, Stable behavior, and Reliable long-term guidance respectively. By using those four criteria as the cornerstone, the Core Sales – Response Model was formulated under the Process perspective (the marketing procedure which helps to generate cash flows along with other antecedents of financial performance). This research paper is aimed at restructuring the fundamental Sales – Response model with the dependent variable Sales and three independent variables, namely, Marketing Support, Firm – controlled factors, and Uncontrolled factors in view of uncertainties related to global turmoil and widespread economic recession into a three – dimensional model by dropping ‘Marketing Support’ to fit the foundation of mathematical chaos theory and try to test its impact in the real world scenario by two ways: first, whether it can accurately define the current nature of functioning of a business firm under chaotic business environment, and second, given the condition of chaos; if the firm fails to prove its stability, what actions should be taken to stabilize its position in the feasible space. In order to serve the purposes, the manufacturing giant Apple, Inc. ® has been considered as the sample firm for the time – series study of 10 years (2009–2018).