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It's a secret: Marketing value and the denial of availability

Author

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  • Hannah, David
  • Parent, Michael
  • Pitt, Leyland
  • Berthon, Pierre

Abstract

Marketing thrives on secrets, yet surprisingly little formal attention has been paid to how the marketing of secrecy and the secrecy of marketing can play a significant role in contemporary organizations. We draw upon the fields of organizational studies, psychology, and marketing to develop a typology of secrets that reflects their marketing value and their knowledge value. Marketing secrets can have value to the firm (strategic value), to the customer (marketing value), or to both parties. Based on these two dimensions, we identify four different types of marketing secrets: (1) appealing secrets have high strategic value, as well as high marketing value; (2) mythical secrets mean little to the firm but a lot to the customer; (3) plain secrets are critical to the firm but are irrelevant to customers; and (4) weak secrets have neither strategic value nor marketing value. Our typology enables academics to formulate research questions regarding secrecy in marketing, and serves as a guide for practitioners in the construction of strategies that can exploit the strategic value of secrets by ‘romancing’ them, and increase their knowledge value by ‘educating’ the secrets.

Suggested Citation

  • Hannah, David & Parent, Michael & Pitt, Leyland & Berthon, Pierre, 2014. "It's a secret: Marketing value and the denial of availability," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 49-59.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:bushor:v:57:y:2014:i:1:p:49-59
    DOI: 10.1016/j.bushor.2013.09.001
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. David R. Hannah, 2007. "An Examination of the Factors that Influence Whether Newcomers Protect or Share Secrets of their Former Employers," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(4), pages 465-487, June.
    2. David R. Hannah, 2005. "Should I Keep a Secret? The Effects of Trade Secret Protection Procedures on Employees' Obligations to Protect Trade Secrets," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(1), pages 71-84, February.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hannah, David R. & McCarthy, Ian P. & Kietzmann, Jan, 2015. "We’re leaking, and everything's fine: How and why companies deliberately leak secrets," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 58(6), pages 659-667.
    2. Mills, Adam J., 2015. "Everyone loves a secret: Why consumers value marketing secrets," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 58(6), pages 643-649.
    3. Mazlan Maskor & Niklas K Steffens & Kim Peters & S Alexander Haslam, 2022. "Discovering the secrets of leadership success: Comparing commercial and academic preoccupations," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 47(1), pages 79-104, February.
    4. Campbell, Colin & Marks, Lawrence J., 2015. "Good native advertising isn’t a secret," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 58(6), pages 599-606.
    5. Allen, Alexis M. & Peloza, John, 2015. "Someone to watch over me: The integration of privacy and corporate social responsibility," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 58(6), pages 635-642.
    6. Hurmelinna-Laukkanen, Pia & Yang, Jialei, 2022. "Distinguishing between appropriability and appropriation: A systematic review and a renewed conceptual framing," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(1).
    7. Yang, Jialei & Hurmelinna-Laukkanen, Pia, 2022. "Evolving appropriability – Variation in the relevance of appropriability mechanisms across industries," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    8. Plangger, Kirk & Watson, Richard T., 2015. "Balancing customer privacy, secrets, and surveillance: Insights and management," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 58(6), pages 625-633.
    9. Fedorenko, Ivan & Berthon, Pierre & Edelman, Linda, 2023. "Top secret: Integrating 20 years of research on secrecy," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 123(C).
    10. Crittenden, William F. & Crittenden, Victoria L. & Pierpont, Allison, 2015. "Trade secrets: Managerial guidance for competitive advantage," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 58(6), pages 607-613.
    11. Hall, Daniel & Pitt, Leyland & Wallstrom, Asa, 2015. "The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 58(6), pages 651-658.
    12. Robertson, Kirsten M. & Hannah, David R. & Lautsch, Brenda A., 2015. "The secret to protecting trade secrets: How to create positive secrecy climates in organizations," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 58(6), pages 669-677.

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