Adherence to customer loyalty programmes and changes in buyer behaviour

This study examines the factors that influence the effectiveness of customer loyalty programmes to cause a change in consumers' behaviour in retailing services. In particular, three explanatory variables are analysed: the quality of service offered to the customer, her/his trust in the company, and her/his attitude towards loyalty programmes. The results obtained indicate that a change in the buyer's behaviour is directly influenced by her/his loyalty to the retailer and by her/his attitude towards loyalty programmes. Furthermore, an indirect effect on changes in buyer behaviour caused by the quality of service and the consumer's attitude towards loyalty programmes is observed.     

What are the Building Blocks of Customer Brand Loyalty in Department Stores? A Multi-Level Mediation Analysis

Building customer brand loyalty through branding strategies to sustain competitiveness in the retail industry has gathered momentum among researchers. The purpose of this study is to examine the role of brand personality and consumer brand identification on customer brand loyalty via the mediating variables of perceived service quality, perceived value, brand trust, brand commitment, and word-of-mouth communication among Malaysian department stores' customers. Using a self-structured questionnaire, 381 usable responses are considered for data analysis by applying a covariance-based structural equation modeling approach. The results of exploratory factor analysis show that sincerity, followed by sophistication and competence, are the most significant dimensions used to predict brand personality in department stores. The outcomes also reveal that brand personality indirectly influences customer brand loyalty via consumer brand identification. Furthermore, perceived service quality, perceived value, brand trust, word-of-mouth communication, and brand commitment mediate the effects of consumer brand identification on brand loyalty. Finally, the proposed competing model implies that the indirect impact of brand personality and consumer brand identification is inevitable in building department stores' brand loyalty.     

Customer experience and commitment in retailing: Does customer age matter?

While the customer experience (CX) concept has rapidly gained traction in recent years, its effect on customer brand commitment and loyalty remains tenuous. Moreover, while customer age has been identified as an influential driver of consumer behavior, little is known about its effect on the customer's brand experience. Addressing these gaps, we develop a model that examines the relationships between CX, commitment, and loyalty, while using customer age as a moderator in the proposed associations. A total of 423 valid responses was collected from branded retail customers. Structural equation modeling results reveal a positive effect of (a) CX on customers' affective/calculative commitment, and (b) customer commitment on brand loyalty. Moreover, multi-group analysis results reveal that while customer ages moderates the association between CX/affective commitment, it does not significantly moderate the relationship between CX/calculative commitment. We conclude with key implications that arise from this research.     

企业支持行为有利于顾客参与价值创造吗?——来自在线定制行业的实证分析

企业支持行为对顾客参与价值共创作用的研究主要聚焦于企业支持行为对顾客参与共创水平的影响,而对顾客参与和服务结果之间关系的作用分析较少,也忽视了在线共创情景中顾客对服务结果贡献归因的差异。本研究以归因理论为基础,探讨在线价值共创过程中企业支持行为的作用,通过322份在线定制行业的顾客问卷分析,得出结论:在线共创情景中,顾客参与通过增强体验价值来提高服务满意度;感知企业支持在顾客参与和体验价值之间有显著负向调节作用;顾客对自身参与表现的满意程度和感知企业支持在顾客参与和体验价值之间有显著的联合调节效应,即顾客对自身参与表现的满意程度弱化了感知企业支持的调节效应。     

Rethinking value co-creation and loyalty in virtual travel communities: How and when they develop

For marketers of virtual travel communities (VTCs), a vital issue is to understand how to maintain consumer stickiness and loyalty. Although existing studies have tried to explore this issue, researchers have not given detailed and specific answers from the value co-creation theoretic lens. Therefore, the present paper aims to bridge this research gap by investigating the relationship among consumer trust in VTCs, consumer co-creation behaviors and their loyalty. The moderating impact of community service quality (CSQ) on loyalty is also explored. Data from a two-wave survey were collected from 214 active users in a Chinese VTC (Mafengwo) and then analyzed using the ordinary least squares (OLS) technique with STATA 13. Results indicated that (1) consumer trust positively impacts on two dimensions of value co-creation behavior, namely, breadth participation and depth participation. (2) Depth participation is more conducive to cultivating both attitudinal and behavioral loyalty, while breadth participation has an inverted U-shaped influence on behavioral loyalty. (3) CSQ positively moderates the relationship between depth participation and attitudinal loyalty. But after controlling for the effect of attitudinal loyalty on behavioral loyalty, this study found that CSQ negatively moderates the relationship between depth participation and behavioral loyalty. This paper developed a comprehensive framework involving antecedent and consequence of consumer co-creation behavior and showed the importance of CSQ as a key boundary condition, enriching the existing VTC and consumer loyalty research from the perspective of value co-creation and trust theory. Corresponding practical implications and limitations are also discussed.     

Designing loyalty programs that matter to customers

This study explores a model proposing a customer loyalty program as an identity marketing tool that evokes customer's identity salience (one's perception that a loyalty program membership is important to his/her identity). The results of a Web-based experiment indicate that identity salience is heightened by (1) the uniqueness and exclusiveness of a loyalty program (distinctiveness), and (2) by the fit between the function of the program's rewards and the customer's identity goal (identity congruence). The heightened identity salience, in turn, positively influences the customer's attitude toward the retailer, satisfaction with the loyalty program and the perceived quality of his/her relationship with the retailer.     

好的表演需要好的观众——顾客察觉准确性在员工情绪劳动影响中的作用

基于385对顾客和员工的问卷调查的配对数据，考察了员工的情绪劳动如何影响顾客的信任和忠诚，以及顾客察觉准确性在其中的调节作用。研究结果表明员工的深层表演会促进顾客的信任，进而促进顾客忠诚；顾客对深层扮演的高察觉准确性会加强员工的深层扮演与顾客信任之间的正向关系，而当顾客对表面扮演察觉准确性低时，员工的表面扮演会对顾客信任有正向的影响；顾客的深层/表面扮演察觉准确性加强了深层/表面扮演、顾客信任和忠诚之间的中介效应。研究帮助从情绪的视角更好地理解服务情境中信任的前因变量，发现顾客的察觉准确性在情绪劳动影响过程中的重要作用，有助于服务企业从情绪劳动的角度来建立顾客信任和忠诚。     

基于客户信任的忠诚形成机制研究

客户忠诚可以划分成客户对公司的忠诚和客户对员工的忠诚,这两种忠诚的形成机制是怎样的？哪些因素决定客户对谁忠诚？这两个问题是理论界和实务界普遍面临难题。文章从信任的角度考察了两种忠诚的形成机制,并基于我国销售企业和服务性企业进行了实证分析。研究结果表明：客户对公司的信任可以导致客户对公司的忠诚;客户对员工的信任可以直接导致客户对员工的忠诚,并通过客户对员工的忠诚的中介作用,间接影响客户对公司的忠诚;企业可以通过信任来影响客户对谁忠诚。     

我国通信业客户忠诚驱动因素研究

客户忠诚指客户行为的持续性,它对确立企业的核心竞争力具有重要影响。文章认为,客户忠诚是内外部环境因素共同作用的结果。而通讯服务质量、信任、转网成本、员工忠诚是影响通讯业客户忠诚的重要因素。其中,良好的通讯服务质量是维系客户忠诚的保障;信任是客户再购买行为产生的前提;转网成本对通讯业客户忠诚有着不可忽视的影响;员工忠诚有助于客户忠诚的建立。我国通讯运营商要建立客户忠诚,必须以客户导向的营销理念作为企业经营管理的主导思想;加强技术创新,为客户提供全方位的优质服务;与客户之间建立相互信任的合作关系,为长远合作奠定基础;提高转网成本和员工忠诚度,为建立客户忠诚打下坚实的内部基础。     

The expected retail customer: Value co-creator,co-producer or disturbance?

The purpose of this paper is to explore expectations among front-line employees regarding their customers and how these expectations can be understood in relation to strategies of customer participation and value co-creation. Two categories of expectations are identified; operative and interactive. In particular, the operative expectations reveal a service practice that is heavily structured by large-scale systems and ideals of rational efficiency. It is argued that co-creation needs to be discussed on both the strategic level, i.e. in terms of what the “customer”/market wants, and on the operative level, where the customer's direct contribution to the value-creating process has its focus.     

Engaging Customers through Social Media to Improve Industrial Product Development: The Role of Customer Co-Creation Value

This study aims to investigate the effect of social media on customer loyalty with the mediation of customer co-creation value and to build a customer engagement model through co-creation value, which is supported by product improvement perceived in increasing customer loyalty. The data collection employed a survey method with structured questionnaires which were distributed to 150 respondents who were the members of social media product communities in Indonesia. The findings showed that interactions through social media are able to increase customer engagement, facilitaitng collaboration in co-creation value, allowing the company to improve and develop products based on customers' needs and desires, which will eventually increase customer loyalty.     

Exploring the customer's intention to switch firms: The role of customer‐related antecedents

This study examined the customer‐related antecedents of the customer's intention to switch firms. Customer citizenship behavior was a key element in this study. Scholars have extensively studied the antecedents of customer citizenship behavior. However, the way that customer citizenship behavior relates to other attitudinal variables and the intention to switch has scarcely been analyzed. The proposed hypotheses were verified using partial least squares variance‐based structural equation modeling applied to 947 users of beauty care service firms in five countries. The results suggest that customer citizenship behavior is an antecedent of satisfaction, trust, and attitudinal loyalty. Two of these variables influence customers’ intentions to abandon relationships with the service provider. The implications of these findings enhance managers’ and scholars’ understanding of the determinants of customers’ intentions to switch firms.     

Customer contact and the evaluation of service experiences: Propositions and implications for the design of services

A contingency framework is developed as a means of understanding the relationship between the level of customer contact and service satisfaction. Level of contact is defined as the extent of interpersonal interaction between the service customer and the service provider's boundary personnel. Consistent with Oliver (1997), perceived service satisfaction reflects the customer's judgment that the service delivered a plausible level of consumption-related fulfillment. The article offers a series of research propositions derived from prior research and writings from the marketing, psychology, and operations literatures. Implications for the design of service strategies in efforts to improve customer satisfaction are also discussed. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Building value co-creation with social media marketing,brand trust,and brand loyalty

Value co-creation has emerged as a critical challenge for fashion brands in the age of social media. Despite its importance, scholars have not adequately explored the role of social media marketing (SMM) in enhancing value co-creation (VCC) intentions among fashion brand consumers in mainland China. SMM encompasses five hierarchical elements: entertainment, customization, interaction, electronic word-of-mouth (EWOM), and trendiness. This study developed a theoretical framework based on attribution theory and employed the partial least squares–structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) method to analyze the value co-creation process. The results indicate that SMM positively impacts brand loyalty (BL), brand trust (BT), and VCC. Furthermore, BT positively affects BL and VCC, while also serving as a positive mediator between SMM and BL and VCC. Finally, BL positively enhances the VCC intentions of fashion brand consumers. Our study's unique insights, derived from the attribution theory's advantage point, enrich the marketing literature. These findings also offer practical guidelines and tips for marketing managers seeking to optimize their SMM mix for VCC.     

Investigating the Effect of Employee Empathy on Service Loyalty: The Mediating Role of Trust in and Satisfaction with a Service Employee

Abstract

This study examines the indirect effect of employee empathy on service loyalty through the intervening effect of trust in and satisfaction with service employees during service interactions. Data were obtained through a self-administered questionnaire from university students. A total of 410 useable responses were used to perform data analysis. Confirmatory factor analysis, structural equation modeling, and bootstrapping for indirect effects were conducted to test the hypotheses. The results show a significant effect of employee empathy on trust in service employee and satisfaction with service employee during customer–employee interactions. Also, satisfaction with a service employee showed a significant effect on service loyalty during service interactions. The study enhances the understanding of empathy within banking services during interactions between service employees and customers. It also provides insights for service managers and frontline service employees on how empathy develops customer’s trust and satisfaction with service employee.     

The influence of customer-to-customer interactions and role typology on customer reaction

The service encounter is an important topic in service management. Although researchers have argued that customer-to-customer interactions may affect customers' evaluation of the service experience in service encounter contexts, the impact of customer-to-customer interaction on customer reaction has not been sufficiently studied. Consequently, the objective of this research is to investigate the relationship between customer-to-customer interactions, role typology and customer reaction. This research adopted questionnaires to investigate tourists traveling to foreign areas and concluded that the perception of customer-to-customer interaction incidents could be extracted into six factors. ‘Protocol and sociability incidents’ have a significant positive impact on customer satisfaction; ‘malcontent incidents’ have a negative impact; ‘crude incidents’ and ‘malcontent incidents’ have significant negative impact on customer loyalty; and finally, the customer's role typology moderates the relationship between ‘protocol and sociability incidents’ and customer satisfaction.     

Service Contract Negotiations in Marketing Channels:

This study investigates the factors that influence motor carriers perceptions of the success of negotiations with customers over contractual transportation service in marketing channels. The findings indicate that the motor carrier's perceived success of the negotiation is influenced directly by his/her trust of the customer, and indirectly by the customer's dependence on his/her organization. The results also suggest that though the nature of contract negotiation for motor carriage service has become more cooperative in the deregulated environment, a certain degree of opportunism still influences the negotiator's behaviors. From these findings, issues are presented which can aid the channel members in developing successful strategy for future negotiation with motor carriers.     

Making value co-creation a reality – exploring the co-creative value processes in customer–salesperson interaction

Abstract

We examine how value co-creation is engendered in transactional and relational interaction in a professional business-to-consumer (B2C) service industry through exploratory interviews with six organisations’ sales personnel and their customers. A dyadic model and propositions conceptualise the process of value co-creation at the interpersonal level. It was found that the customer and salesperson take on very distinct roles in the co-creative interaction, which is driven by characteristics previously unidentified in the context of value co-creation, such as a commitment to achieving common goals, establishing equitable dialogue and sharing interests. Examination of the value dimensions co-created found that reciprocal value realisation is not limited to business-to-business (B2B) contexts, as the involved parties create mutual episode value in discrete transactions, and mutual episode and relationship value in relational exchanges.     

基于顾客忠诚提升视角顾客合作创造与顾客导向比较研究

顾客忠诚重要性已被学者和企业管理者广泛接受,对于如何提升和维持顾客忠诚,以往的研究主要以顾客导向经营模式进行探讨,基于企业与顾客合作创造这一全新视角来研究顾客忠诚提升在中国尚属空白。这篇文章拟研究在顾客与企业角色变化环境下,传统模式企业与顾客合作创造在顾客忠诚营造方面实施的可行性比较,拟对企业战略发展做出指引。     

谈服务业顾客忠诚及其培养

随着我国服务市场竞争日益激烈,顾客忠诚对服务业的生存与发展意义重大。影响服务业顾客忠诚的因素是多方面的,包括服务质量、顾客满意、转换成本以及顾客价值等;服务业要培养顾客忠诚,必须有效管理顾客期望,提供超越顾客期望的价值,提高顾客满意度,培养品牌忠诚度,稳定员工队伍。