“I won't leave you although you disappoint me”: The interplay between satisfaction,investment, and alternatives in determining consumer–brand relationship commitment

While commitment is among the key constructs of consumer–brand relationships, past research has regarded the impact of predictors of brand commitment as being linear and has ignored potential interactive effects among the different antecedents. Applying the investment model of interpersonal relationship, the present research examines the dynamic interplay among the key determinants of consumers' commitment to their relationship with brands (satisfaction, alternatives, and investment) and substantiates the roles of the antecedents in consumer–brand relationship contexts. Results of two studies demonstrate that greater consumer satisfaction and investment and less attractive alternatives lead to a higher level of consumers' commitment to their relationship with a brand. Most important, the results suggest that the perceived size of investment exerts a stronger impact on brand relationship commitment when satisfaction is low while making no significant difference in the commitment level when satisfaction is high. Conversely, the influence of alternative attractiveness on brand relationship commitment appeared to be largely monotonic. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The relationship between satisfaction and loyalty: A mediator analysis

This study proposes a multiple mediation model to analyze the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty. The study's contribution to the literature is to examine, empirically, the main antecedents and determinants of this endogenous variable in greater depth. Thus, the research fills a gap in the literature through its analysis of the mediating role of perceived switching costs and the perceived lack of attractiveness of alternative offerings. This study applies variance-based structural equation modeling via partial least squares to a sample of 785 customers from 74 insurance companies in the service sector. The results show that perceived switching costs – to a greater extent – and the perceived lack of attractiveness of alternative offerings – to a lesser extent – are significant mediators in the relationship between satisfaction and loyalty.     

Multiple reference effects in service evaluations: Roles of alternative attractiveness and self-image congruity

Customer satisfaction and service evaluation research has examined the reference effect but largely adopted an expectancy-disconfirmation paradigm that focuses on referents centered on the product or service in question. This study examines two additional reference effects, alternative attractiveness and self-image congruity, and their interaction. The framework of multiple reference effects in service evaluations integrates insights from regret theory, the investment model of interpersonal relationships, and self-image congruity theory. An empirical study of a hairstyling service confirms that comparisons involving other-object and self-based reference points contribute significantly to consumer service evaluations. Self-image congruity has the most significant impact on both customer satisfaction and commitment judgments. In general, the negative effect of alternative attractiveness on both customer satisfaction and commitment becomes weaker as the level of self-image congruity increases; as long as consumers find a good fit between their self-image and the service image, they are less likely to consider alternative services. However, for consumers with high self-image congruity with the focal service, the presence of an attractive alternative may induce them to exhibit an enhancement bias or “play up” effect (i.e., report higher satisfaction with the focal service).     

A market-level model of relationship regulation

This research examines the moderating effects public policy has on relationship strength in a relationship marketing context. Prior research suggests that many positive outcomes emerge from forming inter-firm relationships, yet few examine potential negative outcomes such as anti-competitive behavior. This paper examines what happens to both positive and negative outcomes, when close inter-firm relationships are regulated directly by public policy. It is found that regulations intended to protect consumers and small retailers from anti-competitive behavior are effective in reducing the negative outcomes of such behavior, yet they simultaneously have an unintended effect of dampening the positive outcomes that close inter-firm relationships provide.     

Application of Relationship Investment Model in Predicting Student Engagement towards HEIs

Using the Relationship Investment Model, this study examines the effects of satisfaction, relationship investment dimensions, and alternative attractiveness on student commitment and, consequently, on student engagement towards higher education institutions (HEIs). This research adopts the positivism, quantitative, and deductive approaches. Data were gathered from a sample of 250 students through the street-intercept systematic sampling and were analyzed using structural equation modelling. The findings reveal that satisfaction and student direct investment significantly affect student commitment, which in turn influences student engagement towards HEIs. While the findings provide guidance to HEIs in designing an effective engagement program that will ensure their relevance in the competitive educational world, this research is limited by several factors, which will require refinement and replication in future research.     

Customer satisfaction and qualities in public service: an intermediary customer perspective

From an intermediary customer perspective, this study empirically investigates the causal relationships between service quality, relationship quality, design quality, and customer satisfaction in the public service value chain. Cross-sectional survey data were collected from social work, childcare, and healthcare services and were analyzed using structural equation modeling. It is found that all the quality dimensions are antecedents to customer satisfaction and relations between quality dimensions show distinctive patterns. The results show that relationship quality does not directly affect customer satisfaction, but can indirectly influence satisfaction through the mediation of both service and design qualities. The effect of the relationship and design qualities on customer satisfaction is stronger than that of service quality.     

The Roles of Business Ethics in Conflict Management in Small Retailer–Supplier Business Relationships

Any ongoing relationship involves conflict. While facing conflict can be a serious matter for small firms with limited resources and capabilities, little is known about conflict management or the role of an ethical foundation, or business ethics, for small businesses. This study examines some influential factors regarding conflict management and the role of business ethics in satisfactory business relationship building in the context of small retailer–supplier relationships. The proposed model identifies (1) the relative importance of business ethics and role performance as antecedents and (2) two dimensions of satisfaction (social and economic) as consequences. The data, collected from small apparel retailers in the United States, clearly demonstrate the powerful role of business ethics. The positive perceptions of small retailers regarding supplier business ethics significantly reduces retailer–supplier conflict and increases retailer–supplier social satisfaction. Supplier role performance does not contribute to a reduction in retailer–supplier conflict as perceived by small retailers, but it does enhance the economic satisfaction of retailers, which further increases their social satisfaction. The functional benefits of conflict provide interesting insight. Providing several meaningful implications, this study demonstrates the unique aspects of conflict management within small retailer–supplier relationships.     

Development of brand equity: evaluation of four alternative models

This study examines the development of brand equity by evaluating the influences of brand associations, perceived quality, satisfaction, and brand loyalty. Based on insights from prior research, four models are proposed, which focus on alternative relationships among these four factors. Sample data sets from the banking and discount store services are used to evaluate the relationships between and among these four factors. Results of the comparative data analyses reveal that the research model fits the data significantly better than the other three models. In particular, the contention that the effects of perceived quality impact brand equity indirectly through satisfaction is supported. The findings indicate that the primary contribution of the current study lies in the inclusion of satisfaction as an antecedent to brand equity and in the attempts to adequately model its relationships with the more traditional brand equity antecedents of perceived quality, brand loyalty, and brand associations. These results, and their implications, along with avenues for further research are also elaborated in this research.     

Influencing factors of customer loyalty in mobile payment: A consumption value perspective and the role of alternative attractiveness

The rapid development of mobile payment has attracted many competitors and made customer retention a crucial issue for mobile payment service providers. This study examines the influencing factors of mobile payment loyalty from a multi-dimensional value perspective by extending and integrating the Cognitive-Affective-Behaviour (C-A-B) model and the Theory of Consumption Values (TCV). We also incorporate alternative attractiveness as a moderating variable to reveal the potential influence of the competitive market environment. This study collected 427 questionnaires from mobile payment users in China. The empirical study results show that customers’ loyalty is determined by satisfaction, and satisfaction is influenced by functional, emotional, epistemic, and monetary value. The findings also demonstrate that satisfaction has mediated the consumption values and loyalty relationship, and alternative attractiveness has weakened the influence of satisfaction on loyalty. This study shifts the focus in mobile payment research from adoption to the post-adoption stage and establishes a new research model by integrating two fundamental theories in explaining customer behaviour. Our study could guide mobile payment providers to cultivate customer satisfaction and loyalty by determining the values that are worth investing in their marketing strategies and help them notice and neutralise the weakening effect of competitor attractiveness.     

The moderating effect of brand orientation on inter-firm market orientation and performance

Abstract

While prior research has shown that market and brand orientation are key contributors to successful business performance, research to date has not fully explored how inter firm collaboration for these two key orientations can enhance business performance. The purpose of the paper is to investigate the relationship between inter-firm market and performance; to test for the moderating role of brand orientation in that relationship. A total of 169 completed pairs of surveys were collected of small and medium enterprises operating internationally in a variety of industries in Switzerland. The results show that inter-firm market and brand orientation are two antecedents of marketing and financial performance. The impact of inter-firm market on marketing and financial performance is significant when the brand orientation is favorable. This study extends previous research by examining the moderating role of brand orientation on inter firm market orientation, which is important, especially for firms wanting to increase their brand reputation by entering into partnerships with other firms. Further research is indicated, to identify the key moderators of the driving force of inter-firm market in relation to business performance and the reason why maintaining a strong brand presence is important in the international marketplace.     

Job Satisfaction: Linking Perceived Organizational Support,Organizational Justice with Work Outcomes in China

This study develops and tests a full mediation model that examines the mediating role of job satisfaction in the Chinese context, based on a survey of 424 employees in three small and medium sized enterprises. Data analysis shows a good fit with the full mediation and all four classes of antecedents (i.e., perceived organizational support, procedural, distributive, and interactional justice). Particularly, procedural justice contributes to the prediction of satisfaction. Job satisfaction is also shown to mediate most antecedentconsequence relationships, except the two between perceived organizational support (POS)—turnover and procedural justice—consequences. Furthermore, there are only four direct links, including POS to citizenship behaviors directed at individuals, distributive justice to turnover intention, interactional justice to citizenship behaviors directed at organizations and turnover. These direct links suggest that job satisfaction does not fully mediate the relationships.     

The antecedents and consequences of trust in online-purchase decisions

The primary research objective of this study rests on presenting and validating a model for the antecedents and consequences of consumer trust in the context of online purchase decision-making by means of simulation and survey methods. For this purpose, the study seeks to validate the correlation and causal relationships among the model's elements involving antecedents to trust (transactional security, web-site properties, search functionality, and personal variables), consequences (purchase intention), and mediating variable (web-site awareness).Based on the findings of a controlled simulation study involving 122 college students, are the following major results: (1) web-site trust showed a significant response to site properties including the image-related variables such as company awareness and company reputation, while satisfaction significantly responded to navigation functionality; (2) personal variables such as familiarity with e-commerce and prior satisfaction with e-commerce were found to have high correlation with web-site satisfaction as well as trust; (3) web-site trust, web-site satisfaction, and web-site awareness all influenced the online-purchase intention, and (4) web-site trust and web-site satisfaction had a high correlation.The findings of this study suggest a new approach to understanding and identifying the antecedents and consequences of web-site trust whose importance is increasing in the study of Internet commerce. Also, the study findings provide the Internet marketers with the managerial implications to establish effective online marketing strategy.     

FsQCA versus regression: The context of customer engagement

The purpose of this study is to address the strengths and weaknesses of the Fuzzy set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) method by contrasting it with traditional multiple regression analysis. To achieve our objective, we utilize the context of customer engagement and explore how both methodological approaches can explain the factors that lead customers to engage with brands/firms. We test the association between customer engagement and its antecedents by using both methods, fsQCA and multiple regression analysis (MRA), and compare the findings. MRA results show a significant relationship between customer engagement and perceived interactivity, perceived identification, perceived value, and brand involvement, a negative relationship with perceived fairness, while the relationship with customer satisfaction and perceived value is not statistically significant. On the other hand, fsQCA revealed eight different combinations of these antecedents that lead to high levels of customer engagement. Although multiple regression analysis (MRA) certainly has its own merit, our findings indicate that this methodological approach does not capture the complexities extant in real life. This method's strength of providing generalizable results is also its weakness as relationships cannot always be generalized as shown in our study. As such, at a minimum, fsQCA should be used as a complementary approach when authors employ MRA. We suggest ‘at a minimum’ because fsQCA possesses sufficient explanatory power to be employed by itself to offer a rich perspective on the relationships of interest. We also make several noteworthy contributions to the customer engagement and service marketing literatures.     

The Antecedents of Trust in Business-to-Business Financial Services

Purpose: To explore how satisfaction, communication, customization, competence, and shared values (as antecedents) influence trust in B2B financial services relationships, and to assist decision makers in this industry to manage long-term relationships with their clients.

Methodology/approach: Based on a literature review, five hypotheses were developed. The hypotheses were addressed by empirically evaluating a theoretical model based on data from both relationship managers and the clients of a leading South African B2B financial services provider. Regression analysis was used to assess the relationships in the relationship-manager sample, while structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to assess the relationships in the client sample.

Findings: In the relationship-manager sample, satisfaction, competence, and shared values were found to be significant predictors of trust. However, in the client sample, all five of the hypothesized antecedents were found to contribute significantly to trust.

Originality/value/contribution: The major contribution of this study, for both marketing academics and practitioners, lies in the simultaneous consideration of the perceptions of both financial services providers as well as their clients. As far as it could be ascertained, this combination of both exchange partners (service providers and clients) in a single study has not been reported in a financial services context.     

The behavioural sequence of the financial services industry in Taiwan: Service quality,relationship quality and behavioural loyalty

This study develops and empirically tests a model for examination of the relations among service quality scales, relationship bonding tactics, customer satisfaction, trust and commitment, and customer behavioural loyalty in a relationship marketing system. This paper aims to test the relationship between perceived service quality satisfaction and relationship intentions, or, in other words, whether or not consumers will consider building long-term relationships with service providers on the basis of a single instance of perceived service quality. Based on three groups of samples from XYZ bank, one of the most famous banks providing merchant banking services in Taiwan, the findings suggest that financial products with different product attributes need different kinds and levels of service and relationship investment. The findings also suggest that there does exist a positive relationship between service quality satisfaction and perceived relationship investment.     

The antecedents of relationship commitment in the management of relationships in business-to-business (B2B) financial services

The importance of commitment in the management of long-term marketing relationships is well accepted in the marketing literature. There is, however, uncertainty regarding the antecedents of relationship commitment. The study on which this paper is based focused on four possible antecedents of relationship commitment, namely trust, communication, shared values and attractiveness of alternatives.

The study was conducted in the South African business-to-business (B2B) financial services industry. A web-based approach was used to survey 300 relationship managers, while data from 400 B2B clients were collected using a telephone survey. The relationship-manager data were analysed with regression analysis, while structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the client data.

The uniqueness of the study is the simultaneous consideration of the perceptions of both relationship managers and clients. As far as could be ascertained, a study of this nature has not yet been conducted in the B2B financial services industry. Based on the perceptions of both relationship managers and clients, the contribution of this study is the confirmation of the important roles of trust, communication, shared values and attractiveness of alternatives in the management of commitment to a relationship from both a customer and a provider perspective.     

Effects of perceived retail crowding: a meta-analytic study

ABSTRACT

We performed a meta-analysis to understand the crowding construct in the retail context. The systematic review identified 535 studies, of which 69 were present in the analysis conducted, generating 504 quantitative relationships. Our meta-analysis indicated that the perception of crowding generates many negative feelings, a few positive feelings, minimal perceived value, low attractiveness of the environment and low short- and long-term consequent behaviours. At the methodological level, it was found that student samples and experiments tend to produce a stronger impact on the relationship between crowding and satisfaction. It was also found that the effect of crowding perception on customer satisfaction differed according to cultural influence. Finally, the results did not demonstrate an influence of the type of density (human vs spatial) on the relationship between retail crowding and satisfaction.     

Exploring the Process of Ethical Leadership: The Mediating Role of Employee Voice and Psychological Ownership

The study of ethical leadership has emerged as an important topic for understanding the effects of leadership in organizations. In a study with 845 working adults across multiple organizations, the relationships between ethical leadership with positive employee outcomes were examined. Results suggest that ethical leadership is related to both psychological well-being and job satisfaction in employees, but the processes are different. Employee voice mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and psychological well-being. Feelings of psychological ownership mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and job satisfaction. A discussion of theoretical and practical implications concludes the article.     

Moderating Effect of Relationship Life Cycle in Long-Term Orientation of Firm-Supplier Relationships

Abstract

The study of the long-term orientation of the commercial relationships established between companies and their suppliers is a topic of great interest at the present time. But although many authors have analyzed this temporal orientation, few have examined its dynamic nature. Moreover, there are no previous studies looking at the moderating effect of the relationship life cycle on the factors determining the temporal orientation of these relationships, comparing how some antecedents could have different effects depending on the specific stage the relationship has reached.

Thus, in the context of the Spanish agro-food sector, the current work examines this moderating effect, considering the industrial customers' point of view. Specifically, we analyze the effect of the initial stage compared with the intermediate stage of the life cycle on a set of antecedent factors of this long-term orientation. Our research offers important implications for the management of elements such as communication, cooperation, trust, satisfaction and commitment.     

“I Need You Too!” Corporate Identity Attractiveness for Consumers and The Role of Social Responsibility

The extent to which people identify with an organization is dependent on the attractiveness of the organizational identity, which helps individuals satisfy one or more important self-definitional needs. However, little is known about the antecedents of company identity attractiveness (IA) in a consumer–company context. Drawing on theories of social identity and organizational identification, a model of the antecedents of IA is developed and tested. The findings provide empirical validation of the relationship between IA and corporate associations perceived by consumers. Our results demonstrate that the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) contribution to company IA is much stronger than that of Corporate Ability (CA). This may be linked to increasing competition and of decreasing CA-based variation in the marketplace.