Research frontiers on the dark side of consumer behaviour: The case of materialism and compulsive buying

ABSTRACT

Materialism and compulsive consumption are viewed as dimensions of the dark side of consumer behaviour and have been the focus of consumer research for several decades. This article first shows that previous efforts to study compulsive buying and materialism have been limited in part because they have relied on single perspectives and inadequate methods. Second, it suggests that research in this area could be advanced by adopting emergent approaches and methods that have been used in social and behavioural sciences to study the onset and development of maladaptive behavioural patterns. Third, the article presents the multi-theoretical life course research paradigm that has been widely adopted in numerous disciplines as an approach to the study of various forms of maladaptive behaviour. Fourth, it illustrates how this approach could be employed to study the onset and development of materialism and compulsive buying. Finally, drawing from this paradigm, the article offers new insights in the form of propositions and conceptual directions to help researchers improve their efforts in studying materialism and compulsive buying as well as other forms of the dark side of consumer behaviour.     

Step-Change: Micro-Entrepreneurs’ Entry into the Middle-Class Market

ABSTRACT

With upcoming middle classes in Africa, micro-entrepreneurs witness new opportunities that can potentially lift them out of poverty. Exploiting these opportunities requires entrepreneurs to make a ‘step-change’ away from the bottom of the pyramid to middle-class markets. This process hosts potential conflicts between informal-sector and formal-sector stakeholders as it requires both new resources and continued access to existing resources. By taking a strategic marketing perspective, this study labels and defines the phenomenon of step-change and offers an explanatory conceptual framework for it. The article draws implications for business development, the gender debate, as well as academic research.     

Current Research and Developments

This article brings together several empirically based works on service quality. Its purpose is to derive a set of quality functions to help managers and academics understand and explore the relationship between service performance and customer perceptions of that service performance. It is suggested that managers need to assess the quality functions associated with four types of quality factors to help them identify priorities for action and gain the best perceived outcome from their quality improvement activities. Some techniques which can help identify the various types of factors are discussed.     

Luxury patient experience (LPX): review,conceptualization, and future research directions

ABSTRACT

The article offers a much-needed definition and conceptualization of the luxury patient experience (LPX) through applying customer experience (CX) theory to the patient experience (PX). The author highlights the important differences between the luxury patient, regular patient, and/or patient on the bottom of the service pyramid. The article proposes the implications these differences have for successfully managing the luxury patient experience. Based upon an investigation of prior customer experience and patient experience research, the article submits a definition of both, patient experience and luxury patient experience. The luxury patient experience conceptualization will influence service providers and their experience design and implementation practices. The article outlines fruitful avenues for future research in the patient luxury experience domain by proposing a shift from healthcare to wealthcare.     

A model and measure for quality service user involvement in health research

In the UK, researchers across the health professions are increasingly being encouraged by policymakers and research commissioners to ‘involve’ service users in research. A recent review shows there is some evidence that involving patients, carers, relatives, social or community groups directly and actively as part of the research process can improve the conduct of research studies and the impact of the findings. Yet, little is known about how involvement is played out within research studies and there is a need for more critical and consistent assessment of what constitutes quality involvement. The overall purpose of this paper is to support learning about quality service user involvement in health care research. The aim is to provide service users and researchers with a structured and consistent way to reflect and report on their experiences. A range of philosophical and social theories of power and empowerment were reviewed and synthesized to create a model of quality involvement. The analysis encompassed both service user factors (what a person feels able to do, whether they feel their potential is being fulfilled and their sense of being valued) alongside research factors (research relationships, ways of doing research, research structures). A model is presented (Quality Involvement Framework), which contributes theoretically informed perspectives about the meaning and assessment of quality service user involvement in research. The model is developed as a practical measure (a Quality Involvement Questionnaire) for researchers and service users to be more reflective about the constraints and possibilities of involvement. The tools presented here could help research teams to examine personal factors and the research contexts that influence the nature and quality of service user involvement in research. They may also help to identify reoccurring issues about quality which could inform future policy, practice and research.     

An Experienced-Based Measure of Service Quality

In this article we argue that there is a great need in service quality research to develop better procedures for collecting, selecting and interpreting data on service quality. We argue that such a proce- dure should be qualitative in nature rather than quantitative. The focus for study must then be measuring the total service ex- perience from the (internal) customer's point of view. We suggest a new experience-based method for generating qualitative aspects of service experiences. With these qualitative aspects we have a base for measuring service quality. This is illustrated in two case studies of industrial development services.     

产业集群研究的方法选择与工具应用

产业集群自从20世纪90年代以来一直是经济地理学、空间经济学与区域经济学研究的热点领域,国内外学者针对全球和地方产业集群现象从理论与实证方面进行了大量的深入研究。与以往学者在产业集群的综述研究中只是针对研究内容进行总结归纳不同,文章致力于从产业集群研究过程中的方法选择和工具运用两个新的角度,以产业集群理论的逻辑演化与研究进展为依托,全面系统地对产业集群的研究现状和趋势进行归纳总结,以期能将国内外的相关研究进行分类进而形成一个框架,并希望该研究能给现有的及未来的研究者提供必要的研究思路与启发。     

Understanding subsistence marketplaces: Toward sustainable consumption and commerce for a better world

This article provides the background and the events leading up to this special issue, and the composition of articles that follow. This special issue includes articles that take a bottom-up approach in understanding and explaining subsistence marketplaces, focusing on individual, communal, and cultural factors that influence consumers and entrepreneurs who live at or near subsistence, and who comprise a majority of the world's population. This bottom-up focus is distinct and complementary to the macro-level economic development and mid-level business strategy (e.g., base of the pyramid) approaches to the role of business in poverty alleviation. This special issue consists largely of papers based on presentations at the second subsistence marketplace conference held in Chicago in 2008, with articles and essays reflecting a healthy commingling of disciplinary perspectives that cuts across social and commercial enterprises.     

Doing good and doing business at the bottom of the pyramid

There is an ongoing debate among scholars regarding the existence of a fortune at the bottom of the income pyramid. While some scholars argue that there is a profitable market at the pyramid base, others refute this proposition, arguing that targeting poor people as customers could lead to unethical business practices and further their exploitation. With the aid of mini cases, this article explains that there is indeed a fortune to be made at the base of the pyramid but that good fortune can be created for both corporations and poor people if the population at the bottom of the pyramid is treated as suppliers, producers, co-owners, and/or employees rather than as mere consumers. However, in terms of consumers, there is a market for firms at the base of the pyramid through which they can earn profits and simultaneously help eradicate poverty, mainly by lowering the cost structure for poor people. In other words, firms that can reduce poverty and provide cost-effective utilitarian goods and services to poor people have more to gain from such individuals than those firms that provide more luxurious goods and services or offer goods with mere aesthetic or emotional value. With the help of mini cases, this article explains four measures firms can use to create fortunes for themselves as well as for poor customers by avoiding affordability and adaptability traps.     

Unlocking potential: An integrated approach using PLS-SEM,NCA, and fsQCA for informed decision making

This study demonstrates the value of integrating different analytical perspectives to identify significant factors and characterize their importance. Specifically, we combine three analytical methods – partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM), necessary condition analysis (NCA), and fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) – to create an expanded analytical process that enables informed decision-making. PLS-SEM identifies significant correlations between the predictor and outcome variables, NCA identifies critical bottlenecks required for a specific outcome, and fsQCA identifies configurations of conditions sufficient for producing a specific outcome. By applying this expanded analytical process to subjectively reported data on service quality and perceived accessibility, collected from five Nordic cities, we gain new insights into attracting an aging population to public transport. This study contributes to a better understanding of the nuances in the data, which is valuable for both research and practice.     

Services for the underserved: unintended well-being

There is a lack of research on service consumption practices of Base of the Pyramid consumers. This study contributes to the Transformative Service Research agenda by understanding stigmatized service consumption practices and their effect on the well-being of these consumers; this has not been fully addressed until now. Additionally, it is shown that understanding the relations among consumers, communities, and informal service offerings results in the design of services with unintentional positive effects on well-being at individual, collective, and relational levels. Findings show that informal service offerings are non-discriminatory, hassle-free, jargon-free, and reputation-based. These findings pave the way to further explore such complex contexts to better understand the impact of service design on the well-being of such consumers. Positive practices can be adopted by any service industry that intends to serve that segment through the intentional redesign of offerings that are engaging, inclusive, and simple and acknowledge social standing.     

Bridging Industrial Segmentation Theory and Practice

Purpose: Segmentation is seen today as a core concept within mainstream marketing. While industrial segmentation has received considerable attention within academic literature, there have been many reports on companies having problems using, applying, and implementing the principles of segmentation. Authors criticize the literature on segmentation for giving too little attention to implementation, providing marketers little help and guidance on how to make segmentation work in a practical environment. This article addresses some of these problems.

Methodology/Approach: The objective of this article is to design a process with methods and activities for segmentation by building on action research case study data from a large Danish industrial company.

Findings: Along with important considerations, this article presents the process of segmentation using a build-up approach based on qualitative market data. The process is practical and easily approachable for companies. The purpose behind segmentation is strategic—identify target segments and facilitate the planning of future product offers. It is argued that segmentation should be dedicated to the purpose and context of the company. This case illustrates how the company adapted segmentation theory to their particular needs.     

E-service quality: an internal,multichannel and pure service perspective

This article contributes to the emerging e-service quality literature by adopting a different approach to the dominant focus in previous research. The work centres on the internal perspective of organisation, studies the pure service sector and subjects the personal sales channel and the Internet channel to joint examination. A new conceptual framework is proposed via an adaptation of the service pyramid model [Parasuraman, A. (1996). Understanding and leveraging the role of customer service in external interactive and internal marketing. Paper presented at the 1996 Frontiers in Services Conference, Nashville, TN], and employee-orientated internal marketing and technology-orientated internal marketing are analysed as integrated drivers of commercial performance, within the context of retail banking in Spain. The results suggest that both marketing activities constitute part of a coherent strategy that is geared towards making and meeting service promises, within a multichannel perspective, and is associated with high commercial performance.     

The D&D Model - Dimensions and Domains of Relationship Quality Perceptions

In service management studies, various sets of quality dimensions have usually been considered to represent sub-components of quality perceptions. However, when focusing on a relationship instead of a service, this study suggests that the content of quality perceptions are of two inherently different types: quality domains and quality dimensions, which in turn can be combined into a new relationship quality model, labelled the D&D model. This refined way of categorising quality perceptions offers better analytical depth for research by more accurately distinguishing the wide range of different aspects being evaluated in a business relationship. For managers, the model offers a tool for broadening the company's quality work which can be used for improving quality and assessing compatibility between firms.     

Minding the competition: The drivers for multichannel service quality in fashion retailing

PurposeConsumer purchasing behaviour has changed substantially in the light of recent developments in E-Commerce. So-called ‘multichannel customers’ tend to switch retail channels during the purchasing process. In order to address changing consumer behaviours, multichannel fashion retailing companies must continue to learn how to provide excellent service to such customers. Drawing on expectation confirmation theory, this paper investigates drivers for service quality from the perspective of multichannel fashion customers.Design/methodology: This paper approaches the topic of multichannel service quality by adopting a social constructionist research paradigm, utilising an abductive approach and an embedded case study research strategy. It aims to explore the lived experiences and perspectives of individuals in the context of an evolving complex and multidimensional phenomenon. The paper seeks information-rich cases and therefore views service quality through the eyes of experienced German multichannel customers. A customer perspective helps to explain the phenomenon of multichannel service quality and helps to disclose the meaning that these customers give to it. The sample size for this research consisted of 18 in-depth interviews and two focus groups including ten focus group participants. As such, a process of methodological triangulation was followed.FindingsIntegration quality is identified as the essence of competitive advantage for multichannel retailers. The paper conceptualises integration quality as a catalyst, which plays a supporting role in reinforcing the reactions of the physical and electronic service quality in order to provide an optimised service quality experience.Originality/valueThis paper looks at retailer/customer interactions in the context of purchases of a fashion product at a retailer using different retail channels. It highlights the distinctive requirements of multiple-channel systems within which the focus should not only be to enhance and improve physical and/or electronic service quality, but must also be about the integration of the service offers of each channel. The paper contributes to the interpretation of multichannel service quality with a new concept that explains the phenomenon from the perspective of customers.     

Exploring manager’s perspective of service quality strategies in Malaysian Banking Industry

In service industry, the subject of service quality remains crucial as business strive to maintain a comparative advantage in the marketplace. In aftermath of globalization, the operating environment for banking industry has become more dynamic and competitive. Banks have evolved to become diversified financial providers instead of traditional banking-only service providers. With bank placing emphasis on a mutually beneficial bank–customer relationship, customer loyalty must be pursued through repeat purchases. Central to achieving this is often the quality of services offered by the bank should satisfy the customer’s needs. This article attempts to identify any service gaps in Malaysian banking industry and to recommend effective strategies to close these service gaps from bank mangers’ and executives perspectives based on GAPs Model of Service Quality (GAPs Model). Using qualitative data collected from interviews with 30 bank managers and executives, this article provides effectives strategies to close each of the gaps in GAPs Model. It is hoped that the empirical evidences and recommendations provided in this article shed some light to management of banks to improve upon their customer service quality in order to benefit from customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and other behavioural outcomes which will lead to greater competitive advantage and profitability to the banks concerned.     

New Service Development Process

Abstract

To continue to grow, more and more U.S. service firms have looked overseas in recent years to find markets for their offerings. Thus, innovation in the global context has become a strategic imperative for many service firms. While the issue of how to foster service innovation has been an area of extensive research, the cross-national comparison of innovation practices particularly between developed and emerging countries has been only a nascent field of research. To address this gap in the literature we conducted a comparative study of new service development process and stages of the financial service firms in an emerging country, India, and a developed country, the United States. The results support the central argument of the article that significant cross-national differences do exist with regard to a firm's new service development process. The findings should be of value to managers faced with the tasks of selecting and managing service innovation in emerging markets, as well as those firms experiencing international competition.     

Identifying the determinants of online retail patronage: A perceived-risk perspective

The literature has examined the determinants of retail patronage from various perspectives, however, its online counterpart has received less attention. This study adapts a perceived-risk perspective to identify the antecedents of online retailers’ service quality and subsequent online patronage behavior. In addition, the contextual role of security concerns is also examined. Data were collected from online shoppers, and PLS-SEM was used for analysis. The results indicate that product quality, price transparency, and website convenience are positively associated with service quality. In addition, security concerns negatively moderate the relationship between service quality and online retail patronage. Implications for research and managers are discussed.     

Private Firms and Corporate Governance: An Integrated Economic and Management Perspective

This article provides a definition of corporate␣governance and highlights the challenges in adapting understanding of governance to the privately-held firm. We emphasize the need to develop the scope of governance in privately-held firms beyond the traditional agency theory focus in the financial economics literature relating to large publicly-listed corporations. There is a need to draw on and integrate an array of theoretical perspectives from both economics and other social science disciplines as well. We present a schematic model of corporate governance which places the contributions presented in the special issue in context and which serves as a guide to highlighting gaps in the research base. We review the principal issues relating to corporate governance in privately-held firms which relate to: governance in different organizational contexts (institutional context; the industrial sector within which the firm finds itself, the ownership context of the firm, and the stage within the firm’s life-cycle); the scope of corporate governance; and other internal governance mechanisms to be considered We identify areas for further research on corporate governance in privately-held firms with respect to processes of governance, organizational contexts, assumptions about the owners, executive remuneration, financial reporting, the nature of the dependent variable relating to the expected outcome of different approaches to governance and various methodological issues. We suggest a need to develop governance codes for privately-held firms that are flexible enough to take account of the different types of governance needs of firms at different stages in their life-cycle.