Satisfaction and image as mediators of store loyalty drivers in grocery retailing

The purpose of this article is to analyze the role of satisfaction and image as mediators of four store loyalty drivers (store location, service quality, assortment, and price) within a comprehensive cause–effect model. The analysis employs a more holistic view of the store loyalty model than is common in a retailing context. It is based on the consistent macro-oriented National Customer Satisfaction Index (NCSI) approach. This makes it an important cross-over study, both enabling a comparison of results across industries and providing a more solid base for model validation. The data source is a survey among customers of a chain-based Norwegian grocery store which is analyzed by partial least square (PLS) and covariance-based structural equation (LISREL) estimation. A change in customer's perception of store image, where image is measured as a reflective ‘overall’ latent variable, has the expected direct significant effect on loyalty. But in addition, image will also serve as an important mediator between satisfaction and loyalty, and this is a rather uncommon result in a retailing context. Another significant finding is that a customer's perception of store assortment only influences perception of image and ultimately loyalty indirectly via satisfaction, whereas price evaluation and service quality works directly both through image building and satisfaction creation. Satisfaction creation seems to be more important for store loyalty than image building.     

Remote operation in environmentally sensitive areas: development of early warning indicators

Exploration and production of oil and gas in certain sensitive areas such as the Barents Sea and Lofoten is controversial and further expansion depends on the ability to avoid harmful spills. One way of improving the ability to avoid such spills is to use early warning indicators. The objective of the work presented in this paper is to describe and compare strengths and weaknesses of different approaches for the development of early warning indicators. The approaches that have been compared are: safety performance-based methods; risk-based methods; incident-based methods; and resilience-based methods. There are pros and cons with all methods. All methods are very favorable with respect to some characteristics and at the same time very unfavorable to some other characteristics. They are also different in terms of scope and depth of analysis. This suggests that we should be flexible with respect to the choice of methods, and preferably use more than one method. Thus, the main conclusion is that it is favorable to have the possibility to use several different methods for the establishment of early warning indicators.     

Determinants of retail patronage. A ‘natural’ experiment

A large number of studies has analyzed possible determinants of retail patronage using comprehensive models and cross-section data. This research is typically based upon the assumption that shopping is undertaken by single-purpose trips, and hence that the location of a store relative to other service outlets is unimportant. The importance of the opening hours of stores is also usually neglected. This paper reports the results of a ‘natural’ experiment, showing that proximity to a liquor store and extension of opening hours were significant determinants of sales and number of customers in food retailing in Norway.     

The demand for broad money in Norway, 1969–1993

Cointegration analysis is applied to investigate the long run relationships between money, prices, and wages in Norway. Broad money is determined endogenously, and monetary balances were exposed to large shocks during the period of financial deregulation in the midst of the 1980s. In the long run these shocks are absorbed, and a long run demand for money relationship is identified in which real money is determined by real income, the relative price on financial assets (the yield spread) and the relative price on goods (the own real interest rate). Money adjusts dynamically to changes in the exchange rate and private wealth. Domestic price inflation is affected by improted inflation including currency depreciation (a pass through effect), domestic cost pressure (unit labour costs), and excess demand in the product market (output gap effect).This paper was presented at the workshop Money Demand in Europe, at the Humboldt University in Berlin, October 10–11, 1997. Thanks to Erik, Biørn, Neil R. Ericsson and Grayham Mizon for their comments on previous versions of the paper and to two anonymous referees and the editors for helpful suggestions.     

Apple's agency model and the role of most‐favored‐nation clauses

The agency model used by Apple and other digital platforms delegates retail‐pricing decisions to upstream content providers subject to a fixed revenue‐sharing rule. Given competition both upstream and downstream, we consider how, under the agency model, retail prices depend on the firms' revenue‐sharing splits and the degrees to which consumers view the platforms and the goods sold on the platforms to be substitutes. We show that the agency model may not be universally adopted even if adoption would mean higher profits for all firms. Use of most‐favored‐nation clauses in these settings can ensure industry‐wide adoption and increase retail prices.     

Economic Incentives,Business Cycles,and Long‐Term Sickness Absence

We investigate long‐term absenteeism in Norway, on the basis of register data covering 8 years and more than two million absence spells. Key findings are that: (1) a tighter labor market yields lower work resumption rates for persons who are absent, and higher relapse rates for persons who have already resumed work; and (2) the work resumption rates increase when sickness benefits are exhausted, but work resumptions at this stage tend to be short‐lived.     

A Lobbying Approach to Evaluating the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act of 2002

We evaluate the impact of the Sarbanes‐Oxley Act (SOX) on shareholders by studying the lobbying behavior of investors and corporate insiders in order to affect the final implemented rules under SOX. Investors lobbied overwhelmingly in favor of strict implementation of SOX, while corporate insiders and business groups lobbied against strict implementation. We identify firms most affected by the law as those whose insiders lobbied against strict implementation. Such firms appear to be characterized by agency problems, rather than motivated by concerns over compliance costs. Cumulative stock returns during the five and a half months leading up to SOX passage were approximately 7% higher for corporations whose insiders lobbied against SOX disclosure‐related provisions than for similar non‐lobbying firms, consistent with an expectation that SOX would reduce agency problems. Analysis of returns in the post‐passage implementation period suggests that investors' positive expectations with regards to the effects of these provisions were warranted.     

Sustainability among Norwegian maritime firms: Green strategy and innovation as mediators of long-term orientation and emission reduction

This study investigates the relationships between emission reduction, long-term orientation, green strategy, and green innovation among maritime vessel-owning firms of various sizes in the Norwegian maritime sector. A change from the utilization of fossil fuels and move toward more sustainable sources of energy demand substantial financial investments and behavioral changes but are fundamental to preventing further climate change. This study examines the greening of the Norwegian fleet through a structural equation model based upon 246 survey responses. Although our model does not show a significant direct relationship between long-term orientation and emission reductions, we do find that long-term orientation is indirectly related to emission reductions because of its relationships with green strategy and green innovation. Moreover, as mediators, green innovation and green strategy share direct associations with firms' reductions of greenhouse gases and environmentally harmful emissions. Implications for practitioners and policy makers are proposed.