The variability of attitudinal repeat-rates

Consumers' expressed attitudes to brands are often thought to show their commitment and loyalty. But when consumers were re-interviewed, on average only about 50% gave the same attitudinal Yes or No response as before, implying that attitude beliefs are often not very firmly held. This paper reports that the attitudinal repeat-rates for different brands vary about this overall 50% average. These variations for different brands are, however, systematic. They are largely dependent upon the level of initial attitudinal responses, as a further instance of Double Jeopardy effects. The variation of repeat-rates is therefore not brand-specific and it does not reflect idiosyncratic differences in brand loyalty.     

Exploring the link between customer experience–loyalty–consumer spend

Customer experience has drawn significant interest in recent times from both academicians as well as practitioners. There is growing understanding in literature that attitudes are formed by past and present experiences and are expected to change as a function of consumer experience. Attitudes are described as one of the most important determinant of the behaviour. Dick and Basu (1994) were precise in suggesting that a favourable attitude and repeat purchase were required to define loyalty as they viewed loyalty in an attitude-behaviour framework, loyalty is an important concept related with repetitive purchasing behaviour and high Consumer spend. Literature suggests that building loyalty is found in successful management of Customer experience yet little research exist that incorporated this variable into explaining customer loyalty therefore signifying a gap in existing substantive knowledge. The current paper studies the impact of customer experience on attitudinal and behaviour loyalty. The study extends the findings by adding an observed behaviour- share of spend in the frame work. The present study will provide valuable insights to theorist in the retail context as well as practitioners ability to develop more effective strategies.     

Understanding the impact of online customers’ shopping experience on online impulsive buying: A study on two leading E-commerce platforms

Research offers some indication that the online customers' shopping experience (OCSE) can be a strong predictor of online impulsive buying behavior, but there is not much empirical support available to form a holistic understanding; whether, and indeed how, the effects of the OCSE on online impulsive buying behavior are affected by customers' attitudinal loyalty and self-control are not well understood areas of research. In this study, we examine how functional and psychological dimensions of the OCSE influence online impulsive buying within e-commerce platforms. We will investigate customers' attitudinal loyalty as a mediator between the OCSE and online impulsive buying behavior, and the customers' self-control as a moderator between customers' attitudinal loyalty and online impulsive buying. To analyze these relationships we will conduct an online survey (n = 1489) with customers of two leading Chinese e-commerce platforms: Jindong and Taobao. The findings from structural equation modeling indicate a positive relationship between the tested dimensions of the OCSE and customers' online impulsive buying. We also find a mediating role of customers' attitudinal loyalty and negative moderation of customers’ self-control. Theoretically, the findings contribute to the literature regarding online impulsive buying and the online customer experience. For managers, the findings stress the importance of ethical management with regard to the online shopping experiences.     

The moderating effect of individual level collectivist values on brand loyalty

In today's dynamic business environment the success of a firm often depends on its ability to create brand loyalty. While there is a large body of research exploring brand loyalty and its antecedents, little has been done to examine how the relationship between these antecedents and brand loyalty is moderated by consumer differences in individual level collectivist values. This understanding is important however as consumers high in individual level collectivist values have been found to make different brand choices than consumers low in individual level collectivist values. We develop and test theory that suggests consumer differences in individual level collectivist values have a significant moderating effect on the relationship between perceived value, perceived quality, brand trust and brand loyalty. The results show that consumers high in individual level collectivist values are significantly more loyal to a focal brand, especially when brand trust and perceived quality are at relatively low levels.     

The four levels of loyalty and the pivotal role of trust: a study of online service dynamics

A four-dimension scale of loyalty that reflects Oliver’s [Satisfaction, a Behavioral Perspective on the Consumer, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1997] conceptualization of a sequential loyalty chain is proposed, operationalized, and tested. Further, through both synthesizing and building on existing research into loyalty, trust, satisfaction, value, and service quality, a framework is proposed and tested that positions trust as a pivotal driver of loyalty. Data is collected and analyzed from two surveys of online customers, the first being purchasers of books and the second being a study of online flight purchasing. Analysis suggests that the hypothesized cognitive-affective-conative-action loyalty sequence is statistically most likely out of all possible variations. Although some differences emerge in the two studies, structural modeling largely supports the hypothesized framework and positions trust as central to service dynamics.     

Antecedents of retailer loyalty: Simultaneously investigating channel push and consumer pull effects

This study includes information technology (IT) related industries as the focus and aims to examine the antecedents of retailer loyalty toward brand owners by simultaneously investigating push and pull effects in the channel system. The study interviews 274 independent retailers who sell IT related products to end consumers. The results show that the retailer perceived value of selling the brand owner's products plays a pivotal role in promoting their loyalty toward the brand owners. Retailer loyalty toward brand owners comes directly from brand owners' push efforts, and indirectly from pull effects. Additionally, the specific asset invested by each party (brand owners, retailers, and customers) strengthens the relationship within each other in the channel system.     

Store and store format loyalty measures based on budget allocation

In highly competitive environments, such as retail markets, characterized by a growing heterogeneity of demand and the proliferation of new retail formats, cross-shopping behavior between stores and formats is becoming increasingly common. This process makes customer loyalty a key strategic challenge for retailers that want to consolidate their position within the market. To contribute to the analysis and comprehension of this reality, the authors propose and assess different objective indicators of store loyalty, store format loyalty, and intra-format store loyalty based on budget allocation. Specifically, they analyze the role of retail format in observable loyalty patterns in a market. Through an empirical analysis of grocery purchase patterns of a sample of 580 Spanish households, the authors find that diverse objective loyalty indicators based on budget allocations provide very similar information from a practical point of view. They also find that consumers' regular use of various formats (specifically, supermarkets, hypermarkets, and discount stores) for their purchases explain observed disloyalty better than does purchasing in several stores within these formats. The observed patterns reveal that retail formats define differentiated store profiles that relate to the benefits sought in different purchase situations.     

Understanding effects of co-creation on cognitive,affective and behavioral evaluations in service recovery: An ethnocultural analysis

While cognitive, affective and behavioral consequences of service recovery have been extensively explored in the literature, the role of co-creation is mostly neglected. Most efforts dedicated to investigating co-recovery are limited to cognitive and behavioral factors. Furthermore, most of the recent studies explored co-recovery on western and eastern cultures, ignoring the role of ethnics in countries with different sub-cultures. This study aims to discover all possible factors on service recovery procedure, focusing specifically on effects of co-creation. Thus, a 2(distributive justice: high/low)×2 (interactional justice: high/low)×2(procedural justice: high/low)×2(co-creation: yes/no)×2(ethnics Azerbaijani vs. Baluch) between-subjects factorial design experiment was performed. A sample of 977 Iranian mobile banking customers participated in the study. Results of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) indicate that most cognitive, affective and behavioral factors were supported by predictors. In addition, Multi-group SEM reveal that co-creation increases effects of most positive nature variables except negative emotions which is conceptualized as negative nature factor. The results of cultural differences indicate that Azeri people are more intended to participate in co-creation programs, whereas Balochs are more loyal due to higher level of reuse intentions.     

Effect of service recovery on customers’ perceived justice,satisfaction, and word-of-mouth intentions on online shopping websites

As consumers become better informed and more demanding about their purchase of services, service provider's failure to satisfy all consumers during delivery of service is unavoidable. Consequently, to alleviate consumer dissatisfaction that results from service failure has become important. However, empirical consensus has been lacking on the effects of various service recovery activities. Thus, this study examines the impact of different types of service recovery on customers’ perceptions of justice, post-recovery satisfaction, and word-of-mouth (WOM) intentions. The results indicated that consumers’ perceptions of distributive and interactional justice differ by the types of service recovery and supported significant relationships among perceptions of justice, satisfaction, and WOM intentions. The results implied that consumers respond differently to different types of service recovery and that consumers particularly favor apology among types of service recovery.     

Determinants of attitudinal loyalty in Nigerian telecom service sector: Does commitment play a mediating role?

This paper explores the mediating role of commitment in the relationships between service assurance, service reliability and attitudinal loyalty. A quantitative cross-sectional data generated from 138 experienced users of telecommunication services formed the final database. Attitudinal loyalty was found to be a process-based construct that starts from service assurance and proceeds to service reliability and finally to customer commitment and loyalty. The entire process explained 69 per cent of the total variance in attitudinal loyalty. The relationship between service assurance and attitudinal loyalty was insignificant. No support was found for the proposed mediating role of customer commitment in the relationship between service assurance and attitudinal loyalty. In contrast, the relationship between service assurance and attitudinal loyalty was fully mediated by service reliability. Finally, service reliability was both directly and indirectly related to attitudinal loyalty through customer commitment. To attract customers' attitudinal loyalty therefore, services companies especially those within the low-contact service category must deliver reliable services and make efforts to assure customers that their services are reliable. The implications for customer loyalty theory and future research are also discussed.     

Does the digitalization of retailing disrupt consumers’ attachment to retail places?

This study breaks new ground in the marketing domain by extending the concept of place attachment to the study of the online retail environment. We provide empirical evidence that consumers can establish strong attachments not only with traditional offline places but also with online retail stores. Moreover, we assessed how distinct dimensions of the place affect the formation of consumers’ attachment and their behavioral loyalty. Our findings show that while consumers who feel a strong sense of attachment toward the place engage in spreading positive word-of-mouth regardless of the environment, their attachment to the store does not prevent them from switching to another provider, especially in the online environment.     

Perceived controllability and service expectations: Influences on customer reactions following service failure

Endeavors to address issues surrounding service failure have centered mainly on the topic of service recovery. In particular, perceived fairness and organizational responses to service failures are highly popular topics in the literature. Yet the vast majority of customers fail to voice their dissatisfaction to the firm. Consequently, it is important to understand how consumers process service failures regardless of the recovery outcome. This study examines the impact of perceived controllability over service failures and service quality expectations on customer reactions to those failures. Findings indicate that customers react quite negatively when they believe the service firm could have easily prevented the failure. Conversely, when customers feel partly responsible for the failure or are ambiguous about its cause, the negative effects of poor performance are somewhat mitigated. Finally, high service quality expectations also buffer the firm from the negativity effect. Managerial implications of these findings are briefly discussed.     

An Empirical Analysis of Franchisee Value-in-Use, Investment Risk and Relational Satisfaction

An exchange perspective of franchising recognizes the important role that both the franchisor and franchisee assume in developing and maintaining sustainable relationships. However, should franchisees not perceive value in the quality of provided products or services, some incentive misalignment between agent and principal is likely (e.g. free riding, non-compliance with system standards), potentially resulting in greater perceptions of financial risk, diminished levels of franchisee satisfaction, reduced unit performance and conflict ( [Harmon and Griffiths, 2008] and [Kaufmann and Dant, 1998] ). A greater understanding of franchisee perceptions of value is very important if ongoing satisfaction in the franchising relationship is the goal. This paper, therefore, makes a significant contribution to such an understanding by empirically testing the dimensions of value that influence franchisee perceptions of risk and relationship satisfaction. Moreover, we make important comparisons across gender, the results of which provide rich information. In theoretical terms, we advance the literature in the context of value and franchising and, in practical terms, the results, by managing for performance (financial risk and relationship quality), assist franchisors in developing, delivering and managing what is of value to their franchisees. Furthermore, the findings of this study provide a solid platform for future research in this area.