Examining how brand authenticity is established and maintained: the case of the Reverso

This article examines how brand authenticity is established and maintained. Existing studies focus on building authenticity; this article responds to calls for longitudinal research to explore its evolution. A historical and present-day analysis of Jaeger-LeCoultre (a luxury watch manufacturer), employing multiple sources of qualitative data, reveals the dynamic nature of authenticity. Throughout the course of a brand’s lifetime, its authenticity is maintained by employing different strategies that emphasise various interrelated dimensions of genuineness. Early projections of authenticity are centred on a germination strategy, where an emphasis on craftsmanship develops a sense of sincerity and integrity. As the brand grows through a prolific product extension strategy, its authenticity is cultivated through quality commitment, resulting in stylistic consistency. As the brand reaches maturity it returns to its roots, emphasising craftsmanship and leading to brand integrity. Following the analysis, the theoretical and managerial implications are presented.     

The Development of a Scale Measuring Consumers' Selection of Retail Banks in Ghana

The current research attempts to investigate the use of the two sources of dealers' soft channel power (i.e., expert power and referent power) as a means of achieving three desirable channel relationship outcomes in Zimbabwe's channel of distribution system. The field study is conducted in Harare and Chitungwiza, and research data are collected from 447 small and medium-size enterprise (SME) manufacturers. Dealers' expert power and referent power are found to be important sources of channel power that positively influence SME manufacturers' trust, relationship commitment, and relationship satisfaction. It is concluded that managers in dealers' firms can improve their channel relationships with SME manfacturers if they acquire or enhance their expert power and referent power.     

Postservice Recovery Customer Satisfaction in Indian Retail Banking: Scale Development and Validation

The construct of postservice customer satisfaction with respect to Indian retail banking has been studied. Furthermore, the development and validation of the postservice recovery customer satisfaction scale in Indian retail banking is detailed. The scale development process was carried out over three stages (item generation, scale purification, scale validation) and comprised of conducting depth interviews and focus groups for item generation and three separate phases of data collection, involving a total of 851 individual respondents. The data provide evidence for face, content, discriminant and convergent validity, dimensionality, reliability, and generalizability of the customer satisfaction scale in Indian retail banking.     

Revised Unique Selling Proposition: Scale Development,Validation, and Application

ABSTRACT

This article reports an empirical study that revisits the unique selling proposition (USP) concept by delineating the content domains based on an operational definition. A revised USP (RUSP) scale was developed and purified, resulting in five dimensions that were consistent with our theoretical conceptualization. An application study further demonstrated that a high or low level of RUSP characteristics in an ad is associated with ad effectiveness measures. Theoretical contributions, managerial applications, and future research directions are discussed.     

The Ethics of Online Retailing: A Scale Development and Validation from the Consumers’ Perspective

While e-commerce has witnessed extensive growth in recent years, so has consumers’ concerns regarding ethical issues surrounding online shopping. The vast majority of earlier research on this area is conceptual in nature, and limited in scope by focusing on consumers’ privacy issues. This study develops a reliable and valid scale to measure consumers’ perceptions regarding the ethics of online retailers (CPEOR). Findings indicate that the four factors of the scale – security, privacy, non-deception and fulfillment/reliability – are strongly predictive of online consumers’ satisfaction and trust. The results offer important implications for e-retailers and are likely to stimulate further research in the area of e-ethics from the consumers’ perspective. Sergio Román is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Murcia (Spain). He has been a Visiting Scholar at the University of Arizona. His articles have appeared in the Journal of Business Research, International Marketing Review, International Journal of Market Research, European Journal of Marketing and Journal of Marketing Management. His research interests are focused on personal selling and sales management, international marketing and business ethics.     

Strategy Making and the Search for Authenticity

Recent work in the business ethics field has called attention to the promise inherent in the concept of authenticity for enriching the ways we think about core issues at the intersection of management ethics and practice, like moral character, ethical choices, leadership, and corporate social responsibility [Driver, 2006; Jackson, 2005; Ladkin, 2006]. In this paper, I aim to extend these contributions by focusing on authenticity in relation to a set of organizational processes related to strategy making; most specifically an organization’s strategic intent, arguing that these provide an ideal venue for particularising this exploration, as they represent the key processes through which an organization defines the self it aspires to be. In order to do this, I examine specifically what a shift from “business as usual” to the search for the creation of a more authentic corporate self might look like in practice, contending that such a shift offers the possibility for improving both the moral good and the business outcomes of an institution simultaneously. I conclude with assessment of the risks inherent in undertaking such a search for more authentic strategic intention in business organizations today.     

品牌本真性概念探析：内涵、维度与测量

在品牌发展过程中,品牌自身可能经历品牌创新、品牌易主、品牌延伸、品牌国际化和本土化等改变,这些变化可能使品牌偏离其原本的样貌,也可能使消费者对其本真性存有疑惑。在全球化和后现代社会发展过程中,品牌变化的程度和速度都在加快,塑造本真的品牌、建构消费者信任的品牌愈来愈受到学界和业界的关注。品牌本真性作为一个整体概念,不仅涉及到产品的地道、品牌传统的延续和企业社会责任,更与消费者的自我实现相关联。文章基于艺术学、旅游学和社会学对“本真性”的研究,梳理营销领域的品牌本真性内涵,阐释品牌本真性的维度,总结现有的关于品牌本真性的测量,明晰关于品牌本真性的研究争议,并探讨品牌本真性的未来研究方向。     

组织学习量表的开发

组织学习的定义与量表呈现多元化,基于国内外主要组织学习定义与量表的系统研究,整合界定了一个组织学习定义,并适用该定义,参照Churchill的量表开发程序,开发了一个组织学习量表,新开发量表包括发现、获取、比较、反思、纠错、记忆六个测量维度和18个测量项目,以两组中国企业样本数据进行了实证检验,结果表明具有较好的信度与效度。     

Development and validation of the Personal Nostalgia Scale

This research conducts five studies and uses 1185 respondents to develop and validate a six-item, seven-point Likert scale capable of measuring a personal nostalgia response to an advertisement. Traditional forms of scale development and a variety of experimental conditions are undertaken to develop and validate the scale. Statistical techniques include t-tests, correlation, regression, confirmatory factor analysis and a multitrait–multimethod matrix. This research fulfils a significant gap in the current knowledge as the current scales neither distinguish between the distinct types of nostalgia nor measure personal nostalgia as a response to advertising independently of other reactions. This is despite personal nostalgia being considered as a distinct form of nostalgia with a suggested differing influence on a number of important consumer behaviour responses. The scale has implications for researchers undertaking future studies exploring personal nostalgia's influence on consumer behaviour reactions. Nostalgia is also a commonly used and has effective advertising appeal, and this research provides practitioners with a parsimonious instrument to measure the level of personal nostalgia experienced as a result of advertising exposure. This assists in ensuring accuracy when predicting consumer reactions.     

A Measure of Distributive Justice in Distribution Channels: Scale Development and Validation

ABSTRACT

The construct of distributive justice has been conceptualized largely along the three allocation rules of equity, equality, and need. Extant empirical research in the marketing channels area, however, treats distributive justice as a unidimensional, global construct focusing almost exclusively on the allocation rule of equity. As a result, the measurement of equality and need, two distinct and significant allocation rules, has been largely overlooked in the context of people and organizations involved in interorganizational exchange. The current study tests a measure of distributive justice that takes into account each of the three allocation rules. Results indicate valid scales that accurately measure three rules of distributive justice across two independent samples of channel participants in franchise systems. This research represents an important step toward accurately, concisely, and efficiently measuring this important and socially relevant construct in an interorganizational setting.     

Scale Development and Validation for Measuring Online Engagement

Although the construct of online engagement has received considerable attention in the consumer behavior literature, academic research lacks clear conceptualization and rigorous measurement of the construct within social media. Further, a lack of consensus remains with regard to the conceptualization and operationalization of engagement in the marketing literature. This study develops and validates a 16-item online engagement scale comprising four factors: conscious attention, affection, enthused participation, and social connection. Strong evidence supports the reliability of the multidimensional conceptualization, as well as its convergent and discriminant validity. The scale offers a framework for future research investigations in an increasingly important area.     

Assessing the Self-service Technology Encounters: Development and Validation of SSTQUAL Scale

Self-service technologies (SSTs) have enhanced the role technology plays in customer interactions with firms, yet instruments that systematically measure the service quality of SSTs from the perspective of customers remain underdeveloped. Based on psychometric scale development approaches, this study conceptualized, constructed, refined, and tested a multiple-item scale that examined key factors influencing SST service quality. Through qualitative and quantitative studies in four separate phases, a 20-item seven-dimension SSTQUAL scale was developed that includes functionality, enjoyment, security, assurance, design, convenience, and customization. The scale demonstrates sound psychometric properties based on findings from various reliability and validity tests as well as vigorous scale replications across industries and consumer traits using several different samples. The utility of the proposed scale is discussed for implications, limitations and future research.     

Employee Motivation to Co-Create Value (EMCCV): Construction and Validation of Scale

Value Co-Creation (VCC) is an emerging concept that has vast applications in theory and practice. Though previous research has provided enough insights on the customers' role in VCC, relatively less research exists on employee motivation to co-create value (EMCCV) with customers. Among other reasons for such less empirical investigations, one is the unavailability of measurement scale for EMCCV. Therefore, the drive of this study is to conceptualize, develop, and validate a scale to measure EMCCV. Drawing from the expectancy theory and adapting the standard scale development procedure, this study develops EMCCV as a higher-order construct that constitutes four dimensions namely professional identity, financial motives, recognition motives, and career opportunities motives measured by 17 items. The measurement scale is developed in the context of automotive service centers; however, it has a broader application on the frontliners of all service industries and can be adapted in other service-oriented contexts. The scale is tested in a theoretical framework and has provided sound reliability, convergent, discriminant, and nomological validity.     

Faith at Work Scale (FWS): Justification,Development, and Validation of a Measure of Judaeo-Christian Religion in the Workplace

Workplace spirituality research has sidestepped religion by focusing on the function of belief rather than its substance. Although establishing a unified foundation for research, the functional approach cannot shed light on issues of workplace pluralism, individual or institutional faith-work integration, or the institutional roles of religion in economic activity. To remedy this, we revisit definitions of spirituality and argue for the place of a belief-based approach to workplace religion. Additionally, we describe the construction of a 15-item measure of workplace religion informed by Judaism and Christianity – the Faith at Work Scale (FWS). A stratified random sample (n = 234) of managers and professionals assisted in refining the FWS which exhibits a single factor structure (Eigenvalue = 8.88; variance accounted for = 59.22%) that is internally consistent (Cronbach’s α = 0.77) and demonstrates convergent validity with the Faith Maturity Scale (r = 0.81, p > 0.0001). The scale shows lower skew and kurtosis with Mainline and Catholic adherents than with Mormons and Evangelicals. Validation of the scale among Jewish and diverse Christian adherants would extend research in workplace religion.     

Children's Perceived Value: Conceptualization,Scale Development,and Validation

Perceived value among children is an important concept in consumer decisions, yet surprisingly no research has operationalized value for this consumer group. To address this omission, and following the guidelines of DeVellis (2016), this investigation reports the findings of a seven-stage process to develop a valid and reliable instrument for measuring perceived value among children aged 8–14 years. Value for children is conceptualized as a multidimensional construct capturing perceptions of what is received and what is given up, which differs from adult measures in terms of its composition and complexity. A 24-item scale is developed that shows internal consistency, reliability, construct validity, and nomological validity. We also demonstrate the validity of the new scale beyond an existing adult perceived value measure. Directions for future research and managerial implications of the new scale for studying children's consumer behavior are discussed.     

营销动态能力的概念与量表开发

营销动态能力是动态能力在企业营销领域的特定形式,对其内涵及结构维度的研究还比较缺乏。文章运用混合方法对营销动态能力进行概念界定与量表开发：首先对营销动态能力理论渊源进行梳理,然后对其概念内涵进行界定;继而通过内容分析和探索性因子分析编制营销动态能力量表;最后运用327家样本企业数据对量表进行信度和效度检验。结论表明,营销动态能力具有多维度结构,包含市场感知能力、界面协同能力和顾客响应能力三大维度。研究结论为企业培育营销动态能力提供方向指引,也为后续实证研究奠定工具基础。     

Measuring Corporate Social Responsibility: A Scale Development Study

Corporate social responsibility (CSR) is one of the most prominent concepts in the literature and, in short, indicates the positive impacts of businesses on their stakeholders. Despite the growing body of literature on this concept, the measurement of CSR is still problematic. Although the literature provides several methods for measuring corporate social activities, almost all of them have some limitations. The purpose of this study is to provide an original, valid, and reliable measure of CSR reflecting the responsibilities of a business to various stakeholders. Based on a proposed conceptual framework of CSR, a scale was developed through a systematic scale development process. In the study, exploratory factor analysis was conducted to determine the underlying factorial structure of the scale. Data was collected from 269 business professionals working in Turkey. The results of the analysis provided a four-dimensional structure of CSR, including CSR to social and nonsocial stakeholders, employees, customers, and government.     

基于顾客的品牌资产测量研究进展--量表开发、效度验证与跨文化方法

本文通过对国际上有关品牌资产测量研究的新动态分析,指出当前的研究重点是,以基于顾客的品牌资产测量量表开发为基本面,结合量表预测效度等的验证,充分地探究品牌价值链之间的前因后果关系,最终使得捕获于品牌资产来源的信息能够具有强大的预测能力,从而在根本上为品牌对于公司长期和未来贡献提供管理决策支持。国际上的研究动态和成果为我国学界推进品牌资产实证研究,提供了在跨文化研究方法和研究主题上的有益启示。     

A Multidisciplinary Approach to Supply Chain Agility: Conceptualization and Scale Development

Although agility has been identified as one of the most important issues of contemporary supply chain management, the theoretical basis for understanding supply chain agility is fragmented. This research addresses the gap related to the ambiguity surrounding the dimensions and definitions of firm supply chain agility by employing a multidisciplinary literature review to gain an in‐depth understanding of agility. In addition, a comprehensive measurement instrument that draws on the foundations of social and life science theory is developed and empirically validated. The results of the research indicate that firm supply chain agility is composed of five distinct dimensions including alertness, accessibility, decisiveness, swiftness, and flexibility. Based on these elements, a comprehensive definition of firm supply chain agility is developed for further theoretical testing of the concept.     

消费者生成广告真实性的结构维度及其测量

随着企业主动引导、支持消费者为其产品或品牌创作广告,消费者生成广告越来越向普遍化发展,由此引发受众对消费者生成广告真实性的疑问。在现有消费者生成广告和广告真实性相关研究的基础上,本文对消费者生成广告真实性的概念和维度进行界定,并开发了测量量表。该量表包含创作主体真实、广告产品/品牌真实和广告形式真实三个维度,通过实验收集数据对量表进行信度和效度检验,证明消费者生成广告真实性量表具有很好的信度和效度,该量表为拓宽、深化有关消费者生成内容和广告真实性的研究提供了测量基础,并为引导消费者加入企业营销沟通过程提供了新思路。