Impact of marketing activities on relationship quality in the Malaysian banking sector

The current study investigates the impact of marketing activities on relationship quality in the Malaysian banking sector. Analysis of survey results show that greater client and employees' relational orientation yields higher relationship quality and results in better relationship continuity. Results also show that committed client relationships lead to client satisfaction, loyalty, positive word of mouth and promotion However, mutual disclosure was found to have no significant relationship with relationship quality.This may indicate that bank customers in Malaysia do not feel that having close relationships with the bank will have any positive impact on relationship quality. This particular finding may serve as a warning signal to practitioners and scholars alike that thorough research must be carried out on the use of relationship marketing prior to implementation.     

The effect of variety-seeking on customer retention in services

Intrinsic variety-seeking has been analyzed as an individual consumer trait affecting consumer's varied behavior. However, very little research has been done on the consumer service sector. In this paper, the authors explore the negative role of variety seeking on customer retention for services. This basic hypothesis is tested through structural equation modeling applied to an empirical study of food-service at three Universities. The results support the hypothesis: variety-seeking negatively affects customer retention and lessens the impact of the management efforts to improve service quality and customer satisfaction.     

The effect of product category on customer motivation for customer engagement behaviour

Recently, research on customer engagement behaviour (CEB) has rapidly developed. However, comparative studies on the motivational drivers of CEB across different product contexts are lacking. This study aims to understand the nature of customer motivation (CM) and investigate how its elements and impact on CEB differ between product settings (tangible vs. intangible and high involvement vs. low involvement). Based on surveys of 2080 consumers, this study validates CM for CEB as a construct comprising hedonic, normative, and gain dimensions. The findings highlight significant differences in the importance of hedonic and normative dimensions as affected by the product category. The findings of this study can help marketing and brand managers understand how they can improve their engagement strategies by stimulating motivation-based CEB.     

The Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing at 21 and My Perspective on the Field of B to B Marketing

ABSTRACT

Purpose: The author shares his thoughts on the progression of the Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing and the field of business-to-business (B to B) marketing over the last 21 years. The author discusses the field of B to B marketing research and examines the gaps that exist between theory and practice and in the quality of papers among the top-tier marketing journals and the three journals that are dedicated to B to B marketing research.

Methodology[#x0002F]approach: Because the article represents both the author[#x02019]s perspective on the current state of B to B research and his views on how well the Journal of Business-to-Business Marketing has contributed to and influenced the field, the approach taken is primarily conceptual. Also, the approach allowed the author to opine as to the future direction of the field.

Findings: Although much progress has been made in improving the quality and relevance of B to B research, there still exists a relative gap in the number of submitted papers, the quality of these papers, and the impact, with some exceptions, that B to B scholars have on marketing theory and practice. Much of the gap can be attributed to the lack of adequate doctoral training. The gap is more a relative comparison to those who would follow a business-to-consumer (B to C) research path.

Research implications: Doctoral training for those interested in B to B marketing need to explore other fields of study (e.g., political science, sociology) as well as to be better equipped in more rigorous methods by which to examine the phenomenon that they select to study. The quality of the research in the domain referred to as B to B marketing has improved over the years. The belief that it is more difficult to conduct B to B research than it might be in the B to C world is no longer an excuse for a poorly conceived and executed study. The journal gives a voice to those who wish to study and conduct research in B to B marketing.

Practical implications: The implications for practice are immediate and would result in an increase in the dialogue between academics and practicing managers. Given the importance of B to B marketing to the world[#x02019]s economy, B to B scholars ought to pursue problems that are relevant to the world of practice.

Originality[#x0002F]value[#x0002F]contribution: In light of the fact that this is the 21^st anniversary of the journal, I was asked by Editor-in-Chief David Lichtenthal to present my

opinions as to the state of both the journal and the state of the field. I believe that the article builds on the work of others and hopefully sets a direction for future B to B scholars.     

The impact of customer-specific marketing expenses on customer retention and customer profitability

We study the effects of customer-specific marketing expenses on customer retention and customer profitability in a business-to-business setting. Using data from a company providing hygiene services, we look at the impact of a hitherto unstudied type of expense targeted at individual customer relationships: the offering of free equipment to customers. The data allow tracking the activities performed in more than 4,500 customer relationships over a period of 4 years. Retention rates are higher for customers targeted with free equipment, but this effect results from an interaction with customer size. First-order dynamic panel data analyses show that the impact of targeted marketing expenses on customer dollar profit is positive for large customers, but there is no effect for smaller customers. Thus, targeted marketing expenses seem to be a tool for relationship maintenance rather than customer development: they help in retaining large customers that generate more profit, but they do not seem to work in developing new customers into larger, more profitable ones.     

Understanding expert practices in order to control expert activities: The case of trading

Experts are important actors of organizational control. Nevertheless, experience suggests that they must be controlled as well. This is particularly the case for traders in financial institutions. We first identify the limits of traditional control patterns when the managing the activities of experts is at stake. Hyperspecialization, which is the ability to act within different logics and multiple time horizons, suggests that multidimensional representations of these activities be adopted and made explicit, which has the potential to prevent such activities from turning problematic. By examining bank risks and conducting additional interviews with actors from bank trading services, we recommend that multiple components of complexity be preserved when dealing with expert‐related operational risks, instead of reducing this complexity to a single concept. Such an approach implies to turn back expertise against itself. Copyright © 2017 ASAC. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of customer contact employees as external customers: A conceptual framework for marketing strategy and future research

Existing streams of literature in marketing, management, and organizational behavior are integrated to propose a conceptual framework that highlights the customer contact employee's dual role as employee and external customer of the organization. Several iterative “cycles of success” are proposed whereby job satisfaction, the employee's patronage of the company's products (i.e., goods or services), and job performance (as customer contact employees) are all enhanced, ultimately leading to long-term relationships (with customers and employees) and profits for the organization. The framework highlights the role of internal marketing as a tool for enhancing the competitive advantage gained by strategically considering the customer contact employee's role as external customer.     

Use of a Parallel-Emic Research Model and Key-Word-In-Context Indexing Tool to Develop an Instructional Exercise to Promote Student Global Mindedness

ABSTRACT

Educators have long sought how to prepare students to develop a global mind set and to work under conditions of complexity and uncertainty common in many world markets. The purpose of this study was to support educators in this cause by providing them with a “hands-on” exercise readily adaptable across the business curriculum to identify how culture shapes business concepts/practices of interest. Details are presented in a step-by-step procedure based upon a recognized “parallel-emic” research model developed to study cross-cultural differences to ensure analytical rigor. A Key-Word-In-Context (KWIC) indexing tool was employed to add precision and efficiency to the search process to help students readily identify common (etic-derived) and unique factors (emic-specific) shaping business concepts/practices cross-culturally.     

The effects of relationship quality on customer retaliation

This research examines the effects of relationship quality (RQ) on customers' desires to retaliate after service failures. We posit that the effects of RQ are contingent upon the attributions customers make about the firm’s controllability over a service failure. Two competing hypotheses are examined and reconciled. The “love is blind” hypothesis posits that when low controllability is inferred, high RQ customers experience a lesser desire for retaliation than low RQ customers. On the other hand, the “love becomes hate” hypothesis specifies that when high controllability is inferred, high RQ customers experience a greater desire for retaliation than low RQ customers. The hypotheses are tested with a survey-based design and a partial least squares (PLS) model that incorporates a multiplicative latent construct.     

The indirect effect of online marketing capabilities on the international performance of e-commerce SMEs

International e-commerce is a strong global trend pushed by a tail wind of bolstering economic policies, changing customer behaviors, and improved logistics and technologies. This study investigates the reasons for performance variations among international e-commerce SMEs. Building on the capabilities perspective and market orientation literature, a research model is developed and tested with linear regression and mediation analysis on an effective sample of 99 Swedish SMEs which use e-commerce as an international sales channel. Our study shows that online marketing capabilities are necessary but not sufficient to increase performance among these companies. Our results show that marketing ambidexterity, reflected by both market-driven and market-driving approaches, is instrumental to leverage the effect of online marketing capabilities.     

The effects of relational bonds on online customer satisfaction

The purpose of this empirical study is to investigate the effects of relational bonds on online customer satisfaction using gender and time horizon as moderators. The findings are three-fold. First, the financial and structural bonds have positive impacts on online shoppers’ satisfaction; however, the social bond does not. Second, the financial, social, and structural bonds have more positive impacts on female, than male, customer satisfaction. Third, the financial bond is more successful in strengthening customer satisfaction for short-term than for long-term customers; however, the structural bond is more important for long-term than for short-term customers.     

The influences of cooperative climate,competitive climate and customer empowerment on service creativity

To extend the relationship between customer empowerment and creativity, this study explores the mediating effects of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations (individual level). The study aims to clarify whether cooperative and competitive climates influence service creativity through intrinsic and extrinsic motivations (across level). A matching sample of 333 coaches and customers from 30 stores in the fitness industry was used to examine the study hypotheses by employing Mplus 8.3 statistical software. The results show that (1) customer empowerment and cooperative climate have significant positive effects on service creativity (that is, the service creativity of coaches); (2) the intrinsic motivation of coaches mediates the relationship between customer empowerment and service creativity; and (3) the intrinsic motivation of coaches mediates the relationship between cooperative climate and service creativity, but the mediating mechanism of extrinsic motivation does not exist in the relationship between competitive climate and service creativity.     

Paying a visit: The Dalai Lama effect on international trade

Is political compliance a precondition for healthy trade relations with China? The Chinese government frequently threatens that meetings between its trading partners' officials and the Dalai Lama will be met with animosity and ultimately harm trade ties. We run a gravity model of exports to China from 159 partner countries between 1991 and 2008 to test the extent to which bilateral tensions affect trade with autocratic China. In particular, we empirically investigate whether countries that receive the Dalai Lama despite China's opposition experience a significant reduction in their exports to China. In order to account for the potential endogeneity of meetings with the Dalai Lama, the number of Tibet Support Groups and the travel pattern of the Tibetan leader are used as instruments. Our empirical results support the idea that countries officially receiving the Dalai Lama at the highest political level are punished through a reduction of their exports to China. However, this ‘Dalai Lama Effect’ is only observed for the Hu Jintao era and not for earlier periods. Furthermore, we find that this effect is mainly driven by reduced exports of machinery and transport equipment and that it disappears in the second year after a meeting took place.     

Country Segmentation of the International Tourism Market Using Propensity to Travel and to Spend Abroad

ABSTRACT

Two new segmentation variables for the global international tourism market were operationalized. These variables were used to segment the countries of the world into nine market segments, which include heavy travelers, heavy spenders (HH); heavy travelers, medium spenders (HM); heavy travelers, light spenders (HL); medium travelers, heavy spenders (MH); medium travelers, medium spenders (MM); medium travelers, light spenders (ML); light travelers, heavy spenders (LH); light travelers, medium spenders (LM); and light travelers, light spenders (LL). The profile of these country segments were further examined using discriminant analysis. Implications of findings for targeting and promotion strategies are discussed, and directions for future research are given.     

The impact of brand health on customer equity

This paper aims at studying the interactions between brand and customer assets over the long-term. Through the application of a new behavioural measure called the brand health index (BHI) we examine the impact of brand health on customer equity, and its mediating impact on the advertising-customer equity relationship. Three services industries, department stores, airlines, and banking, were studied from 2001 to 2012. The results show that brand health has a positive impact on customer equity, although the magnitude of the BHI impact varies across different industries. Moreover it was demonstrated that brand health mediates the impact of advertising on customer equity.     

保险O2O营销模式的实践与研究

线上到线下（O2O）营销模式既有别于通常意义上的网络营销,也有别于传统意义上的电子商务。O2O作为一种新型营销模式,越来越受到商家的重视和消费者的认可。在保险营销中运用O2O营销模式具有一定优势,有利于满足消费者个性化需求,有利于保险经营者获得更多商机,有利于促使保险从业人员提高自身综合素质。但其在运行中也面临很多瓶颈问题,如线上线下无缝对接问题、购后服务问题、经营模式创新问题、支付方式问题、保险监管问题等。为更好地解决O2O营销模式在保险营销中遇到的问题,促进保险销售O2O模式健康良性发展,必须抓好以下关键点：一要完善保险企业在线定制个性化服务机制,实现线上线下无缝对接;二要解决O2O营销模式核心内容,明确支付方式;三要为客户提供优良的服务体验环境,建立客户满意度反馈机制;四要结合保险企业实际,采用不同的保险O2O营销模式;五要建立网络评估体系,做好O2O销售成果评估;六要出台相关法律法规,加大对O2O营销模式的监管。     

Internet service providers' service quality and its effect on customer loyalty of different usage patterns

This study attempts to investigate the dimensions of an ISP's service quality, and their effects on customer loyalty in high-tech services. Data was obtained from 1231 internet users. The analyses include segmenting ISPs' customers on the basis of their usage pattern and evaluating their perceptions of Internet service quality dimensions. Through the use of structural equation modelling and bias correct bootstrapping techniques, the study confirms that service quality dimensions can influence both attitudinal and behavioural loyalty. These effects, however, are different across different groups of ISP customers. The contribution of the present paper stems from the modelling of mediation effects and the incorporation of Internet usage that can help better explain the impact of service quality dimensions on customers' loyalty in high-tech service settings.     

The effect of organizational responses to service failures on customer satisfaction perception

This paper explores how organizational responses to service failures affect perceived justice and recovery satisfaction using responses from 410 customers who experienced service failures in Hong Kong. The results indicated that the acknowledgement of and prompt action to fix service failures were positively linked to perceived justice, which in turn affects recovery satisfaction. Moreover, customer relation orientation moderated the relationship between acknowledgement of service failure and justice perceptions of service recovery, while customer task orientation moderated the relationship between prompt action for service recovery and justice perceptions of that recovery.     

论国际贸易的健康视野

国际贸易与健康,这两个似乎不相关的问题,在经济全球化的今天日益受到人们的关注。通常人们只注意国际贸易对健康的正面影响。实际上,贸易自由化在给世界经济发展带来新机遇的同时,也对人民的健康造成了负面影响。目前迫切需要国际、国内和世界贸易组织采取有效的措施,实现二者的协调发展。     

Old dogs learning new tricks? The effect of age and generation on shopping behaviour

ABSTRACT

Previous research has shown that both age and generational cohort membership affect shopping orientation and store choice criteria, although the results are mixed. This study applied a longitudinal research setting to investigate the choice orientations of six generational cohorts and seven age groups, respectively, in the context of non-grocery shopping trips. The study was based on data collected through four household surveys conducted in the Turku area, Finland, over 17 years. An exploratory factor analysis was used to identify six choice orientation dimensions that appeared as sufficiently similar in all four cross-sectional surveys. The results show that although both age and generation, if used as sole independents in a model, only explain 0.1 to 13 per cent of the variation between the categories (one-way ANOVA), in most cases, the differences are statistically significant. Age performed slightly better when the models were run for each year separately. However, in line with the underlying assumption of the generational theory, the relative importance attached to each of the choice orientation dimensions in early adulthood remained somewhat stable when the generational cohorts aged.