What do we really know about services?

The inherent characteristics of services are well-known but do we really understand what services are, how services form an essential part of most products produced and delivered today, how services can enhance differentiation, competitiveness and help drive innovation and regional economic development? Sadly despite some 30 years of endeavour the answer is no, and so we need to consider how this problem can realistically be addressed by identifying the key services themes which need intensive long-term research.     

Bridging what we know: The effect of cognitive distance on knowledge-intensive business services produced offshore

The rise of offshoring of knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS), causing a physical separation between clients and service providers in co-created services, is a major trend in practice but challenges existing theories. International business literature has addressed many types of distance that may affect (service) offshoring, such as cultural or geographic distance. However, limited emphasis has been placed on the implications of differing cognitions of individuals that produce a cognitive distance (CD). We address this gap and ask how increased CD through offshoring affects KIBS production processes. This conceptual paper focuses on how CD interacts with the modularity of different process stages in service production and what effect CD has on repeated production processes. In order to do so we first predict what stages of KIBS production processes can be offshored and what implications offshoring has on these services. We contribute to literature by deepening the understanding of CD and providing a process perspective on KIBS offshoring that looks at modularity within services, rather than firms as bundles of modular production, and on the impact repeated production processes have on service characteristics.     

The future of the global financial services industry

There are three fundamental technological shifts that are defining the competitive landscape of the early 21st century in financial service provision. First and foremost is distributed service provision: both deposit taking and credit provision are becoming more and more dispersed geographically, with less and less need for service providers and service users to meet face to face. The principal enabling technology is in advanced telecommunications, which allows for operation of widely dispersed automatic teller machines, videoconferencing, and internet operations. The second huge technological change that is underway concerns internal management information systems. Financial institutions are now able to put relevant data from affiliates and activities around the world into real-time globally accessible form. The third technological change is financial engineering, which involves creation of new financial products, often derived from existing credit or deposit-type instruments. This article explores the implications of these dramatic changes in the competitive landscape of financial service provision and suggests strategies for survival into the 21st century.     

The intention to use cryptocurrency: A meta-analysis of what we know

Cryptocurrency has gained in popularity in emerging markets, however the knowledge accumulation pertaining to factors contributing to intention to use cryptocurrency has been limited. To address this gap, we meta-analyzed 42 samples from multiple theoretical approaches. Seven common antecedents to intention to use cryptocurrency were assessed, as well as six moderators via meta-regression. A regression model to explain the intention to use cryptocurrency was calculated, and relative importance analysis determined the weight of each variable in predicting cryptocurrency use intention. The findings highlight factors influencing intention to use cryptocurrency in emerging markets and refine theoretical models for future research.     

The business-to-business relationship dimensions in financial services markets

This paper discusses the nature of financial business relationships by drawing on the IMP Group’s theory of industrial relationships. It discusses, among other aspects, the interaction process between banks and their corporate clients, the longevity of relationships, the interdependence between both sides, and the atmosphere of financial services relationships. The conclusions are thought to be interesting and useful for the managers of firms and financial services when setting relationship marketing policies and for academic research on business-to-business services relationships. The field research was done in Portugal and the case method was used.

Likeability as a measure of advertising effectiveness: the case of financial services

Television advertising for financial services accounts for over one-third of total financial services advertising expenditure, yet there is evidence to suggest it is not very well done. Given the difficulties advertisers have to overcome in terms of promoting an intangible product in accordance with tight restrictions on advertising content and format to a largely uninvolved audience, it becomes all the more imperative to study how viewers judge financial services commercials. This paper presents the findings of a study which seeks to establish which elements, if any, of a financial services commercial first make it likeable to its target audience, second motivate the viewer to seek more information about the service being advertised and, third, have an effect on the image the viewer has of the advertiser. Some interesting findings from the research point to the similarities between the emerging factors for viewers' affective reactions to fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) and financial services commercials and the extent to which likeability mediates the influence which advertisement execution features have on subsequent behavioural intentions.     

Retaining customers in UK financial services: The retailers' tale

Retaining customers offers major benefits to retailers of financial services, such as improved customer profitability and lowered acquisition costs. In spite of the importance to the sector in minimising customer ‘churn’, there has been limited investigation into the practices of customer retention. This paper reports empirical research into the retention of customers in traditional retailers of financial services in the UK to study the practices involved in retention. Following a pluralistic research design, data were generated by means of interviews with senior bank staff and by surveying staff involved either directly or indirectly with retaining customers. The study discovers key elements in the practice of retaining customers and also points to a number of potential difficulties as these organisations balance the activities of customer acquisition and retention.     

关于我国金融服务贸易开放性测度的分析

本文主要围绕我国金融服务贸易的开放性问题进行重点讨论,通过贸易依存度和对外直接投资开放度两个指标来实证分析,发现金融服务业尽管在一定程度上实现了市场开放的突破,但整体上仍呈现审慎的态势,并没有十分激进的表现,开放性还是处在较低的水平.     

Poverty as we never knew it: THE source of vulnerability for most of humankind

ABSTRACT

Most of humankind lives in poverty. Over 1.2 billion people survive on less than $1.25 per day, and around 2.7 billion people survive on less than $2.50 per day. Of course, these statistics do not take into account those living in relative poverty within the very highest development nations in the world. Yet few within entitled sectors of the global economy have had much to do with people living in poverty, except for occasional and indirect contact. Even basic ideas about poverty lack clarity; for example, what is the line between poor and not poor both within and among countries? Is it only about income or do other resources matter or act as substitutes for money when impoverished consumers engage their markets? Is poverty in the USA the same or different than poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa? Answers to such questions are provided in this commentary through an examination of three different research projects conducted in poverty communities. Together, they reveal distinct patterns of results between more affluent and more impoverished consumers across the globe.     

Internationalization of financial services in turbulent markets

Two significant features during the post-war period have been an increasing internationalization of economic activities and a growing role for financial services in the world economy. Considerable attention has been devoted to both these features separately, while attention to the internationalization of financial service firms has been more limited. Even more limited have been the efforts to combine this work with studies of the influence of market turbulence on financial service firms. The present special issue is an attempt to provide a remedy to this state of affairs. In this introduction we first provide a background to the topic. We then give a brief summary of the characteristics of financial services as well as a short review of extant literature, before presenting the six papers that make up the issue and providing some conclusions.     

中国金融服务外包概况及战略选择

金融服务外包近年来在我国得到快速发展,制定具有科学性、前瞻性和可操作性的金融服务外包发展战略,对我国产业结构升级和经济发展方式转变具有重要意义。本文从我国金融服务外包的特点出发,采取对比和例证的方法,探讨我国金融服务外包产业的发展情况,并阐述战略选择。     

Determinants of ex-customer winback in financial services

Financial services play important roles in consumers' lives, and switching providers is a relatively onerous task, but customers often terminate their relationships with a provider. How can a provider best regain lost customers, and what are the determinants of ex-customer winback? Using data from a financial services provider, this research examines 11 factors occurring before, during and after a termination, to study their influence on consumers' propensity to revive a relationship with a previously abandoned service provider. The results indicate that income and variety-seeking preferences are negatively correlated with a customer's likelihood of considering the former brand in the future. Positive associations and evaluations of the former brand are positively correlated with the winback potential. The results can guide managers of financial service providers as to the most significant factors to be analysed in estimating the chances of winning back a lost customer.     

The stakeholder product brand and decision making in retail financial services

Stakeholder products were introduced by the UK Government to help assist decision making in retail financial services. Such products are targeted particularly at low- to middle-income consumers and those in a position of vulnerability/weakness in personal finance markets due to low expertise and familiarity and a lack of interest and involvement. The current study offers a detailed investigation into whether the stakeholder policy initiative is likely to appeal to the specified target market and, hence, help the Government fulfil its objectives. A sample of 1002 consumers is employed in a quantitative study. Findings show that the stakeholder product brand (SPB) enjoys a relatively high level of general acceptance, but that it does not resonate particularly with the target market. The SPB is likely to be recognized as useful in aiding decision making by high-involvement consumers, as well as those consumers who are more familiar with financial services. Those who suffer from the illusion of expertise have marginally less positive attitudes towards the stakeholder brand when compared with other expertise groups. The data are indicative of few meaningful relationships between demographic variables and attitudes towards stakeholder products. Policy implications are highlighted.     

Marketing financial services to all levels of affluence

This study examines efforts being made by commercial banks to satisfy their obligations under the Community Reinvestment Act while at the same time responding to changes in their economic and competitive environments. Banks are being directly and indirectly mandated by outside forces to find ways to serve all segments of their markets. What one could consider the banks' choices or prerogatives, such as served markets, selection and pursuit of desired market niches, differentiation strategies, and positioning alternatives, are all being affected by outside regulatory forces. In an effort to identify the marketing-related factors that differentiate the two groups, this study compares the policies and characteristics of those institutions that are satisfying their regulatory obligations to those institutions that are not satisfying their obligations. © 1995 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Weathering consumer pricing sensitivity: The importance of customer contact and personalized services in the financial services industry

In a low-cost switching environment, certain firm actions undertaken by service employees can improve consumer loyalty, satisfaction and reduce price sensitivity. Interestingly, consumers' satisfaction levels can actually increase when experiencing a price increase. Counterintuitively, when consumers experience a price decrease, their loyalty decreases, suggesting that it might be in the firm's best interest to not offer such pricing discounts as these customers may be hypersensitive to price. Overall, it appears much easier for service employees to positively influence customer satisfaction than customer loyalty; satisfied consumers do not necessarily become loyal consumers.     

公共文化服务财政机制研究综述

公共文化服务的提供应由公共财政负责,相应的财政机制更应完善。从多视角将当前国内众多研究对公共文化服务方面财政机制的看法与反映进行总结,探讨这些层面研究的内涵、可参考性,认为在机制细节理论设计方面有不完善之处,通过调研全面考察、研究可以完善我国财政机制。     

The liberalisation of air transport: Lessons from the USA

The planned liberalisation of European air transport has run up against the problem that there is little scope for further expansion of airport infrastructure. If liberalisation is to be a success, the available infrastructure will have to be used more intensively. This means introducing efficient procedures for awarding take-off and landing slots in Europe. The policy pursued hitherto in Germany and the EC and lessons from the USA do not nurture hopes that the liberalisation of European air transport will be a huge success.