Involvement, satisfaction, and brand loyalty in a small business services setting

Considerable resources are expended annually on building business brands, yet the literature is virtually silent on brand loyalty in a business setting. This study examines the relationship between attitudinal loyalty and behavioral loyalty in a business services context, and attempts to identify two key antecedents of loyalty in this context. In particular, little is known about small businesses as customers, despite their significant contribution to the economies of developed nations. A longitudinal design is implemented, and data are captured on both attitudinal loyalty and subsequent loyalty behaviors (i.e., actual purchase behavior). The findings demonstrate the value of conceptualizing and measuring both attitudinal and behavioral components of brand loyalty. Specifically, the results indicate that attitudinal loyalty mediates the effects of the antecedents studied (category involvement and purchase satisfaction) on behavioral loyalty. Implications for marketing theory and practitioners are discussed, and possible directions for future research are sketched.     

Attitudinal Correlates of Brand Commitment

Abstract

Although brand commitment has been a recurrent theme in loyalty research, the construct is not well understood with regard to its formation and its links to other key attitudinal variables. Integrating consumer research and relationship marketing theory, this paper suggests two routes to the development of affective commitment and proposes a model of brand commitment with satisfaction, trust, and brand-person fit as antecedents and exclusive purchase intention as an outcome. The model was tested across three product categories and received substantial empirical support. Implications, limitations and future research directions are discussed.     

Antecedents of residents' city brand attitudes

City branding is a relatively new area of academic research in marketing. Earlier research focuses on city brand images and particularly the contrast in brand image between cities. Essentially that attention reflects the interest of policy makers in developing sound competitive brand positions, with the aim of achieving a competitive advantage. The current paper shifts the focus to explaining the brand attitudes that residents have of a particular city. What are the key antecedents (city attributes) influencing city brand attitudes? The paper reports on a quantitative survey of a sample of 878 residents of the Gold Coast City. The findings show that the major antecedents are social bonds, a sun and surf brand personality, and creative business. Safety, nature and cultural activities are also influential attributes. Apart from insight into how city brand attitudes are shaped, the paper provides a framework for public policy intervention to improve the urban environment.     

Is spousal decision making a culturally situated phenomenon?

The research reported here examines the underlying personality antecedents for marital power in purchase decision making. Taking the stance that spousal decision making is a culturally situated phenomenon, the research was conducted in India, a culture vastly different from the one in which the existing antecedents of power were established. Data were collected via participant observation and multiple, in‐depth ethnographic interviews and analyzed by a constant comparative method. Contrary to popular impression, this article finds that Indian wives wield considerable decision‐making power. Further, the findings reported here argue that that a spouse's personality traits will largely dictate his or her relative influence in decision making. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Entrepreneurial intentions—theory and evidence from Asia,America, and Europe

This paper examines the antecedents of entrepreneurial intentions and its strategic drivers with reference to country culture and proactive personality in a cross-country context. Our research is based on primary data from four distinct and strategically important countries: India, Japan, the USA, and France. We examine and compare entrepreneurial intentions of young managers within the context of the theory of planned behavior. We then postulate a theoretical framework to link entrepreneurial intention, and its drivers, to motivate further research in this area. The findings of the study indicate that a country’s culture and an individual’s proactive personality directly determine the degree of entrepreneurial intention and therefore contribute to competitiveness.     

Creating Ultimate Customer Loyalty Through Loyalty Conviction and Customer-Company Identification

Why do customers’ attitudinal loyalty fail to predict their behavior? More importantly, what creates such latent loyalty? We attempt to answer these questions by examining the antecedents and outcomes of loyalty conviction, which represents the inherent strength/uncertainty in a customer’s attitudinal loyalty. For deep attitudinal loyalty (i.e., conative loyalty), the findings suggest that customer satisfaction creates loyalty held without conviction. In contrast, customer-company identification creates loyalty held with conviction. Importantly, attitudinal loyalty without conviction loses its ability to predict behavior when situational and competitive barriers are present whereas loyalty with conviction maintains a predictive relationship with behavior despite the same barriers.     

Exploring the customer's intention to switch firms: The role of customer‐related antecedents

This study examined the customer‐related antecedents of the customer's intention to switch firms. Customer citizenship behavior was a key element in this study. Scholars have extensively studied the antecedents of customer citizenship behavior. However, the way that customer citizenship behavior relates to other attitudinal variables and the intention to switch has scarcely been analyzed. The proposed hypotheses were verified using partial least squares variance‐based structural equation modeling applied to 947 users of beauty care service firms in five countries. The results suggest that customer citizenship behavior is an antecedent of satisfaction, trust, and attitudinal loyalty. Two of these variables influence customers’ intentions to abandon relationships with the service provider. The implications of these findings enhance managers’ and scholars’ understanding of the determinants of customers’ intentions to switch firms.     

Projecting corporate brand image and behavioral response in business schools: Cognitive or affective brand attributes?

This paper considers corporate brand image, focusing on cognitive and affective brand attributes in the context of business schools. While previous research on university or institutional branding has studied these elements separately via cognitive (e.g., service or educational quality attributes) or affective criteria (personality traits of the corporate brand), this study investigates them jointly through behavioral responses (leading to positive recommendations about the corporate brand). This is important because brand equity such as positive word-of-mouth (or mouse) is derived from both attitudinal components, rather than being based on only one component. Drawing on an empirical survey of postgraduate (MBA) students from four business schools, the findings reveal that both cognitive and affective attitudinal components appear equally important in shaping corporate brand image. Further, when the mediating effect is investigated, interestingly, students' positive recommendations to schools depended largely on the affective (prestigious, adventurous, empathy and competence) rather than upon the cognitive brand attributes. This paper contributes theoretically to the corporate brand and consumer behavior literature by investigating both attitudinal components at a corporate brand level and investigates their effects on behavioral/conative response. The practical contribution of the paper and its managerial implications lie in the context of defining strategy in relation to positioning business schools in an increasingly competitive higher education market.     

Exploring the Role of Attitudinal Functions in Counterfeit Purchase Behavior via an Extended Conceptual Framework

Prior research on counterfeit purchase behavior focuses on two attitudinal functions (social‐adjustive and value‐expressive) and ignores the others (e.g., ego‐defensive, knowledge, and utilitarian), despite growing evidence that consumers’ attitudes toward a product category may serve multiple functions. We address this research gap with an extended conceptual framework that incorporates all the five attitudinal functions and explores their direct and indirect effects on counterfeit product evaluation and purchase intention. A field study with 890 shoppers in Hong Kong, a popular market for both genuine and counterfeit brands, supports most hypotheses and provides useful insights into the complex sociopsychological mechanism driving counterfeit purchase behavior.     

Understanding antecedents of continuance and revisit intentions: The case of sport apps

Prior studies have investigated the antecedents of sport application (Sapp) adoption, but few researchers have concentrated on attitudinal, cognitive and behavioural factors' effects on users’ continuance intention (CI) and revisit intention (RI). This study focused on the Sapp CI antecedents of use intensity and commitment to – and competence and satisfaction with – these tools. Analyses using structural equation modelling were conducted with data on 362 Sapp users from Malaga, Spain. The results confirm that commitment to and competence with Sapps are positively related to satisfaction and use intensity, which have a positive impact on CI and RI.     

Extending symbolic brands using their personality: Examining antecedents and implications towards brand image fit and brand dilution

This research provides a framework to achieve two objectives. First, it helps us to understand the implications of congruency of information, motivation, and perceived prestige orientation as antecedents to brand personality fit. Second, it examines the mediating role of brand image fit between brand personality fit and dilution of brand affect. The above is explained by using elaboration theory, conceptual coherence theory, and goal‐derived categorization theory. The results of the implication of elaboration theory on brand personality fit were mixed. While congruency of personality dimensions between parent and extension brands has bearings towards brand personality fit, the motivation of processing information did not. In contrast to brand image fit, this study showed that the prestige orientation of a brand did not influence brand personality fit. The subsequent mediation analysis demonstrated that brand personality fit is positively related to brand image fit, but neither of these two variables has any influence on dilution of brand affect. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Understanding voter orientation in the context of political market orientation: is the political customer king?

Abstract

This article develops a conceptual framework and measurement model of political market orientation (PMO). The relationships between different behavioural aspects of PMO and the attitudinal influences of such behaviour are analysed, and the study includes structural equation modelling to test several hypotheses. While the results show that political parties focus on several different aspects of market-oriented behaviour, especially using an internal and societal orientation as cultural antecedents, a more surprising result is the inconclusive effect of a voter orientation on PMO. This lends support to the argument of ‘looking beyond the customer’ in political marketing research and practice. The article discusses the findings in the context of the existing literature on political marketing and commercial market orientation.     

Relationship Quality and the Theory of Planned Behavior models of behavioral intentions and purchase behavior

Using real-life purchase behavior data of apparel and survey information, this study compares the Relationship Quality and the Theory of Planned Behavior models. The attitude towards the buying behavior, the subjective norm and perceived behavioral control (antecedents of the buying intention in the Theory of Planned Behavior) are better predictors of behavioral intentions than Relationship Quality. In both models intentions fully mediate the impact of attitudinal antecedents on behavior, both in terms of purchase incidence and purchase behavior (amount spent, number of visits, and types of products bought). Frequency and recency of prior buying behavior and, to a lesser extent, its monetary value, predict subsequent purchase incidence, above and beyond the impact of attitude and intention. Attitudinal antecedents of behavior significantly predict buying behavior, but they become insignificant when buying behavior is included in the model.     

Consumers’ Protection of Online Privacy and Identity

This article examines online behaviors that increase or reduce risk of online identity theft. The authors report results from three consumer surveys that indicate the propensity to protect oneself from online identity theft varies by population. The authors then examine attitudinal, behavioral, and demographic antecedents that predict the tendency to protect one's privacy and identity online. Implications and suggestions for managers, public policy makers, and consumers related to protecting online privacy and identity theft are provided.     

Influence of professional drivers’ personality traits on road traffic safety: case study

The purpose of this paper is to present basic elements of the research directed at identifying and determining the personality traits of professional drivers that affect safe, secure and enjoyable ride on public roads. A quantitative method has been used here, whereas data were acquired from a questionnaire based on a sample of 59 professional drivers. Determining personality traits of professional drivers that are in correlation with a safe and pleasant ride on the roads has been enabled by applying the five-factor model of personality (‘Big Five’) and the Personality Inventory NEO-PI. From these results it was concluded that safe operation of the vehicle in traffic involves the successful ‘conduct’ of oneself, which recognises the importance of certain personality traits of professional drivers for traffic safety and the need for appropriate professional selection in the case of employment of professional drivers. Research results implicate development of educational programmes aimed at achieving harmony of psychological, physical and sensory health, that is, programmes for permanent informing, educating and training professional drivers for defensive driving. The research opens the way for new research tasks that should help in creating a specific structure of curricula that can be used in a variety of transportation companies and enterprises to improve general and public safety.     

Consumer Attachments to Human Brands: The “Oprah Effect”

Human brands offer an interesting complement to product brands in that consumer attachments to human brands take on personal relationship qualities that can engender greater affiliation and loyalty. At present, one of the most powerful human brands in the developed world is that of Oprah Winfrey. This research uses the Oprah brand as a context in which to explore and expand the existing model of human brand attachment because of the enduring strength and consistency of how she has cultivated her brand. The existing model of human brand attachment identifies autonomy, relatedness, and competence as the antecedents of attachment strength. However, the expanded model in the current research introduces and validates brand personality appeal (and its sub‐dimensions of favorability, originality, and clarity) as an important moderating factor in the relationship between these antecedents of attachment and attachment outcomes. Two studies utilizing both qualitative and quantitative data investigate the impact of these factors on attachment strength as manifested in emotional attachment behaviors, markers of relationship quality, and marketplace responses in the form of brand loyalty and purchase intentions.     

Sex, Personality, and Sustainable Consumer Behaviour: Elucidating the Gender Effect

Sustainable consumer behaviour—behaviour motivated or influenced by social and/or environmental considerations—is an important topic in public policy and consumer psychology. Research on the antecedents of sustainable consumer behaviour has found a robust “gender effect”: women are more likely than men to express concern about consumption’s broader impacts and to act upon those concerns. The mechanisms underlying the gender effect have not been well elucidated. At the same time, more limited research has found that sustainable consumer behaviour is also influenced by personality: more agreeable and more open consumers are more likely to place importance on and to act on social and environmental concerns. Separate research in personality psychology has shown that women tend to be more agreeable than men. The authors integrate these findings to propose and test a model in which personality mediates the effect of sex on sustainable consumer behaviour. The personality differences mediating this effect are the same ones elsewhere subsumed within “gender” differences. Our findings clarify the mechanisms underlying the observed sex effect, confirm the utility of personality constructs in clarifying differences in consumer attitudes and behaviours, and have compelling implications for public policy.     

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.     

Functional brand qualities and perceived value: The mediating role of brand experience and brand personality

Brand experience and brand personality have become two important theoretical constructs in the branding literature. However, research on the antecedents of these two constructs has been focused on intangible brand characteristics and qualities, underestimating the role of functional features. This study aims to overcome this gap by postulating that two key functional brand qualities, quality and innovativeness, help shape brand experience and personality, which, we ultimately predict, contribute to perceived value. Investments in quality and innovation have grown substantially, but how they materialize in benefits for customers and firms remains unclear. Accordingly, this study provides insights into how firms can engender the characteristics of their offer to build brands that are perceived by consumers as generating a valued brand experience and personality. The results from two samples provide broad support to the proposed model. Both brand quality and innovativeness contribute to brand experience and personality. Moreover, we observe that both brand experience and personality relate to perceived value. Finally, we also determined that brand personality and experience partially mediate the relationship between brand innovativeness and quality and perceived value. Hence, these results provide relevant implications for both theory and the practice of brand management.