The chain from customer satisfaction via word-of-mouth referrals to new customer acquisition

It has often been argued that word-of-mouth (WOM) can contribute significantly to a firm’s success in a variety of ways. Here, we analyze the functional linkage between customer satisfaction, WOM, and new customer acquisition. Using data from two empirical studies we conceptualize and test the direct, non-linear, and moderated relationship between satisfaction and WOM. We further explore the circumstances under which WOM leads to new customer acquisition using a logistic regression model. We do so for two groups (new customers and long-term customers) from the customer base of a large energy provider (n = 688), and for a random sample of B2B customers (n = 416) in the same market. Results indicate that the satisfaction-WOM link is non-linear and is moderated by several customer involvement dimensions. Based on our results, we demonstrate how the satisfaction-WOM-new customer acquisition link can enrich return on quality and satisfaction models. Further, we draw conclusions about how companies can make use of both the satisfaction-WOM and the WOM-new customer acquisition link for better allocating their marketing resources.

Cognitive Dissonance as an Explanation of Goodwill Write-Offs

While agency theory has been an important part of accounting academic research, many researchers have suggested that other theories should also be considered. One such theory is the theory of cognitive dissonance. In this study, the authors develop competing hypotheses based on agency theory and the theory of cognitive dissonance regarding the decision to record an impairment of goodwill. Using an archival research methodology, they test the hypotheses on a sample of 2,274 firm-year observations. The results are consistent with the theory of cognitive dissonance even after controlling for variables that have been found to be significant under agency theory. The authors conclude that there is strong evidence to suggest that agency theory does not uniquely explain the results of management decisions as seen through financial reporting data.     

Partner Empowerment and Relationship Failure in Franchising

Franchisors must empower franchisees to take decisions on a package of peripheral elements in response to pressure for local adaptations and for entrepreneurial autonomy. However, little is known about which specific elements should be decentralized and to what extent adaptation of such elements affects disputes between franchisor and franchisees. This study explores these issues by analyzing which decision rights should be franchisees’ responsibility to reduce early terminations instigated by the franchisor. The results show that delegating decision rights on local advertising and personnel reduces early terminations while delegation of pricing tends to increase them, regardless of the size of the system. Interestingly, successful delegation in other decision‐areas is contingent on the brand‐name value. More specifically, only larger chains seem to benefit from delegating assortment and decoration decisions.     

Framing financial responsibility: An analysis of the limitations of accounting

In organisations, accounting—understood broadly as calculative practices—is claimed to serve as a critical vehicle when introducing forms of individual financial responsibility. Whereas most prior accounting research has been preoccupied with asserting this claim, this paper opens an opportunity to examine the limitations of accounting as a technology of responsibilisation. It does so by moving the empirical focus beyond the borders of people's work settings and into the private sphere of everyday life, investigating governmental efforts to turn high school students into financially responsible citizens. The analysis, informed by framing theory, reveals that the efficiency of accounting is conditioned by people's calculative understanding. Hence, in situations where individuals are expected to lack this basic calculative competency, accounting is presumed to be inappropriate as a means of introducing financial responsibility. This has implications for re-considering how the relation between accounting and responsibility is constituted.     

Bargaining structure and nominal wage flexibility

In a model with wage setting by monopoly unions and monetary policy conducted by a central bank, the duration of nominal wage contracts is shown to be u-shaped in the degree of centralization, with intermediate bargaining systems yielding contracts of shorter duration and thus, more flexible nominal wages than both decentralized and centralized systems. The theoretical predictions of the model are tested on OECD data, and there is empirical support for the main results on contract length.     

让资本赋能大湾区全球创新高地建设

粤港澳大湾区是我国实施创新驱动发展战略的重大引擎，有优势成为引领全球新一轮产业革命的"领头雁"。资本是创新发展的重要驱动力，文章认为股权投资（VC/PE）能通过筛选培育、风险分散、融资支持、要素集成、制度供给、资源重组六方面制度功能支持创新发展。巩固提升粤港澳大湾区股权投资市场优势，让股权投资赋能粤港澳大湾区全球创新高地建设，要宽化资本来源，实现投资主体多元化；强化技术攻关，发展非对称性"杀手锏"技术，培育优质项目源；深化人才激励，推进风险投资家与企业家、科学家的深度合作；优化投资环境，让创新创业创造活力竞相迸发；活化退出通道，畅通"募投管退"的投资闭环。     

Learning for lower energy consumption

Energy‐efficient technologies are not just objects that might enable households to carry out more sustainable practices; they are tools, and using them effectively requires certain skills and knowledge. Households' difficulties in handling home heating and hot water technologies in particular have been highlighted as an obstacle to meeting energy conservation objectives. This has given rise to calls for improved support based on how the households define their activities and handle these technologies. By deploying a socio‐cultural theory of learning and using in‐depth interviews with households that have recently purchased renewable heating systems, this paper examines various situations in which people have learnt to use the technologies, and it discusses lessons learnt that may be useful for developing support. The results demonstrate three common learning approaches and identify situations where the learning process runs smoothly and where it does not. The conclusions suggest strategies for helping households overcome the resistance embedded in the interaction with the technologies, and they highlight the importance, when developing support, of starting with what creates meaning in various situations.     

Product classifications,consumer characteristics,and patronage preference for online auction

An important unanswered question in the area of Internet auctions is what dynamics influences consumer preferences for shopping on these online auctions. Two key aspects of studying what sells on the Internet auctions are (a) the characteristics of products to be purchased and (b) consumer characteristics. This research focuses on the relationship between product purchase preference, prior experience, and socioeconomic characteristics for the online auction participants. It uses product classification theory rooted in information economics and marketing. The study results are based on a US national sample of online auction participants. The findings suggest that product class affects online auction patronage, yet socioeconomic characteristics may not be as influential as once perceived. The online merchants can benefit from the inquiry to improve auctions for search, experience, and credence goods. The five key contributions of the findings add value to the theory and practice of consumer behavior.     

On the Double Dividend under Imperfect Competition

We investigate whether, and under which conditions, a revenue-neutral environmental tax reform may yield an employment double dividend, i.e., an improvement of environmental quality and an increase in aggregate employment. Using a model with two market imperfections – a rigid real wage and imperfect competition in one industry – we show that an employment dividend is plausibly obtained. However, for countries where labor taxes are high and households spend a large share of their income in favor of environmentally harmful consumption goods a double dividend can nevertheless not be obtained, for under these conditions environmental quality deteriorates.     

Developing integrated solutions: The importance of relationships within the network

Firms that have traditionally focused on selling products, spare parts and services face difficulties with increasing competition and declining margins. They are therefore turning to new strategies where products and services are integrated into so-called integrated solutions. Research on the challenges this presents is sparse, but there is evidence that internal factors as well as external relationships play an important role. In this paper we investigate the relationships within the business network in order to uncover some of the complex issues related to integrated solutions, including how and to what extent these relationships facilitate or impede the development of integrated solutions. Two case studies of one more and one less successful initiative within the same firm are used to illustrate challenges and possible success factors for the development of integrated solutions in the capital goods industry.The paper identifies the following six factors as important when developing integrated solutions: the strength of the relationships between the different actors involved, the firm's position in the network, the firm's network horizon, the solution's impact on existing internal activities, the solution's impact on customers' core processes, and external determinants. It shows that inter- and intra-firm relationships can both enable and obstruct the development of integrated solutions. For the firms involved in the development of integrated solutions, it becomes crucial to manage this duality.