The low effect of perceived risk in the relation between hedonic values and purchase intention

ABSTRACT

This research seeks to identify the influence of perceived risk in the purchase intention environment regarding innovative technological products, and also to understand how brand trust reduces the expected impact of this risk due to the hedonic and utilitarian characteristics influencing purchase intention. Quantitative research was carried out and analysed through structural equation modelling, where the influence of perceived risk on utilitarian value and purchase intention was identified, as well as the influence of brand trust in reducing this risk. The conceptual implications of the study describe as the perceived risk moderates hedonic features less compared to utilitarian features regarding purchase intention, thus demonstrating that emotional relationships are less affected by this risk. The managerial implications suggest that devices with utilitarian characteristics should be more carefully planned according to their brand and complexity, while hedonic products do not require brand trust to guarantee consumers’ purchase intention in the current innovative scenario.     

Exploring manager’s perspective of service quality strategies in Malaysian Banking Industry

In service industry, the subject of service quality remains crucial as business strive to maintain a comparative advantage in the marketplace. In aftermath of globalization, the operating environment for banking industry has become more dynamic and competitive. Banks have evolved to become diversified financial providers instead of traditional banking-only service providers. With bank placing emphasis on a mutually beneficial bank–customer relationship, customer loyalty must be pursued through repeat purchases. Central to achieving this is often the quality of services offered by the bank should satisfy the customer’s needs. This article attempts to identify any service gaps in Malaysian banking industry and to recommend effective strategies to close these service gaps from bank mangers’ and executives perspectives based on GAPs Model of Service Quality (GAPs Model). Using qualitative data collected from interviews with 30 bank managers and executives, this article provides effectives strategies to close each of the gaps in GAPs Model. It is hoped that the empirical evidences and recommendations provided in this article shed some light to management of banks to improve upon their customer service quality in order to benefit from customer satisfaction, customer loyalty and other behavioural outcomes which will lead to greater competitive advantage and profitability to the banks concerned.     

Hotel Service Recovery and Service Quality: Influences of Corporate Image and Generational Differences in the Relationship between Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty

ABSTRACT

As the number of tourists continues to grow globally, the hospitality industry players inevitably face more challenges. High competition among the competitors and the emergence of new technologies such as online booking platforms make the competition more intense among players in the hospitality sector. The quality of services provided is undoubtedly crucial to the success of the hotel. Hence, any service failure has to be addressed appropriately in order to maintain a high level of customer satisfaction and to keep the image of the hotel intact. It is therefore vital that service recovery programs are carefully planned to meet various types of service failures which may inevitably occur. In this study, questionnaires were distributed to customers who had experienced service failures. The aim was to investigate the influence of service quality and service recovery on satisfaction and, ultimately, the effect on customer loyalty. The research also tested the mediating effect of corporate image between the relationship of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. The findings showed that both service recovery and service quality had a significant impact on customer satisfaction. Similarly, it was found that customer satisfaction induced customer loyalty towards the hotel operator. The result also showed that corporate image mediated partially between the relationship of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.     

Autarkic indeterminacy and trade determinacy

We extend the model of Nishimura and Shimomura (2002) to consider a two-country framework where under autarky indeterminacy arises in one country but determinacy in the other, and show that indeterminacy could be eliminated when trade takes place between the two.     

Adaptation May Reduce Climate Damage in Agriculture by Two Thirds

Although climate change may severely impact agriculture, farmers can mitigate it by adapting. Using US data, we estimate the amount of potential loss in agricultural profits, due to climate change, that can be reduced by agricultural adaptation. We consider two panel frameworks that differ only in their fixed effects specifications, where this difference allows us to estimate the climate change impact on agricultural profits with or without adaptation. Comparing these estimates, we find that adaptation has the potential to offset about two‐thirds of the end‐of‐century loss in agricultural profits potentially resulting from climate change. We also find that the warmest region in the US (i.e. in the south) has the most to gain from adaptation.     

The relationship between moral decisions and their consequences: A tradeoff analysis approach

While at one level, the literature in ethics for some issues is broad, deep, and complex, for others it appears limited and lacking in sophistication. This cross — cultural study deals not only with the moral reasoning behind moral dilemmas in business but also with the magnitudes these dilemmas in concert with their possible outcomes and consequences. While many studies discuss the effect of these outcomes, we have found none that have explicitly examined them.The methodology and analysis use a novel approach for this topic, and is a major contribution of the paper: that of tradeoff analysis. Tradeoff analysis is capable of revealing both the nature of an individual's moral reasoning as well as interactions between this and the rewards or consequences for the moral action. These interactions are illustrated with a cross — cultural pilot study conducted in Singapore and the United States, which reveal noteworthy differences in moral decision making.William R. Swinyard is a Professor of Business Management at Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah, USA, 84602.Thomas J. Delong is a Professor of Education at the same university.Peng Sim Cheng is a Senior Tutor at the National University of Singapore, School of Management, Singapore 0511. Correspondence should be addressed to the first author.     

Are success and survival factors the same for social and business ventures?

Despite the growing interest in social entrepreneurship, there exist gaps in research that compares traditional business-oriented entrepreneurship with the social kind. This study attempts to fill the gap by answering the following questions: Are there significant differences between the survival chances of business and social ventures? and Do the traits of the entrepreneur and the firm play the same role as success factors for both types of venture? Hypotheses are tested using data collected from 2,179 firms. The results show that significant differences exist between social and business-oriented entrepreneurship in the form and intensity of the independent variables related to survival.     

Antecedents of Green Brand Equity: An Integrated Approach

A steady demand for green products from concerned consumers has led companies to introduce new product lines that match or exceed consumer environmental concerns. Nonetheless, not all the organizations were able to achieve significant returns on their investments in green products. These failures are generally attributed towards companies’ inability to overcome consumer scepticism towards the performance of functional and green attributes of their brands to generate a positive green image and green value in consumers mind. Therefore, the question arises that does the success in promoting green brand image and value depend on consumer existing perceptions about the brand quality and credibility? This study analyzes the influence of brand perceive quality and credibility on consumer perceptions towards a brand green image, green value and green equity. A theoretical model with hypothesized relationships is developed and tested to answer these research questions. Data have been collected from the consumers of electrical and electronic goods. The hypothesized relationships were tested with the help of structural equation modeling procedure. The results suggest that brand perceived quality and its overall credibility does have a significant influence on generating a greener image, green perceive value and green brand equity.     

Employability enhancement through formal and informal learning: an empirical study among Dutch non‐academic university staff members

Although learning is generally perceived as a way to improve employees' current job performance, so far, no research has been conducted to explore the possible relationships between formal and informal learning, on the one hand, and employability, on the other. Though contemporary views stress the importance of the job as a powerful learning site, considerable research evidence underpinning these views is lacking. This paper goes into the impact of formal and informal learning upon employability. The influence of employee characteristics and organizational factors is also taken into account. An e‐questionnaire was used to collect data among 215 Dutch non‐academic university staff members. Our findings emphasize the necessity of Human Resource Development strategies that encompass a mix of formal and informal learning opportunities. In particular, participation in networks appears to be an important predictor for employability. With the outcomes of this study, we aim to contribute to the further development of theoretical insights regarding employability enhancement through learning possibilities embedded in the workplace. It seems that strategies that focus exclusively on enhancing informal on‐the‐job learning should not be encouraged. Our study is limited to one context and further research is required to investigate the generalizability of the findings to other occupations and/or countries.