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Purpose: This paper studies the impact of social distancing causing crises (SDCC) such as pandemics in its early stages on e-tailers demand and supply side operations and provides a conceptual framework for adaptation. Design/methodology/approach: A grounded theory-based approach has been used, wherein journal papers and news articles are the key data sources. Standard qualitative methodology, including open, axial and selective coding has been followed. Findings: The study provides second order themes derived from first-order categories, the theoretical dimensions and their interrelationships on how e-tailers need to adapt to variations in online buying behaviour, manage manpower shortage and daily necessities inventory shortage, during SDCC. Panic buying emerges as a key disrupting factor as it has multiple repercussions on demand and supply side operations of e-tailers. Research limitations/implications: Exploratory qualitative research such as this is helpful in early development of a research stream and paves the way for future quantitative studies. Practical implications: This study makes a valuable contribution on e-tailers adaptation to SDCC with significant managerial implications. There are social, economic and policy implications too. For academicians, this study provides a conceptual framework and serves as a springboard for future research. Originality/value: The study is unique as perhaps it is one of the first to study e-tailers adaptation to SDCC. It contributes to a body of the literature which is currently scarce but expected to grow exponentially in the coming years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to study clothing and shoes disposal behavior of US consumers in an attempt to understand how to divert more clothing and shoes fromthe landfill. Design/methodology/approach - A survey was administered to 209 consumers from the general US population. The survey includes questions on demographics, methods of disposal and factors that motivate or prevent consumers fromchoosing methods other than throwing unwanted clothing in the trash. Findings - Analysis of demographic data from the survey indicates that gender, income, marital status, living arrangement and type of dwelling have an effect on whether consumers recycle textiles. Other survey results indicate that helping factors are more influential in motivating consumers to recycle clothing and shoes than economic factors. The condition of clothes and shoes and lack of awareness are the most prominent reasons preventing consumers from recycling more textiles. The results also show that there are statistically significant differences between households with and without children when it comes to disposing adults' clothing and shoes. Originality/value - These results may help policymakers who want to motivate consumers to recycle or develop recycling programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose This research advances current knowledge about art infusion, which is the ability of art to favorably influence the assessment of consumer products. In particular, the research aims to investigate the effectiveness of artworks that evoke their creators’ most recognizable style in luxury advertising.Design/methodology/approach The research encompasses three studies – two conducted online and one in a real consumption situation. The first study explores the effect that a recognizable vs non-recognizable painter’s style has on consumers’ judgments about luxury products. The second and third studies explore the moderating roles of desire to signal status and desire for distinction, respectively, which are relevant to advertisers interested in targeting these individual differences.Findings Advertisements that incorporate artworks that evoke a painter’s most recognizable style enhance the advertised products’ perceived luxuriousness. Consumers with a higher desire to signal status exhibit greater purchasing intention in response to recognizable artworks. By contrast, consumers with a higher desire for distinction exhibit greater purchasing intention when the painter’s style in the featured artwork is less recognizable.Practical implications The results provide marketers with suggestions on how to select and incorporate visual artworks into luxury brand communication: they could focus on recognizable vs non-recognizable artworks based on whether their main goal is to communicate status or distinctiveness.Originality/value This research offers novel insights into the practical value of art infusion by showing when and for whom the beneficial effects of pairing art with luxury products are more likely to occur. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the effect of Islamic religiosity on consumer attitudes toward Islamic banking in Egypt. Design/methodology/approach – The study utilizes a mixed-methods approach, employing both qualitative in-depth interviews and quantitative surveys. Findings – The main findings of the study show that religiosity has an impact on consumer attitudes toward Islamic banking in Egypt. Major religiosity clusters were identified from the sample and these were associated with attitudes toward Islamic banking. Practical implications – The findings of this research are of practical importance for marketers in Islamic banks, as they reflect on the likely role religiosity would play in shaping the attitudes of potential customers toward their products. Thus, marketers can use the religiosity scale in measuring intention to use their banking services. Originality/value – The study was implemented in Egypt, where the volume of research on this topic is very limited; thus the context of the study is of value to researchers and practitioners and it can serve as a base for future studies in the Middle East region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The incidents of customer abuse of frontline service employees during service encounters are increasing which has led to co-destructruction of value. The service strategists makers are struggling hard to frame a holistic picture of such incidents to be able to reduce the number of misbehaviour incidents but still are unable to achieve success. The purpose of this paper is to incorporate a social system perspective to study in detail customer misbehaviour incidents from the perspective of frontline banking employees and customers. Design/methodology/approach – The data from 33 frontline banking employees and 22 customers, 55 in total was collected by structured interviews. The data collection focused a critical incident technique and for the purpose of analysis, thematic analysis was optioned. Findings – The employees and customers both blame each other to trigger a misbehaviour incident during banking transactions. The results reveal a clear communication gap between employees and customers as none of them understand the problems of the other party. The employees think that customers gain power through such incidents while customers believe employees to be ignorant, wasting the time, and lack complete information. Practical implications – The marketing policy makers need to pay respect and complete organisational support to frontline staff working in high contact service firms to cope with misbehaving customers. Originality/value – The study is pioneer in applying a social system perspective to explore employee and customer experiences of misbehaviour incidents during banking service encounters. Furthermore, the study has been first of its type to explore the phenomenon of misbehaviour from a developing country perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to find out the impact of business travelers’ behavioral belief on positive and negative e-comments, which consequently lead to intention to purchase a hotel room. To explore the relationships among attitude toward positive and negative e-comments with intention to purchase, the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) was used. Design/methodology/approach – Business travelers in the USA who read e-comments and made a hotel choice based on those e-comments within the past six months were targeted for this study. The TRA, as well as a wide-ranging review of literature, were used to develop the survey instrument. The survey was distributed through Qualtrics, which is an online questionnaire service platform. To measure the business travelers’ behavioral beliefs toward e-comments, a number of measures were developed for this research. The theories of Fishbein and Ajzen were used to examine business travelers’ behavioral beliefs toward positive and negative e-comments. All of the questions on this survey about the intention to purchase were extracted from Liao et al. Other questions about attitude toward positive and negative comments were adopted from Chu and Choi, Sparks and Browning, Gundersen et al. and Lee and Sparks. The last section of the survey included questions about business travelers’ sociodemographic statistics, such as ethnicity, level of income, age, gender and education. The first question separated respondents to recognize those who made a reservation at a business hotel in the past six months after reading comments about the hotel. Those who responded positively were asked to participate in the study. Participants of this research presented their degree of agreement on each item by using a seven-point Likert scale, rating from (1) “Strongly disagree” to (7) “Strongly agree”. To verify the reliability of the questionnaire and to ensure it reflected the TRA, a pilot study was conducted with a small group of business travelers who had booked a hotel room in the past six months and finalized their purchases based on reading e-comments. No major changes were made to the survey as a result of the pilot study and all factors indicated an adequate level of internal consistency. The proposed model examined the effects of both positive and negative e-comments toward business travelers’ intention to purchase. This research aimed to determine the impact of behavioral belief on positive e-comments and negative e-comments, which consequently lead to intention to purchase. Findings – The results of the proposed model revealed that behavioral belief positively affects both positive and negative e-comments. This means that business travelers want to be informed about both complaints and compliments in e-comments. However, this does not mean they intend to purchase a hotel room based on both opinions; rather business travelers would be inclined to purchase a hotel room based on positive e-comments. Using gender as a moderating effect indicated that females neither believe of the helpfulness of negative e-comments nor intend to purchase based on these e-comments. However, males tend to find both positive and negative e-comments helpful. Originality/value – The findings of this research will help hoteliers, as well as online website review operators, to obtain a clearer understanding of guests’ or users’ needs and wants in order to offer a more desirable service. Since business travelers are considered an important target market in the hotel industry, hoteliers need to put more emphasize on these factors to attract more business travelers. By recognizing business travelers’ requirements and their expectations, hoteliers should prioritize their responsibilities for meeting these guests’ expectations; therefore, they can assign their resources accordingly. In other words, once a guest’s needs are understood clearly, hoteliers will be in safe position to provide the desired service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper aims to provide empirical evidence of relationship between perceived service innovativeness, image-congruence, satisfaction and behavioral outcomes at the customer level. It hypothesizes a moderated mediation model, denoting that perceived service innovativeness relates to image-congruity dimensions, which, in turn, will promote satisfaction at cognitive and affective level, thereby creating strong behavioral outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through online surveys. The survey aimed at measuring the hypothesized constructs and other study-relevant information. Hypotheses were tested using the structural equation modeling technique. Findings – This paper validates the role of perceived service innovativeness as a mechanism facilitating development and transfer of customer’s image-congruence toward a service firm. It also finds that the image-congruity dimensions fully mediate the relationship between perceived innovativeness and satisfaction. The resultant customer satisfaction leads to the development of behavioral outcomes. Further, the study finds that perceived innovativeness have varying effects on image-congruence dimensions depending upon customer’s prior experience. Practical implications – The study provides evidence to managers that the customer-centric value creation through image-congruence requires development of positive perceived service innovativeness, which will result in customer satisfaction and their behavioral outcomes. Originality/value – The study is the first attempt to find empirical support for the role of perceived service innovativeness to create customer’s image congruity with a service firm. Further, analyzing how perceived service innovativeness, image-congruence, customer satisfaction and behavioral outcomes are related to each other is also an important contribution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to extend sponsorship literature by investigating the role of the fit construct and perceived sponsorship portfolio size for event sponsorship success. To analyze the sponsor–event fit in more detail, the authors draw on the network perspective and, as a consequence, split the sponsor–event fit into two constructs: the sponsor–artist fit construct and the sponsor–event organizer fit construct. Then, a model is developed and tested that examines the effect of these two constructs and perceived sponsorship portfolio size on sponsorship success. Design/methodology/approach – The model is tested with data from 330 visitors to two different concerts in Switzerland. Real events with non-student samples are examined. The data are tested using Mplus 6.0 structural equation modeling. Findings – Results report that the sponsor–artist fit, the sponsor–event organizer fit and perceived sponsorship portfolio size are important drivers of attitude toward the sponsor. Moreover, sponsorships that cause positive attitudes toward the sponsor are found to enhance willingness to pay a price premium and purchase intention. Practical implications – This paper reveals that it is important for sponsorship managers to correctly consider the fit construct and perceived sponsorship portfolio size for sponsorship success. Additionally, the tested model provides an instrument for measuring sponsorship effectiveness. Originality/value – The current paper reveals new results by investigating the impact of the sponsor–artist fit and the sponsor–event organizer fit on sponsorship success. Furthermore, the current research paper is the first to analyze the effects of a sponsorship portfolio which is not limited to one sponsorship category on sponsorship success. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify how need for service, enabling factors and pre-disposing characteristics influences access to service. In addition, the authors seek to examine the moderating influence of pre-disposing variables on the relationship between insurance and health services utilization. Design/methodology/approach – The authors utilize data from a major metropolitan hospital in the USA to test and extend the behavioral model of health care. Findings – Results indicate that insurance and pre-disposing variables have a direct impact on type of health service utilization. However, the insurance effect is found to vary by demographic factors. Research limitations/implications – This paper is limited to secondary data. Future work can incorporate both attitudinal and behavioral measures to obtain a more comprehensive evaluation of services access. Practical implications – The research offers a tactical framework for management to segment consumer markets more effectively. Social implications – Through the framework, management will have the requisite knowledge to target segmented populations based on need, insurance, and pre-disposing variables which will help improve access to services and clinical outcome. Originality/value – The findings of this paper will serve as a basis for future research exploring the influence of insurance on access to services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to contribute knowledge regarding the nature of successful and unsuccessful value co-creation processes between firms and brand communities and the strategies used to address the latter. Design/methodology/approach - The paper draws on a netnographic study of the online collaborative platform known as Alfisti.com, which carmaker Alfa Romeo launched to enhance co-creation with its most devoted consumers, the "Alfisti". Findings - The findings identify three groups of collaborative practices: interacting, identity and organizing practices. The paper details how firm and brand community members enact the elements - procedures, understandings and engagements - of collaborative practices and how the alignment of these enactments impacts value co-creation. Research limitations/implications - The paper suggests that co-creation of value succeeds when the enactment of collaborative practices aligns, i.e. when firm and brand community members enact practices in a similar way, and that co-creation fails when the enactment of practices misaligns. Firms and brand communities use three realignment strategies - compliance, interpretation and orientation - to address the misalignment and failure of co-creation. The fact that the research draws on a single qualitative case study is a limitation. Practical implications - Managerial implications include using realignment strategies to manage firm-brand community co-creation. Originality/value - Creating an empirical-based framework regarding successful and failing co-creation and how the latter is addressed in the context of brand community makes the paper original. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- This paper aims to determine whether intentionality attributions have an effect on the customer's complaint and switching behavior after a service failure, after accounting for the effects of the traditional dimensions of attribution (stability and controllability), and to examine whether intentionality attributions give rise to humiliation and to what degree this negative emotion enables us to understand the customer's complaint and switching behavior after a service failure. Design/methodology/approach -- A contribution of this investigation is that it studies real complaint and switching behaviors, as the few studies that focus on understanding customers' complaint and defection behaviors mostly analyze customers' intentions. Findings -- The results of the study indicate that intentionality attributions have an effect on the customer's switching behavior after a service failure, in addition to the impact of the traditional dimensions of attribution. The findings also show that humiliation is the emotion that mediates the relationship between intentionality attributions and switching behavior, opposite to other emotions that may also be related to attributions. Finally, the results also support that the effect of attribution of intentionality on complaint behavior is indirect; it only exists because attribution of intentionality influences negative emotions like humiliation, which in turn influences complaint behavior. Practical implications -- To understand what makes customers complain after a service failure or switch service providers without giving them first the possibility of recovering the failure may help managers reduce the damage caused by the failure and increase the company's profits. Originality/value -- This study will try to contribute to the service failure research by analyzing the role of two variables that have not been analyzed before in this context: intentionality attribution and humiliation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The purpose of this research is to explore the product-agency benefits that emerge as consumers interact with products, and how these benefits shape consumer experiences and marketing-related outcomes. Design/methodology/approach -- Sixty-one depth interviews were conducted, and 78 written narratives were collected from informants, which explored how products had changed consumers' lives. The authors applied the tenets of grounded theory in the analysis of their text, creating abstract categories or tropes that reflected consistent patterns in their consumers' experiences. Findings -- The findings support that the conceptualization of agentic benefits should be broadened. The research identifies five salient product-agency benefits: regulation, clarification, transcendence, discovery and growth. Research limitations/implications -- Prior conceptualizations of agency in marketing focus almost solely on control, yet the authors find that multiple product-agency benefits emerge, supporting the need for a broader understanding of product-related agency. The authors also find these benefits can be anticipated or unanticipated. It is also important to note that the benefits can be paradoxical, in that while they often yield positive outcomes, at times they can produce unintended and even negative consequences. Practical implications -- Incorporating consumers' (vs researchers') benefit perceptions into theory building and preference models will enhance understanding of consumer behavior and improve predictive power of preference and choice forecasts. The five salient product-agency benefits provide mechanisms for segmentation and building meaningful relationships with consumers, can propel product development and assist in creating more effective marketing -- communication strategies. Originality/value -- The paper offers a broader, more nuanced conceptualization of agency beyond control. It identifies five types of product-agency benefits that reflect a wide spectrum of consumers' lived experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of subjective norm, relative advantage, simplicity, compatibility and perceived behavioural control on the Islamic home financing adoption. It also examines the effects of subjective norm, relative advantage, simplicity and compatibility on attitude. Analyses of attitude as a mediating factor are also provided. Design/methodology/approach – Survey data from 237 usable questionnaires are employed to test the hypothesized relationships. The proposed hypothesized relationships are examined using partial least squares (PLS). Similarly, PLS is also extended to analyse attitude as a potential mediator for the relationships between subjective norm, relative advantage, simplicity and compatibility with the Islamic home financing adoption. Baron and Kenny's (1986) procedure is used to evaluate the role of attitude as a potential mediating factor in the research's framework. Findings – This study discovers an integrative approach that is valid in the case of Islamic home financing. The paper's results, however, have not supported the effect of compatibility on attitude towards Islamic home financing preference and it is also reported that attitude does not mediate for the relationship between compatibility and the Islamic home financing adoption. Research limitations/implications – This study, however, suffers from three limitations which further stimulate new researches in this area. First, this research does not consider additional measures to capture Islamic home financing adoption. Second, this study discovers attitude does not mediate the relationship between compatibility and the Islamic home financing adoption. Third, there is a possibility that attitude also serves as a moderator, however, but it is presently unconsidered. Practical implications – This study has several implications for Islamic banks to develop proper planning for Islamic home financing products. Those implications are provided. Originality/value – This study is the first research in Islamic home financing's area to integrate two models namely the theory of planned behaviour (the TPB) and the innovation diffusion theory (the IDT) in a single research in order to expound Islamic home financing adoption. This study contributes to the literature by examining an integrative approach for understanding Islamic home financing adoption in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – Vietnamese banks have relied in the past on short-term promotional techniques and attractive interest rates instead of developing strong brands. This research investigates how customers' perceptions of bank brands drive their trust and loyalty. It also addresses how customers' experience and their social compliance moderate the impact of their brand perceptions on their trust and loyalty. Design/methodology/approach – Customers' perceptions are measured through brand associations based on the bank's functional elements, its personnel and its overall image. A structural equation model linking brand associations to customers' trust and loyalty is tested using data from a sample of 557 Vietnamese bank customers. Findings – The results indicate that the personnel-based brand associations are the strongest driver of trust and have a negative direct impact on loyalty, while functional and corporate-based associations have a stronger impact on loyalty. Trust strongly mediates brand associations' impact on loyalty. In addition, corporate-based associations have a stronger impact on trust and loyalty for customers with little direct experience with the bank and personnel-based associations have a stronger impact for socially compliant customers. Practical implications – The findings indicate how different brand associations can be leveraged to trigger customers' trust and loyalty in the Vietnamese banking sector. Moderating effects of the extent of customers' experience imply that bank brand managers should integrate the customer relationship lifecycle in their segmentation/targeting and in their customer-brand relationship management. Originality/value – This study highlights the potential of branding in the Vietnamese banking industry as a strategy to build strong customer relationships. It also strongly points out the need for brand managers to take into consideration the Vietnamese context and more precisely customers' lack of banking experience and their tendency to social compliance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This paper extends the sales literature by moving beyond salespeople's role as knowledge gatherers to their role as knowledge sharers with personnel outside the sales unit. The aim is to develop and test a conceptual model to establish how pay-for-performance (economic factor) affects knowledge sharing behaviour under the contingency roles of coworker relationship quality (social psychological factor) and knowledge sharing norms (sociological factor). Design/methodology/approach – Using the Dun & Bradstreet database, the authors collected responses from 374 salespeople in 51 Canadian industrial firms through an on-line survey. The authors used hierarchical linear modeling (HLM) as multiple salespeople were nested within the organization and the data were comprised of individual- and organizational-level constructs. Findings – When there is misalignment between rewards and knowledge sharing behavior, motivational loss hampers knowledge sharing. However, when employees are provided with an environment that fosters high coworker relationship quality and consensual knowledge sharing norms, the motivational loss resulting from the incongruence between pay-for-performance and knowledge sharing behavior is mitigated. Research limitations/implications – Implications regarding how salespeople's knowledge sharing contributes to relationship marketing along with practical ramifications for how sales managers can encourage knowledge sharing are discussed. Originality/value – This study contributes to the sales literature (e.g. control, key account management, expanding role of sales) by testing a model that integrates different theoretical perspectives to examine what types of control mechanisms and which combinations of these controls affect salespeople's engagement in knowledge sharing behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This study seeks to examine the effect of pricing as a marketing instrument to stimulate word-of-mouth (WOM) by comparing the influence of two pricing strategies (i.e. a low-complexity vs a network-effects tariff) on the referral behaviour. Design/methodology/approach – Using customer data from a German mobile network operator (including information on customer characteristics, referral behaviour, and service usage), the authors develop a logit model. Findings – Surprisingly, the results indicate that it is the low-complexity tariff that increases the likelihood of referrals and leads to an overall higher referral activity. Despite the lower referral activity, however, the network-effects tariff generates higher revenues. Research limitations/implications – The results show that companies can use pricing schemes to influence referral behaviour and strongly indicate the need of further research on manageable tools to stimulate word-of-mouth marketing. Practical implications – The findings show not only that pricing has an impact on customers' referral behaviour but also that it is the low-complexity tariffs that trigger referrals. Furthermore, the results underline the importance of considering the monetary value of referrals. Originality/value – In contrast with many previously conducted studies on customer referrals, the paper explicitly analyses the impact of pricing on referral behaviour and empirically shows that firms are able to actively manage WOM among customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The main objective of this paper is to compare consumers' online shopping behavior across three types of services (i.e. search, experience, and credence). Reviewing the marketing and psychology literatures, this study aims to propose that consumers' emotions (pleasure, arousal, and dominance) influence their perception of site atmospheric cues (site informativeness, effectiveness, and entertainment), which, in turn, impact consumers' site attitudes, site involvement, and purchase intention. It also aims to test the proposed model for three major types of services (i.e. search, experience, and credence) and to compare the path coefficients of all the relationships in the model across the three groups. Design/methodology/approach – Lab experiments were conducted for data collection and structural equation modeling was utilized for multi-group analysis. Findings – The results supported the proposed model and revealed several non-invariant structural paths across the three groups. Research limitations/implications – The student sample may not represent the general population. Practical implications – Search-, experience-, and credence-based services should attempt to evoke the most desired consumer emotional types (pleasure, arousal, and dominance). Originality/value – Unlike many other studies in services marketing, this paper tests the proposed model across different service types to increase the generalizability of the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This study aims to explore the economic impact of the Great Recession on consumers' economic attitudes and behaviors. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through a questionnaire completed by 2,120 subjects. Eight propositions involving six constructs (i.e. "recessionary impact on others", "economic knowledge", "economic concerns", "recessionary resignation" (as antecedents) and "financial prudence" and "propensity to postpone major purchases" (as outcomes)) and five consumer (age and gender) cohorts were tested through structural equation modeling. Findings – Ten relationships, each grounded in behavioral economics theory, were tested. Nine were statistically significant. But unexpectedly, two significant relationships were negative. Specifically, their perceptions of "recessionary impact on others" and "economic concern" influenced consumers' financial prudence and major purchase postponement. As predicted, consumers' "recessionary resignation" influenced them to postpone major purchases, but did not impact their financial prudence. "Economic concerns" negatively influenced financial prudence, but failed to influence postponement. Financial prudence influenced propensity to postpone major purchases. Age status significantly influenced financial prudence and postponement, but only among the youngest (less than 29 years) and oldest (45+) cohorts. Results revealed the more women knew about the economy, the more inclined they were to postpone major purchases. Older women, in particular, were prone to recessionary resignation. Interestingly, the condition encouraged older women to be less financially prudent. Theoretical explanations for unexpected relationships are offered. Originality/value – Managerial recommendations for promoting and positioning products during or in the immediate aftermath of recessionary situations are developed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Luxury goods manufacturers may find it profitable to enter a different demographic segment, and several strategies are available to do so. Nevertheless, such market expansion can be risky, and the luxury goods company must avoid tarnishing the equity contained in the luxury brand. This study examines the effects of a co-branding strategy between luxury brands and retailers on consumers' evaluation of the luxury brand's image. We use information integration theory (HT) as the basis for our study, as it can be used to explore how attitudes are formed and changed as new information is combined with existing cognitions and thoughts. A theoretical model based on HT is built and empirically tested using a sample of 240 Taiwanese adult consumers. We conduct an experimental survey study in which we manipulate luxury brand familiarity and product and brand fit between luxury brand and the co-brand, and assess prior-attitudes and post-attitudes toward the luxury brand and attitudes toward the co-brand. We find support for many of our hypotheses: prior-attitudes toward the luxury brand is positively related to the attitude toward the co-brand, brand fit is related to attitudes toward the co-brand, and brand fit is marginally related to the post-attitude toward the luxury brand. Other hypotheses, however (such as those regarding product fit) were not supported. We conclude by discussing our theoretical and managerial contributions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - Based on previous research in services, marketing, organizational behavior and psychology, this paper aims to identify four types of loyalty bonds that an individual can form with a firm as well as a select set of firm and situational variables which likely result in the formation of each bond. It then aims to examine the influence of each bond on the relationship strength between a customer and a service provider. Design/methodology/approach - Using a mail survey, female respondents over the age of 25 assessed shopping situations in two service-provider settings - a grocery store and a beauty salon. Scenarios manipulated aspects of the service experience based on firm and situational variables. Findings - This study confirms the existence of four primary types of loyalty bonds - utilitarian, affective, symbolic, and obligatory. Firm and situational variables maximally impact each type of loyalty bond. The bonds predict relationship strength with the service provider. Research limitations/implications - Complex relationships are apparent between the different types of bonds. Further research is needed to understand how firm and situational variables interact in different service settings. Practical implications - The authors' research shows that customers may form different types of loyalty bonds with firms, some that are controllable by the firm and some which are less controllable. Results provide a starting point for tactical decision making regarding which bonds service providers would like to target in the development of their relationship marketing programs. Originality/value - The authors contribute to the services marketing literature by examining when specific loyalty bonds are created and how these bonds impact relationship strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – This study aims to identify how the perception of atmospherics in an ethnic restaurant setting influences customers' perceptions of service quality and food quality, as well as the extent to which perceptions of quality mediate the relationship between perception of atmospherics and customer behavioral intentions. Design/methodology/approach – This study conducted structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the mediating effects of quality perception, and also performed multiple regression analyses to identify the influences of specific environmental factors on quality perception and behavioral intentions. Findings – Perceived quality regarding services and foods had a partially mediating effect. Further, the indirect effect of perceived atmospherics on behavioral intentions through perceived quality was greater than the direct effect. Research limitations/implications – This study emphasized the important role of atmospherics on quality perception to induce favorable behavioral intentions, suggesting that atmospherics could enhance or attenuate customers' perceived quality. Practical implications – The environment may encourage customers to perceive service and food quality correctly, or even more positively, regardless of the actual quality level. In this respect, restaurateurs should increase their efforts to provide a better environment, which will encourage customers to evaluate the quality of services or foods more highly. Originality/value – This study extended the existing literature by postulating the direct impact of perceived atmospherics on customers' behaviors by proposing that quality perceptions act as a link between atmospherics and behavioral intentions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – It has been argued that the insights provided by behavioural economics have profound implications for the study and practice of marketing. The purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed analysis of how such insights help enhance understanding of aspects of marketing and consumer behaviour in financial services markets. Design/methodology/approach – This paper looks at various facets of behavioural economics which it is felt provide particularly important and salient insights in the context of financial services. In particular, it studies loss aversion and prospect theory, status quo bias and defaults, framing and anchoring effects, hyperbolic discounting, availability effect and salience and over-confidence. In doing so, it provides a number of examples from the financial services context which provide insightful and informative insights for both commercial practitioners and policymakers. In each case, relevant phenomena are introduced and explained before providing a number of applications and examples from the financial services domain. Findings – The authors find that the insights afforded by behavioural economics are useful in helping to explain various aspects of consumer behaviour in financial services markets. It is shown that an understanding of the implications of behavioural economics may help in fashioning a choice architecture that is more likely to bring the desired consumer response, from either a commercial or policymaking perspective. Practical implications – This analysis provides important insights for those responsible for the marketing of financial services, policymakers in the financial services domain, third sector agencies seeking to foster greater engagement with financial services and other interested parties. Originality/value – The paper adds value by drawing together various aspects of behavioural economics, providing an analysis of their relevance to financial services marketing and offering numerous examples and applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to empirically test and extend knowledge of the determinants of customer-oriented behavior (COB) of service providers in an affective, high contact service setting (healthcare). Design/methodology/approach – The authors examine the relative effects of dispositional variables (e.g. personality of service provider), as well as service climate and job satisfaction on five dimensions of customer-oriented behavior. The research hypotheses are tested using self-report data collected from 270 nurses in five hospitals (public and private). Qualitative work, including three focus groups with nurses and a series of depth interviews with patients, was conducted to test the applicability of the scales. Findings – Results support the role of personality, job satisfaction and service climate on employees' COB, but do not support interaction effects. Various personality traits have differing effects on different types of customer-oriented behaviors. Service climate has effects on both technical and interpersonal behaviors whereas job satisfaction impacts only technical behavior. Research limitations/implications – This study was conducted in an affective, high contact and high emotional labor setting, i.e. healthcare, and in an Eastern collectivist culture (Thailand). As a result, the generalizability of the findings into other service settings and cultures needs to be undertaken with care. Practical implications – For service employees to display customer-oriented behaviors, the organization must first recruit individuals with high levels of conscientiousness, agreeableness, extraversion and emotional stability. Second, the organization must create a climate for service that supports, encourages and motivates service employees to better serve their customers. This service climate at the unit/branch level includes inspirational leadership, providing appropriate tools and technology, training, and commitment from senior management to a truly customer (patient) centric organization. Finally, when the organization is successful in creating satisfaction among employees, then employees are more inclined to offer a better technical performance. Originality/value – This is one of only a few studies that have examined the impact of personality and organizational variables on front-line employee performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to present three modified versions of the simple AK endogenous growth model. Design/methodology/approach-Such frameworks stress the role of consumers' sentiment, the impact of fiscal policy and the effect of non-optimal investment decisions made by firms. In all the cases, today's decisions take into consideration the economic performance of the previous period; in the first case, households react pro-cyclically to the output path; in the second case, a counter-cyclical fiscal policy is considered; and in the third case, firms adopt a pro-cyclical behavior concerning investment choices. Findings-The author studies the stability properties of the three models and concludes that, on each one of them, a saddle-path stable equilibrium exists. Originality/value-The paper accentuates the relevance of the reaction of the economic agents relatively to the business cycle. By assuming that the behavior of consumers, government and firms is a behavior of reaction to economic fluctuations, we find interesting and relevant results in what concerns the conventional intertemporal optimization growth model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The paper seeks to propose and test a theory of the psychological impact of price bundling that is derived from bundling's economic impact. It is called the inferred bundle saving hypothesis. In the absence of explicit information about bundle savings, consumers infer a bundle saving when presented with a bundle offer. It is suggested that inferred bundle saving provides a simple, parsimonious explanation for pre- and post-purchase bundle effects. Design/methodology/approach - The theory is tested in two laboratory studies that employ partial replications of two prior price bundle studies. Findings - The results show that the inferred bundle saving effect is robust in both product and service contexts, and can potentially explain the bundle effects found in these two studies. Research limitations/implications - Additional experimental studies are recommended to further test the proposed theory. Practical implications - First, contrary to convention, it is not always optimal for firms to integrate price information in a single bundle price. Second, firms may sometimes use the price-bundling format to signal a bundle saving without actually offering one. Third, firms can manage consumption and expected refund of bundles by manipulating consumer perception of bundle saving. Originality/value - It is intuitive that consumers expect a bundle saving. However, this paper is the first to establish empirically the existence of this inferred bundle saving and demonstrate its potential as a theoretical explanation for various bundle effects. The research challenges the extant view that price bundling per se always enhances consumer pre-purchase evaluation. Moreover, it connects economic and psychological research, as well as pre- and post-purchase analysis, of bundle effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to study the formation of a consumer's attitude towards a supplier, given the identification of the key indicators of perceived relationship quality, and their links with one another and with the perceived value of a purchase. Design/methodology/approach - Three cities were chosen, in different regions of Spain, and of different sizes. A total of 402 valid interviews were carried out in two industries: tile manufacturing and tourism. The selection procedure was random. Findings - The results show that the consumer's satisfaction is the main basis for perceived relationship quality. The paper likewise verifies the importance of transaction-level evaluations for perceived relationship quality. The automatic affective reactions generated in the consumer in the first moments, and the social impact of the purchase, are aspects that determine perceived relationship quality. The paper also looks at the importance of considering commitment as an attitude. Research limitations/implications - The intention to repurchase should be incorporated, together with the social norms identified, in the model of Fishbein and Ajzen. Practical implications - To gain a customer's loyalty it is necessary to achieve his/her satisfaction. A supplier must pay attention to customers' trust and commitment throughout all transactions. Suppliers must take care of the quality of their products and the attention given by the contact personnel, paying special attention to certain emotional aspects relating to customers' enjoyment of the product and to their stay in the sales outlet during the process of deciding to purchase. Originality/value - The paper clarifies two new concepts, perceived value and the quality of the relationship, and empirically verifies the causal relationship between them, in two different industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]