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Sustainability has become an undeniable aspect of corporate dealings this day and age. The advent of Corporate Social Responsibility as a morally sound issue has been caught up by market-oriented, profit-driven motivations for ‘greening’ the business. Also, new generations of professionals are growing up more environmentally aware than ever and eager to put their beliefs and attitudes into practice. This study explores the role of individual sustainability competences in eco-design building projects of small- and medium sized enterprises in the Netherlands. Building projects of multiple case companies have been investigated, in search of sustainability competences needed to deal with issues and problems during the process. A total number of 39 incidents were analyzed for the role of individual sustainability competences. Individual sustainability competences played a specific role in different phases and characteristic aspects of the building projects: the initial inspiration for eco-design; project development; and the involvement of stakeholders. However, not all individual sustainability competences appeared during the process. The most apparent competences were related to strategic management and action, diversity, interdisciplinarity, and interpersonal aspects. Systems thinking competence and foresighted thinking competence occurred considerably less in the incidents, while normative competence was only mentioned once. Respondents choose to merge normative dimensions of their behavior with the strategic and action-oriented dimensions. These findings confirm earlier theoretical conceptualizations of a virtuous competence for sustainability, and leads to further questions about the specific role and definition of normative competence in business and (higher) education settings.

Driven by the proliferation of augmented reality (AR) technologies, many firms are pursuing a strategy of service augmentation to enhance customers' online service experiences. Drawing on situated cognition theory, the authors show that AR-based service augmentation enhances customer value perceptions by simultaneously providing simulated physical control and environmental embedding. The resulting authentic situated experience, manifested in a feeling of spatial presence, functions as a mediator and also predicts customer decision comfort. Furthermore, the effect of spatial presence on utilitarian value perceptions is greater for customers who are disposed toward verbal rather than visual information processing, and the positive effect on decision comfort is attenuated by customers' privacy concerns.

With savings rates at record lows and inadequate long-term financial planning for retirement, financial well-being has become an important topic for individuals and households as well as for societies and countries. Research on the topic, however, remains scarce and scattered across disciplines. The present paper aims to consolidate and extend knowledge on financial well-being and makes a three-fold contribution to the discussion. First, we propose a new definition based on a perceptual perspective of financial well-being and link it to an individual's current and anticipated desired living standard and financial freedom. We then develop a framework that distinguishes key elements of financial well-being; namely, interventions and financial behaviors, consequences, contextual factors, and personal factors. We then present a research agenda to guide future research on financial well-being. This work is designed to inspire researchers to continue expanding the knowledge so that financial institutions can take measures to increase financial well-being.

Deciphering consumers’ sentiment expressions from big data (e.g., online reviews) has become a managerial priority to monitor product and service evaluations. However, sentiment analysis, the process of automatically distilling sentiment from text, provides little insight regarding the language granularities beyond the use of positive and negative words. Drawing on speech act theory, this study provides a fine-grained analysis of the implicit and explicit language used by consumers to express sentiment in text. An empirical text-mining study using more than 45,000 consumer reviews demonstrates the differential impacts of activation levels (e.g., tentative language), implicit sentiment expressions (e.g., commissive language), and discourse patterns (e.g., incoherence) on overall consumer sentiment (i.e., star ratings). In two follow-up studies, we demonstrate that these speech act features also influence the readers’ behavior and are generalizable to other social media contexts, such as Twitter and Facebook. We contribute to research on consumer sentiment analysis by offering a more nuanced understanding of consumer sentiments and their implications.

Service interactions run a gamut from an instrumental self-focus to full social appreciation. Observing another customer’s incivility toward a frontline employee can emphasize social concerns as guiding principles for the observer’s own service interaction. Five studies test these dynamics; the results reveal that an incivility incident leads observers to prioritize social over market concerns. This reprioritization becomes manifest in a subsequent service interaction through increased feelings of warmth toward the employee who experienced incivility. In turn, feelings of warmth prompt observers to provide emotional support to the affected employee. Yet such prosocial inclinations are less likely when an employee is held responsible for or reciprocates incivility. Finally, this article also examines the effects of different employee reaction strategies on observers’ inferences about the employee and the service firm, showing that observers are most positively disposed toward the employee and the firm when the former reacts to incivility with a polite reprimand. Together, the results suggest that, contrary to past theorizing, observing customers may contribute to employee well-being, contingent on appropriate employee responses. Notably, the commonly prescribed polite, submissive employee reaction that requires emotional labor may not be the most desirable reaction—neither for the employee nor for the firm.

Research offers mixed evidence about the risk management decision-making process of producers. Whether producers' characteristics drive behavior directly or through risk attitude remains a puzzle. We assess whether managerial/firm characteristics directly affect choices or if their influence occurs indirectly through impacts on risk attitude. The findings, which support indirect effects, indicate that failure to represent relationships between risk attitude, other characteristics, and behavior appropriately can mask the effect of risk attitude. A more complete understanding of the structure of decision-making may assist economists, policymakers, and industry stakeholders in designing and targeting mechanisms to manage or transfer risk.

Public organizations are increasingly adding environmental and social aspects in their strategic agendas. This paper focuses on the actors and factors that influence the speed of implementation of sustainability initiatives. Four healthcare organizations in The Netherlands were studied. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with top management, budget owners and procurement professionals. Although top management assigned strategic importance to sustainability initiatives, budget owners had the final say in implementation. Procurement professionals had very little influence on the implementation process of sustainability.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the superiority of comparative evaluation or relative attitudinal measurement approach in which the respondent evaluates one object with direct comparison with other objects. The study uses comparative and non-comparative approaches to examine the effects of service quality, value, and customer satisfaction on attitudinal loyalty in a service setting. Design/methodology/approach The study uses the data collected from the survey of 300 customers of two large Indian banks. Findings The results provide partial support to the superiority of the comparative evaluation over non-comparative evaluation. Additionally, results indicate that service quality positively affects customer value, and both service quality and customer value have a direct positive effect on customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction drives attitudinal loyalty which in turn leads to customers’ willingness to pay more. Research limitations/implications In the study, two banks were used for comparative evaluation. Since consumers’ consideration set can consist of more than two alternatives, future studies can include more than two objects. Practical implications Non-comparative measurements do not always adequately explain customer loyalty and superior performance of firms. This could potentially lead to misinterpretations of effects of service quality improvement programs and thus sub-optimal management decisions. Managers should use comparative evaluation approach for measuring marketing variables wherever possible. Originality/value Although the use of comparative evaluation is suggested in the literature (Dick and Basu, 1994), extant research has not systematically examined its superiority over non-comparative evaluation. This study empirically tests the comparative evaluation approach against the non-comparative approach by examining a comprehensive model involving the interrelationships among service quality, value, customer satisfaction, and their impact on attitudinal loyalty and willingness to pay more.

Purpose Service networks are inherently complex as they comprise of many interrelated actors, often driven by divergent interests. This can result in imbalance, which refers to a situation where the interests of at least one actor in a network are not secured. Drawing on the “balanced centricity” perspective, the purpose of this paper is to explore the causes of imbalance in complex service networks. Design/methodology/approach Adopting a qualitative case-based approach, this paper examines a public health service network that experienced imbalance that was detrimental to the lives of its users: the Mid-Staffordshire National Health Service (NHS) Trust, UK. Drawing on service-dominant logic and stakeholder theory, case evidence provides insight into the origin and drivers of imbalance in complex public service networks. Findings The origin of imbalance stems from competing institutional logics of various actors (patients/public, employees, managers, regulatory bodies, etc.), but the degree to which these competing institutional logics lead to imbalance is moderated by accountability, communication, engagement, and responsiveness within the service network. Research limitations/implications By uncovering causes of imbalance in complex public service networks, this paper pinpoints important research avenues for developing the balanced centricity perspective. Practical implications The inherent existence of multiple parallel institutional arrangements makes networks imbalanced, but value creation can be achieved when the appropriate mechanisms are fostered to manage balance between divergent logics. Originality/value By examining imbalance as the underlying cause of network dysfunction, this research contributes to understanding of the dynamics in, and performance of, complex public service networks.

The proliferation of free trials for high-tech services calls for a careful study of their effectiveness, and the drivers thereof. On one hand, free trials can generate new paying subscribers by allowing consumers to become acquainted with the service free of charge. On the other hand, a disappointing trial experience might alienate potential customers, when they decide not to adopt the system and are lost for good. This dilemma is particularly worrisome in early periods, when service quality has not been “tried and tested” in the field, and breakdowns occur. We accommodate these phenomena in a model of consumers’ free-trial and regular adoption decisions. Among other effects, it incorporates usage- and word-of-mouth-based learning about quality in a setting where quality itself is evolving. Consumers are forward-looking in that they account for changes in quality and anticipate uncertainty reduction due to trial usage. We estimate our model and run simulations on the basis of a rich and unique data set that incorporates customers’ trial subscription, adoption, and usage behavior for an interactive digital television service. The results underscore that free trials constitute a double-edged sword, and that timing and consumers’ usage intensity during the trial are key to the effectiveness of these promotions. Implications for managers are also discussed. Data, as supplemental material, are available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mksc.2015.0973 .

Social capital is a valuable asset for companies that stems from access to resources made available through buyer-supplier relationships. Many studies have investigated the antecedents and/or the impact of cognitive, relational, and structural dimensions of social capital on some performance measure. Our study extends this research by considering the moderating effect of technological uncertainty on the relation between social capital dimensions and the strategic performance of suppliers. A sample of 88 European industrial suppliers is used to test the hypotheses. Analysis shows a positive, significant impact of cognitive social capital, but failed to confirm the expected influence of the relational and structural dimensions. No moderator effects were found in the analysis, although we did find a positive association between technological uncertainty and strategic performance. This finding suggests that technological uncertainty can stimulate suppliers to develop new products and to enter new markets.

Since the early 1980s companies have tried to implement coherent global sourcing strategies. Research has identified many benefits and motives for global sourcing. However, it remains unclear how companies are reaching higher levels of global sourcing. We employed a single embedded case study at Royal Brinkman (leader in the Dutch horticulture industry) to explore the role of critical incidents in the development of global sourcing strategies. Company documents and interviews revealed which critical incident had a substantial impact on the development of global sourcing strategies. Apparently, critical incidents can initiate and further stimulate global sourcing. Global sourcing decisions were mainly an opportunistic response to unforeseen events. Reactive strategies appear to govern global sourcing despite stated intended strategies. A proactive strategy does not appear to be a requirement to make progress in the global sourcing stages model.

environmental concerns have become important in the shipbuilding industry. Governmental expectations about environmental and social performance are much higher than in the past. Public authorities penalize companies that do not comply with the rules. Shipbuilding companies face these challenges by introducing new technologies into their business processes. They do not only start initiatives to green their own business processes but also those of their supply chain partners. This form of environmental management is called green supply chain management (grscm) and its importance is increasingly recognized. Although grscm is growing, companies are experiencing difficulties engaging suppliers in environmental activities.this empirical study analyses drivers for supply chain participation of suppliers in the shipbuilding industry. We explain the participations of suppliers in grscm practice by investigating influencing factors including governmental involvement in greening the supply chain, customer requirements towards green issues, feeling of social responsibility, competitive advantage by going green, and grscm readiness. Hypotheses are tested with partial least squares, using survey data of 93 suppliers of two leading shipbuilding companies. We found grscm readiness, competitive advantage, and social responsibility to be significant drivers in supplier participation. No significant support was found for governmental involvement and customer requirements.

Extant research investigates a firms ability to manage co-creation with one type of stakeholder during the innovation process, rather than co-creation with multiple stakeholders simultaneously. While such stakeholder co-creation creates benefits for the focal firm such as access to unique resources and knowledge bases, it also raises new challenges because of the diverse characteristics, interests and goals of the different stakeholders involved. Specific capabilities to anticipate and manage these challenges are therefore of particular interest for research and practice. The study here narrows this gap by conducting an in-depth case study, examining multiple stakeholder co-creation projects embedded within a pharmaceutical firm. The study develops a contingency framework on the role of four stakeholder co-creation capabilities in generating valuable knowledge. Overall, these findings complement extant literature by examining how specific capabilities employed before and during the innovation project may explain differential performance of stakeholder co-creation activities.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to develop a framework investigating patterns of online health communities. In particular, the study draws on coordination theory to identify four community configurations. Their distinct features determine communities’ capacity to internalize and externalize knowledge, which ultimately determines their value creation in a service context. Design/methodology/approach – The authors apply qualitative and quantitative techniques to detect similarities and differences in a sample of 50 online health communities. A categorical principal component analysis combined with cluster analysis reveals four distinct community configurations. Findings – The analysis reveals differences in the degrees of cognitive and affective value creation, the types of community activities, the involved patients, professionals, and other stakeholders; and the levels of data disclosure by community members. Four community configurations emerge: basic information provider, advanced patient knowledge aggregator, systematic networked innovator, and uncomplicated idea sharer. Research limitations/implications – The findings show that communities can be categorized along two knowledge creation dimensions: knowledge externalization and knowledge internalization. While, previous research remained inconclusive regarding the synergistic or conflicting nature of cognitive and affective value creation, the findings demonstrate that cognitive value creation is an enabler for affective value creation. The emerging configurations offer a classification scheme for online communities and a basis for interpreting findings of future services research in the context of online health communities. Originality/value – This research combines coordination theory with healthcare, service, and knowledge creation literature to provide a fine-grained picture of the components of online health communities. Thereby, inherent trade-offs and conflicts that characterize the components of coordination theory are investigated.

Purpose – Coproduction, as one component of cocreation of value, offers many benefits to customers and management, but also requires customers to invest a considerable amount of effort and time. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the coproduction paradox of benefits and costs. Design/methodology/approach – One experimental study and two cross-sectional field studies across three service industries test the nonlinear relationship between level of coproduction and customer loyalty. Findings – Results show not only the optimum level but also the negative effects of increasing levels of coproduction on customer loyalty and, in turn, monetary expenditures. The negative effect can be partially offset by perceived process enjoyment (PE), such that consumers who enjoy the process exhibit increased loyalty after the optimum coproduction point. Customer self-efficacy (SE), however, further strengthens the inverted u-shaped relationship. Research limitations/implications – Further research should try to replicate the findings in more complex and less hedonic service settings (e.g. financial investments) because both PE and SE might be even more powerful here. Practical implications – Service managers need to determine the optimal degree to which customers want to engage in the creation of services and avoid overburdening them. Management should further explore opportunities to elicit feelings of fun and enjoyment through coproduction. Originality/value – Research usually highlights the potential benefits of coproduction for customers and companies and suggests a positive linear relationship between coproduction and success outcomes. This article instead shows that after an optimum level, the marginal benefits of coproduction for customer loyalty turn negative.

Purpose Not all companies deal with green supply chain management (GSCM) in the same way. The purpose of this paper is to understand a company’s GSCM motivation and how this motivation is linked to stakeholder pressures, a company’s GSCM practices and performance. Design/methodology/approach The authors report the findings of a survey on GSCM motivations. Findings Clear differences are seen in why companies are motivated to pursue GSCM. Based on these different motivations, this paper explains differences in perceived stakeholder pressure and performance. Research limitations/implications GSCM motivation is a sensitive topic and as such might cause respondents to provide socially desired answers. However, the analyses show clear variances in the answers, indicating that the measures put forth by the authors are valid. Social implications This study shows that to achieve sustainable GSCM, companies can be motivated in various ways. Also, stakeholders can learn from this study: they need to focus their attention toward companies whom they have the highest impact on. Originality/value First, this study tests a framework for GSCM motivations and shows that motivation mediates the relationship between stakeholder pressures and performance. Second, this study shows that these differences in motivation impact performance outcomes.

Purpose – This paper aims to investigate personalized communications through digital media, which include display, search, social and mobile communications. Design/methodology/approach – Drawing on the literature pertaining to different digital mediums, the authors explore how different factors influence consumers’ responses to personalized communications. The current study integrates and reviews prior literature related to personalization, seeking a richer understanding of when personalized communications improve or hinder customer–firm interactions. Findings – Personalization can both enhance and diminish consumer engagement with the firm: it may heighten privacy concerns because consumers worry about how their data are collected and used, and it can also benefit them in meaningful ways. Thus, firms must use the information that they collect in a strategic manner to balance this personalization-privacy paradox. This paper finds that the benefits of personalization may vary as a function of the medium through which the communication is conveyed. It suggests directions for research in each of these media and strategies firms can implement to mitigate privacy concerns. Originality/value – This investigation of emerging themes related to search, display, social and mobile communications provides a more comprehensive overview of current research, as well as a foundation for further research into personalization.

Raising a child is a life project that involves setting goals, making plans, and acquiring the means to execute the plans. This article examines how families modify their goals, plans, and means after learning a child is disabled. An inductive investigation of nine families who have a child with hearing loss emphasizes the pivotal role of individual and collective consumer resources in attaining central well-being goals (e.g., social inclusion). Results show that consumer resources are partly endowed, yet dynamically shaped by marketplace interactions. These resource dynamics unfold in both positive (e.g., creating family routines) and negative (e.g., losing trust in service providers) ways. Typically, goal pursuit determines resource acquisition; however, in certain conditions, resource availability also can influence goal pursuit, with potentially detrimental outcomes. Fully appreciating consumer resource dynamics is crucial for understanding how consumers pursue life themes and projects for significant others and for the family as a collective.

Aim: To investigate the relationships between team characteristics and their impact on cross-functional sourcing team effectiveness in a public procurement environment.Design/research methods: In an embedded single case study, three cross-functional sourcing teams of diverse divisions and departments of the Dutch Province of South Holland are analyzed by means of a comparative analysis.Conclusions/findings: Teams with greater interpersonal cohesiveness showed more personal and open communication and greater informal frequency of within-team communication. Apparently, task work communication has a positive impact on task cohesion, and interpersonal cohesion has a positive impact on interpersonal communication. A stable team with no changes in roles and membership is likely to show strong task cohesion. Office space for regular meetings and dedicated time for team activities contribute to team effectiveness.Originality/value of the article: Making sourcing decisions is a complex process, particularly in cross-functional sourcing teams with divergent views, objectives, and priorities of the various members of different disciplines. Few studies have examined sourcing teams in the public sector. The study is based on the Input-Mediation-Output-Input model which recognizes mediational factors (processes and emergent states) that transform inputs to outputs. The study contributes to current understanding of the nonlinear linkages between process and emergent states of cross-functional teams in the public sector. The results are useful for public organizations to create more effective cross-functional sourcing teams.

Purpose This paper aims to assess the effect of narrative transportation, portrayed action and photographic style on viewers’ likelihood to comment on posted consumer photos. Design/methodology/approach Integrating visual semiotics and experiments, this research examines the influence of consumer photos on viewers’ likelihood to comment on the visualised narrative. One pilot, three experimental and a content analysis involve photos varying in their narrative perspective (selfie vs elsie) and portrayed content (no product, no action or directed action). The authors also test for the boundary condition of the role of the photographic style (snapshot, professional and “parody” selfie) on the likelihood to comment on consumer photos. Findings Viewers are more likely to comment on photos displaying action. When these photos are selfies, the effect is exacerbated. The experience of narrative transportation – a feeling of entering a world evoked by the narrative – underlies this effect. However, if a snapshot style is used (primed or manipulated) – namely, the photographic style appears genuine, unconstructed and natural – the superior effect of selfies disappears because of greater perceived silliness of the visualised narrative. Practical implications Managers should try to motivate consumers to take selfies portraying action if their aim is to encourage electronic word-of-mouth. Social implications Organisations can effectively use consumer photos portraying consumption for educational purpose (e.g. eating healthfully and reducing alcohol use). Originality/value This research links consumer photos and electronic word-of-mouth and extends the marketing literature on visual narratives, which is mainly focused on company rather than user-generated content.

Health organizations stimulate the development of low-fat variants to fight the obesity epidemic. We examine the effectiveness of this policy by studying the short- and long-term consequences of the first low-fat purchase on subsequent purchased volume and calories. Using a structural break analysis, we show that purchases increase in the short run after the first low-fat purchase, thereby confirming the single-occasion overconsumption effect of low-fat as shown in the experimental literature. Importantly, our results also show a significant positive long-term effect, which suggests that overpurchasing persists in the long run. In addition, our findings show that the long-term overpurchasing after the first low-fat purchase is solely due to the overpurchasing of low-fat items and not of regular items. These results provide support for the overgeneralization of claim effects and habit formation resulting in the enduring effect of healthier variants of unhealthy food. publisher: Elsevier articletitle: Regular or low-fat? An investigation of the long-run impact of the first low-fat purchase on subsequent purchase volumes and calories journaltitle: International Journal of Research in Marketing articlelink: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ijresmar.2016.04.001 content_type: article copyright: © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. ispartof: International Journal of Research in Marketing vol:33 issue:4 pages:896-906 ispartof: location:MA, NW Univ, Kellogg Sch Management, Boston status: published

Using a small-scale descriptive network analysis approach, this study highlights the importance of stakeholder networks for identifying valuable stakeholders and the management of existing stakeholders in the context of mental health not-for-profit services. We extract network data from the social media brand pages of three health service organizations from the U.S., U.K., and Australia, to visually map networks of 579 social media brand pages (represented by nodes), connected by 5,600 edges. This network data is analyzed using a collection of popular graph analysis techniques to assess the differences in the way each of the service organizations manage stakeholder networks. We also compare node meta-information against basic topology measures to emphasize the importance of effectively managing relationships with stakeholders who have large external audiences. Implications and future research directions are also discussed.

Retailers increasingly recognize that environmental responsibility is a strategic imperative. However, little research has investigated or identified the factors that facilitate the successful implementation of environmentally responsible strategies across a network of customer-facing sales units (stores). We propose that a store manager’s ability to lead by example facilitates this process by fostering a supportive climate for store environmental stewardship (SENS-climate). By examining the influence of store managers’ actions on sales associates’ perceptions of the SENS-climate, as well as the subsequent impact on their performance—measured by margins, as well as sales of green and regular products—this study demonstrates that store managers can foster a SENS-climate by articulating their prioritization of environmental responsibility in their operational decisions. These positive effects are sustained by relational factors, such as the moderating effect of the store manager–sales associate dyadic tenure. In contrast, when store managers display high variability in their environmental orientation, it hinders the development of SENS-climate perceptions among sales associates. If sales associates perceive an enabling SENS-climate, they achieve higher margins and more green but fewer regular sales.

Understanding the motives and risk attitudes of producers to engage in sustainable practices is important for policy-makers who wish to increase the likelihood of adoption and improve the design of incentives. This article examines the underlying motives of producers to adopt sustainable practices. We focus on expected economic, social and personal rewards and analyse the role of producers' financial risk perception and risk tolerance. Results from personal interviews with 164 hog producers show that the adoption of sustainable practices is affected by expected economic rewards but not by social and personal rewards. Further, while perceived risk is a barrier to the adoption of sustainable practices, risk tolerance is a positive moderator of the relationship between economic rewards and adoption. In addition, perceived tax benefits and turnover have a significant positive relationship with adoption, while education and age do not play a role.

The objective of this study is to explore how changes in organizing the alignment between Marketing and Purchasing (M&P) might be linked to new value creation. The issue of value creation and the specific role of inter-functional cooperation have been examined in depth in the marketing literature. However, the relationship between Marketing and Purchasing alignment and value creation has received only limited attention, even though the emerging role of purchasing is increasingly recognized. This work aims to address this gap using the analytical framework by Bocconcelli and Tunisini (2012) as a basis and adopting a process perspective. Specifically it intends to explore i) how companies over time manage the alignment of M&P and under which conditions/triggers; ii) whether different types of emerging organizational alignments between purchasing and marketing might result in different types of new value creation. To address these research objectives a qualitative methodology based on multiple-case study research is adopted. Four cases of mechanical firms two large and two medium-sized have been examined in depth. Results show that two trajectories interactive alignment of M&P and structural alignment of M&P have been implemented and that these paths are related respectively to value creation processes in terms of optimizing product delivery and managing product and solutions development. Market pressure and new competences are assessed as main relevant drivers, while organizational culture emerges as a meaningful barrier. Therefore this works provides a theoretical and empirical contribution further developing in a process perspective the analysis of M&P alignment and its effects on value creation. Results have also clear implications for practice: M&P alignment is necessary and beneficial for value creation. Changes, however, require time, organizational resources and a stronger awareness within the company. have also clear implications for practice: M&P alignment is necessary and beneficial for value creation. Changes, however, require time, organizational resources and a stronger awareness within the company.

The boom in online marketing research represents one of the fastest-growing segments of the research industry. Although the design and quality of online surveys has received widespread attention, little empirical research compares the effectiveness of online and offline qualitative research techniques. Therefore, this research compares offline focus groups, online focus groups and e-Delphi with respect to depth, breadth, efficiency, group dynamics, non-verbal impressions and attitudes of respondents. Results show that offline focus group results have the highest depth and breadth, and are most efficient, leading to high-quality outcomes. However, e-Delphi discussions provide very elaborate and relatively deep outcomes that give a good impression of respondents’ feelings and attitudes. Results from online focus groups remain rather superficial, but experts value the spontaneous reactions and interactiveness, and consider online focus groups very efficient.

Firm-hosted commercial online communities, in which customers interact to solve each other's service problems, represent a fascinating context to study the motivations of collective action in the form of knowledge contribution to the community. We extend a model of social capital based on Wasko and Faraj (2005) to incorporate and contrast the direct impact of commitment to both the online community and the host firm, as well as reciprocity, on quality and quantity of knowledge contribution. In addition, we examine the moderating influence of three individual attributes that are particularly relevant to the firm-hosted community context: perceived informational value, sportsmanship, and online interaction propensity. We empirically test our framework using self-reported and objective data from 203 members of a firm-hosted technical support community. In addition to several interesting moderating effects, we find that a customer's online interaction propensity, commitment to the community, and the informational value s/he perceives in the community are the strongest drivers of knowledge contribution.

Service recovery research remains conflicted in its understanding of consumers' recovery expectations and of why similar goods or service failures may lead to different recovery expectations. The authors argue that this conflict results from the assumption that consumer recovery expectations are monolithic and largely homogeneous, driven mainly by behavioral, relational, or contextual stimuli. Instead, recovery scenarios involving high-involvement (i.e., self-relevant) goods and service failures may activate closely held, identity-related cultural models that, though ultimately applied to regain balance (a foundational schema), differ according to their sociocultural heritage and create a range of unique consumer recovery preferences. The authors empirically identify three embodied cultural models—relational, oppositional, and utilitarian—that consumers apply to goods or service failures. Furthermore, the authors discuss implications for service recovery research and services marketing practice and introduce adaptive service recovery diagnostics that enable providers to identify and respond to consumers' varying recovery preferences.

Based on an experiment among more than 2000 students in nine culturally diverse countries, this article investigates how the cultural characteristic of uncertainty avoidance moderates the impact of valence and intensity on the effectiveness of antismoking messages. The results show that adolescents with high uncertainty avoidance respond more favorably to loss-framed advertisements than to benefit-framed advertisements, whereas the opposite holds for those with low uncertainty avoidance.

This article introduces customer stewardship control to the marketing field. This concept represents a frontline employee’s felt ownership of and moral responsibility for customers’ overall welfare. In two studies, the authors show that customer stewardship control is a more encompassing construct than customer orientation, which reflects an individual’s focus on meeting customers’ needs. They provide evidence that the former is more potent in shaping inand extra-role employee behaviors. Moreover, they highlight how customer stewardship control operates in conjunction with an organization’s agency control system; stewardship’s positive influence on in- and extra-role behavior is weaker in the presence of high agency control. Actionable advice is offered about how to solve the resulting managerial control dilemma. Finally, the authors show that customer stewardship control depends on drivers that reside at the individual level (employee relatedness), the team level (team competence), or both levels of aggregation (employee and team autonomy). These findings show how to effectively design a frontline employee’s work environment to ensure optimal frontline performance.

International audience; Purpose - The literature discusses the relationship between marketing practice and leadership style and suggests that these are dynamic and linked. Providing empirical data, this paper seeks to investigate this relationship between marketing practices and leadership styles. Design/methodology/approach - A model was developed and tested using a survey methodology based on two well-validated research instruments, one from the Contemporary Marketing Practices research group and the other the MLQ leadership questionnaire. Data were analyzed using a Partial Least Squares (PLS) approach. Findings - The results showed that a transformational style of leadership is positively associated with interaction and network marketing. Transactional leadership is positively associated with database and network marketing. Passive/avoidant leadership has no effect on any of the marketing practices. Research limitations/implications - The research is unique and exploratory, and was conducted in a UK context. The use of moderators within the model would have been preferable. For these reasons, generalizability is somewhat constrained. Practical implications - The research adds weight to the argument that leadership styles need to be consciously adapted with respect to marketing practices. There are also implications for managerial training and development needs. Originality/value - To one's knowledge very few studies have considered the relationship between marketing practices and leadership styles. The paper, therefore, reports work in an area not previously researched empirically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International audience; The aim of this study is to identify the organizational and communication antecedents, and evaluate the consequences on relative product and service characteristics, of the use of service-sourced information by product designers during new product development. An empirical study of 121 product design managers demonstrates that a firm's market orientation is improved by a healthy working relationship between product designers and service employees. Such a relationship motivates designers to use service- sourced information disseminated to them, enhancing both product and service characteristics of the new offering. The authors discuss how communication channels and information content affect the information use of product designers. Product designers value written information most. Information use does not relate to the frequency of receiving verbal or electronic information. Information about product ergonomics positively influences product designers' perceptions of the information, whereas information on product aesthetics negatively influences their perceptions.

Although various manufacturing companies have developed into total solution providers, no research addresses their service orientations. Building on the literature on organizational service climate, this study explores the organizational parameters and service business orientations that explain relative product sales and service volume of manufacturing companies. Following an exploratory study involving in-depth interviews, the authors conducted an empirical survey of 137 companies in the netherlands, belgium, and denmark. The study assesses the effects of organizational parameters on the implementation of service business orientations and validates the important distinction between services in support of the client’s actions (ssc) and services in the support of the product (ssp). The findings demonstrate that services in support of the client’s action leverage relative product sales, while services in support of the product generate service volume. In addition to the main effects, the moderating effects of the organizational parameters are discussed.

Bundle promotions—the practice of granting consumers a discount when they buy a certain number of units from a designated range of stockkeeping units—have gained popularity among manufacturers and retailers. In this research, the authors investigate the purchase effects of bundle promotions for a category of packaged goods. Contrary to intuition, they find that promotional bundles are far more effective at inducing switching than at boosting category sales. The strong switching effects result from two mechanisms: (1) Stockkeeping units that are part of a bundle promotion appear to reinforce each other's choice probability, and (2) the bundle discount tends to attract consumers even if they do not buy enough to qualify for the price reduction. The weak category effects follow from the notion that the purchase quantity requirement is often too stringent to make consumers buy earlier and/or more in the category. The authors develop incidence, quantity, and choice models that incorporate the intricate bundle mechanisms, and they use simulations to contrast the sales impact of bundle and traditional per-unit promotions. On the basis of the model estimates, they present managerial implications and tentative guidelines for optimal bundle design.

This article examines whether online and mail surveys produce convergent results, which would allow them to be used in mixed-mode service quality studies. In the context of a large business-to-business service quality assessment, an analysis of the accuracy and completeness of respondent answers to both open and closed questions suggests that online and mail surveys produce equivalent results. Composite reliability shows consistently high levels for both groups, and the means and variance-covariance matrices are equal across modes. However, minor differences occur between the two survey methods; online respondents provide more improvement suggestions, indicate more often to which competitor they want to switch, and provide lengthier answers in response to requests for examples of positive experiences with the company. This research provides important findings regarding the process for, and results of, comparing two survey modes.