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Researchers have long been interested in the measurement of human values. Gandhi was a leading figure in the independence of India and also in the fight against racialism in South Africa. His teachings are invaluable and have inspired generations all over the world. Following standard procedure for scale development, we aim to identify the various Gandhian values that can be imbibed by an individual. We validate the applicability of the instrument by assessing its relationship with potentially related constructs like socially responsible consumption behavior and consumer frugality. We also assess its relationship with a negatively valenced construct of materialism. To develop the Gandhian values scale, we used a mix of both qualitative and quantitative methods. We conducted three data collection rounds corresponding with four separate phases of scale development. We ensured the stability of the Gandhian value scale across different contexts by testing and validating it across three different sets of sample. To the best of our knowledge, our scope of research is second only in the line of similar research like the Confucian values. Our primary contribution is the development and testing of a parsimonious Gandhian values scale that captures the value system of individuals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consumer decision styles (CDS) are important for marketers because they determine consumer behaviours that are relatively stable over time and hence are useful for market segmentation. The study has confirmed the existence of the original US characteristics as well as put forward two new characteristics specific to the Indian context, namely, ‘dissatisfied shopping consciousness’ and ‘store loyal’. Thereafter, a multi-step cluster analysis was employed to classify the respondents into groups based on their CDS. Five homogeneous and distinct decision-making segments have been identified. In order to validate the cluster solutions, aK-means clustering procedure was performed by taking random initial seeds to set the cluster centres. The paper also seeks to investigate whether consumers’ innovativeness is associated with their CDS. The findings are discussed and recommendations are proffered for managers and future research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The economy of India is on a growth spree since the last two decades. This growth has increased the shopping options available to the consumers. The present study has tried to ascertain the decision-making styles of young-adult consumers so as to provide information to marketers interested in the decision-making profile of Indian consumers and thus enabling them to build their marketing efforts accordingly. The research has made use of Sproles and Kendall's (1986) consumer styles inventory (CSI) on a sample of 425 young-adult Indian consumers and has attempted to examine the generalisability of the scale. Factor analysis has been employed to summarise the 38 variables identified into smaller sets of linear composites that preserved most of the information in the original data. The study has confirmed the applicability of the original US characteristics as well as two new traits specific to the Indian context. Furthermore, similarities and differences between different cultures have been discussed and implications have been proffered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The retail banking sector in India is undergoing sweeping changes due to heightened competition and the initiation of modern technology. Today, customers have become more aware than what they were in the past, and as a result, are continuously looking for better quality services from the retail banks that can provide them with satisfaction. The present study helps in the identification of the factors (or relationship dimensions) that are responsible for the satisfaction of the customers, and also enables the assessment of the influencing power of these factors. This, in turn, would help in the enhancement of the relationship between the retail banks and their customers, and thus aid the decision makers of these banks to identify the major factors that determine the satisfaction of their customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The banking industry like many other financial services industries is facing a rapidly changing market, new technologies, economic uncertainties, fierce competition, and more demanding customers; and the changing climate has presented an unprecedented set of challenges. In the current circumstances a question arises whether the customers are satisfied or not and what are the elements of retail banking which lead to the satisfaction or dissatisfaction of customers. The knowledge of current levels of satisfaction and, in particular, the primary factors of satisfaction are beneficial to those in the industry, thereby allowing them to focus and further strengthen the key areas that lead to highly satisfied customers. This research postulates on the present levels of satisfaction, and also tries to explore the factors that lead to customer satisfaction in retail banking in India. Data from 100 survey respondents were collected from one branch of one of the prominent retail banks in the city of Hyderabad. The findings revealed that customer satisfaction, a transaction-specific attribute is dependent on seven factors, which concur with extensive academic literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]