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Has the National Student Survey 'customerized' the UK's university students? This article examines the 'customerization' of university students in the UK and the impacts of reciprocity and social exchange behaviour on National Student Survey outcomes. Using a multi-method qualitative approach, the findings suggest that the National Student Survey is an imperfect barometer for measuring teaching quality and academic standards at universities. It finds that students are being treated as customers so they will give their universities positive evaluations in the National Student Survey. The findings also reveal that the discretion and decisions of students are mostly based on reciprocity, according to which students are willing to complete the National Student Survey favourably only if they get good grades and received 'VIP treatment'. The article concludes by explaining the implications of its findings on practice and recommending an agenda for future research.

This article investigates the challenges and opportunities for banks during the unexpected global crisis of the coronavirus pandemic and how they have developed innovative marketing strategies to retain existing customers while attracting new ones. It features a meticulous synthesis of primary and secondary data. Specifically, 24 semi-structured interviews and 1 focus group discussion were conducted, on the perspectives of both customers and banks. These were supported by data from Bloomberg and other secondary data. This article establishes that the COVID-19 pandemic has provided unique opportunities for banks to retain existing customers while attracting new ones. It highlights various activities that have helped banks improve their brand image, growth, profitability, and sustainability during the disaster. It identifies the critical elements of sustainability during the pandemic from the banks' perspectives. It also demonstrates different customer expectations, including further reduction of interest rates on loans, extending loan repayment periods and implementing a COVID-19 sensitization campaign among the public. The study offers novel insights on the topic by demonstrating that there are inherent opportunities in such a global crisis, despite the associated challenges. In such a situation, banks must reposition their strategies to survive the crisis while supporting and attracting existing and prospective customers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to investigate sustainability practices in the banking industry, focusing on a developing economy. It uses the triple-bottom-line framework to answer the following research question: how do banks in Nigeria conceptualise sustainability, and what role does it play in their banking practices? Design/methodology/approach: This study adopts a social constructivist approach in its exploration of banking sustainability practices in an emerging economy, and the research design is a purpose-based (exploratory) approach. The qualitative data was collected from 33 bank personnel from various bank units and departments through semi-structured interviews to achieve the research objective. Findings: The study reveals a lack of sustainability policies and programmes, as banks focus mainly on profitability. It uncovers unfair treatments of bank workers through casualisation, low wages and work overload. It indicates that most banks in developing countries ignore environmental considerations, as they still carry out paper-based transactions and use diesel-powered generators, which cause various negative environmental impacts. It also confirms that governments and banks in the country are not doing enough to propagate sustainable practices and banks have also not taken advantage of the sustainability concept to promote their brands; instead, they consider it as requiring additional operational costs. Practical implications: The findings demonstrate the need for banks to see sustainability from a marketing point of view and adopt sustainable practices to create additional value that will improve their brand image and enhance their competitiveness. Originality/value: The importance of sustainability in the banking industry in emerging economies is considered a viable means of contributing to the overall development goals of the United Nations as the world tries to preserve the environment. It also highlights the consequences of inaction or unsustainable banking practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Go Global initiatives of the Chinese government to encourage Chinese firms to be strategic players in the global business environment have attracted scholarship interest over the years. Nonetheless, there is a dearth of studies focusing specifically on the positioning strategies of Chinese firms in emerging markets. Hence, this study explores this research gap using the Nigerian Business environment as the contextual platform. It uses data from complementary sources of case study and in-depth interviews conducted with some of the key stakeholders such as respondents from resource-seeking Chinese firms, top management personnel of Chinese firms in Lagos and Beijing, government officials and some participants from non-Chinese firms in Nigeria. Findings show that Chinese products in Nigeria are positioned through four key factors which are affordability, availability, maintainability, and unavoidability. Accordingly, the focus of the firms in emerging countries as evident in the Nigerian case is to make the products affordable, easily maintainable, and widely available to consumers such that they consider it unavoidable. The data revealed that BTA provisions between the countries facilitated these key themes. The paper provides a valuable framework that unpacks the positioning strategy of Chinese market offerings in emerging markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]