ORCID Profile
0000-0002-6953-3652
Current Organisation
Curtin University
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Publisher: Routledge
Date: 18-05-2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2022
Publisher: IGI Global
Date: 2012
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-61350-171-9.CH002
Abstract: Offshore outsourcing is a fast-growing trend in the world economy today, and it is changing the way business is done across national boundaries. Specifically, customers are increasingly interacting with service employees located in other countries resulting in many instances of customer backlash due to poor perceived service quality and dissatisfaction. Prior research argues that service firms with strong brands may be less vulnerable to such negative reaction from customers. However, recent studies show that consumer ethnocentrism and unfavorable attitudes towards offshore outsourcing may adversely impact perceived service quality, satisfaction, complaint behavior, brand image, brand loyalty, and repeat purchase intentions. This chapter summarizes these erse findings and highlights the importance of customer education and employee training to prevent the erosion of brand image and loyalty on one hand, and improve perceived service quality and customer satisfaction on the other, for companies using offshore outsourcing of customer services.
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 20-04-2012
DOI: 10.1108/08876041211215266
Abstract: Prior research exploring the relationships among sacrifice, service quality, value, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions in service evaluation models did not consider customer characteristics. This study aims to test the moderating effects of two demographic variables (i.e. gender and age) on all the relationships in the “comprehensive” service evaluation model. Responses from a erse group of shoppers ( n =2,727) in six retail categories (cosmetics, electronics, fashion, jewelry, telecom services, and department stores) were examined using structural equation modeling. The negative relationship between sacrifice and perceived value, and the positive association of perceived value and satisfaction with behavioral intentions, is stronger for the male and older customers whereas the positive association of service quality with satisfaction and value is stronger for female and younger customers. The study examined behavioral intentions instead of actual behavior due to its cross‐sectional design. However, in the categories examined (cosmetics, fashion, department stores, etc.) where purchase frequencies range from moderate to high, behavioral intentions may highly correlate with actual behavior. The findings help retail managers understand the differences in the influence of perceived sacrifice, value, service quality, and satisfaction on the behavioral intentions of customers, based on in idual characteristics such as gender and age. They should be able to plan and prioritize their marketing activities for erse customer segments. The study offers new insights on the in idual differences in the service expectations and perceptions, which in turn affect customer behavior and loyalty.
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 06-2022
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 20-09-2013
Abstract: – This paper aims to explore the process by which four store environment (music, light, employee, and layout) and two in idual characteristics (shopping enjoyment tendency (SET) and impulse buying tendency (IBT)) influence impulse buying behavior through positive and negative affect, and urge to buy impulsively. – The data were obtained using a structured questionnaire from 733 respondents in a mall survey conducted in Chennai, South India. – In the structural model tested with AMOS, the authors found that store environment drove impulse buying (IB) through positive affect and urge. Results also showed that the personality variables (SET and IBT) influenced IB through positive affect and urge. This paper did not find support for the relationship between negative affect and urge. – Theoretically, the authors add to the list of antecedents of impulse buying, and to the outcomes of store environment. From a managerial viewpoint, the authors suggest that retail managers invest in improving the store environment to increase the level of impulse buying in their stores. Specifically, they need to focus on enhancing friendliness of store employees, playing appropriate music, designing proper layouts and having well-lit stores to encourage impulse buying. – Prior research studied the elements of the store independently and also its long-term impact. To the best of the authors' knowledge, their research is the first to study the impact of store environment (in conjunction with trait variables) on impulse buying.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-05-2011
DOI: 10.1057/JIBS.2010.16
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 16-09-2019
DOI: 10.1108/JPBM-07-2019-2464
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to present the contemporary thinking on deliberate lookalikes and to provide a better understanding of its key forms (counterfeits, copycats and no-name imitations) and markets (deceptive and non-deceptive). This editorial contains a review of current and past literature on deliberate lookalikes along with summaries of all the articles accepted for publication in the special issue on deliberate lookalikes. The guest editors used academic databases such as Web of Science to find the most representative scholarly work on deliberate lookalikes literature. This editorial identifies pertinent research gaps in the literature on deliberate lookalikes. The five selected articles address some of these research gaps and provide useful insights on the purchase and usage of deliberate lookalikes along with directions for future research and ways to apply different research methods that could have important implications for scholars and managers. The editorial and special issue extends the knowledge about the deliberate lookalikes and their effects on firms, brands and consumers. This work opens new avenues for the research about different forms and markets in the context of lookalikes.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2022
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 23-11-2022
Abstract: This paper aims to explore the role of spiritual leaders as celebrity business founders and brand endorsers by investigating the mediating role of perceived value in the impact of normative community pressure and perceived brand credibility on purchase intention. The authors collected data from two studies in India, one with urban ( N = 307) and another with rural ( N = 206) consumers of fast moving consumer goods brands being endorsed by popular celebrity business founders. The authors tested all our hypotheses using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) approach with SmartPLS software. Perceived value mediates the positive impact of normative community pressure and perceived brand credibility on purchase intention for the brands endorsed by celebrity business founders, and these mediating effects are stronger for urban (vs rural) consumers. The results from Indian consumers may not be generalizable to other emerging markets with erse cultural and socio-economic conditions. This research would help international marketers understand the unique branding and marketing strategies used by local players to learn how to successfully target both urban and rural consumers in the emerging markets. This paper extends the celebrity endorsement literature by exploring the role of spiritual leaders as celebrity business founders and brand endorsers, a growing trend in the emerging markets with high cultural and religious ersity (e.g. India and Indonesia).
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 03-10-2017
DOI: 10.1108/JSTP-08-2016-0138
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of four types of acculturation behaviors of frontline service employees (assimilation, separation, integration, and marginalization) on customer satisfaction and customer commitment. In total, 377 ethnically erse customers of a retail bank in New Zealand participated in this study. SmartPLS3 was used to test all the hypotheses. Assimilation and integration have positive effects on both customer satisfaction and commitment. Marginalization has a negative effect on both customer satisfaction and commitment but separation has a negative effect only on customer satisfaction and not on customer commitment. Future research may validate and extend the authors findings in erse cultural settings and use experimental method to explore the socio-psychological mechanisms underlying the influence of frontline service employees’ acculturation behaviors on customer satisfaction and commitment. This study will help managers understand the importance of service employees’ acculturation behaviors and develop suitable recruitment strategies and training programs to improve their impact on customer satisfaction and commitment. This study extends current research on intercultural service encounters by looking beyond the moderating effects of four types of service employees’ acculturation behaviors, to explore their direct effects on customer satisfaction and commitment.
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 11-03-2020
Abstract: This paper aims to explain the discrepancy between pro-environmental intentions and behaviors with moderating effects of two socio-cultural values (espoused in idualism and faith in others) on the link between intentions and actual behaviors to save electricity. An online survey of 303 consumers in Hong Kong with a structured questionnaire was used to collect the data to test all the hypothesized relationships. Attitude toward saving electricity has a significant positive effect on the intentions to save electricity, but subjective norms and perceived behavioral control have no such effect on intentions but do positively affect the actual electricity saving behavior. Finally, the link between intentions and behavior to save electricity is negatively moderated by espoused in idualism and positively by faith in others. This study was conducted with a s le of consumers in Hong Kong hence, its findings may not be generalizable to other countries. This study provides new insights into the link between pro-environmental intentions and behaviors by looking beyond the theory of planned behavior and exploring the moderating role of socio-cultural values on the intention-behavior link.
Publisher: MDPI AG
Date: 02-2023
Abstract: Environmentally sustainable diets are increasingly aspired to in food-based dietary guidelines across the world. However, little is known about consumer attitudes toward these diets when making food decisions. This study aimed to identify the demographic characteristics of Australian adults based on the level of attention they paid to the healthfulness of their diet, their consideration of the level of food processing, and their concern about household food waste and sustainable packaging disposal. Adults aged from 18 to over 75 years (n = 540) were surveyed online. Thirty-seven percent were concerned about sustainable food waste, 28% considered the level of food processing when making food decisions, and 23% paid attention to the healthfulness of the food they ate. Adults who had higher educational attainment (above Year 12) were twice as likely to be concerned about food waste and sustainable packaging disposal (odds ratio (OR) = 2.10, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.29–3.4), and processing levels (OR = 2.04, 95% CI 1.23–3.42) (controlling for age and gender). Those earning an income over AUD$100,000 were twice as likely to pay attention to the healthfulness of their food choices than those earning less than AUD$50,000 (OR = 2.19, 95% CI 1.28–3.74). Only 9% percent were concerned about or paid attention to all three of the components of healthy sustainable diets investigated, and 45% paid no attention and were not concerned about all three components. These findings suggest there is a need to educate the public to raise awareness of and concern for healthy, minimally processed, and sustainable food choices.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2022
Publisher: IGI Global
Date: 2009
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-813-0.CH015
Abstract: Offshore outsourcing is a fast-growing aspect of the world economy today and it has drawn attention from policy makers as well as public at large in many developed countries. However, there is hardly any research on how outsourcing of customer services may influence in idual consumers, their perceptions, attitudes and behaviors. In this chapter, the authors first review the extant literature in the country-of-origin and services marketing areas to highlight key concepts and theories relevant to this area. Next, they show how offshore outsourcing of customer services may influence consumer perceptions about service quality, brand image and brand loyalty on one hand and impact customer satisfaction, complaint behavior and repurchase intentions on the other. The role of several relevant demographic and psychographic variables is also discussed. Finally, the findings from a survey-based study among customers in three developed countries (US, UK and Australia) are reported along with a discussion of managerial implications and future research directions in this area.
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 2018
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 24-09-2020
Abstract: This paper aims to investigate the in idual and combined effects of three types of psychological contracts between customers and service employees (i.e. transactional, relational and communal), resulting from the service organizations’ relational marketing efforts, on their customers’ service brand evaluations in terms of their satisfaction, trust and commitment toward the brand. This study uses a field-survey of 303 regular customers of beauty salons and hairdressers in Auckland, New Zealand. All the constructs were measured using adapted versions of well-established scales and data was analyzed using SmartPLS due to the relatively smaller s le size and the primary research objective being the prediction of the three outcome variables (i.e. satisfaction, trust and commitment). Transactional and relational contracts have a negative and positive impact, respectively, upon communal contracts. Communal contracts mediate the impact of transactional and relational contracts on trust and commitment but not on satisfaction. Trust also mediates the relationship between satisfaction and commitment. This paper collected data from female customers of beauty salons and hairdressers in New Zealand, which may affect the generalizability of the results. This study provides practical insights into the differences in the roles of psychological contracts between the customers and service employees, which may help managers in service firms improve their customer relationship outcomes. This paper extends the relationship and services marketing literature to reveal the in idual and combined effects of the three types of psychological contracts on customer satisfaction, trust and commitment toward their service brand.
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 06-05-2014
Abstract: – This paper aims to conceptualize consumer impulsiveness (CI) as a global trait to explore its influence on a wider range of consumer behaviours and also presents a revised CI scale. Prior research on CI focuses on the impulse buying context and does not establish the cross-cultural invariance of the CI scale. – Two studies with undergraduate and MBA students in Singapore, UK and USA were used to develop the revised CI scale and to test its cross-cultural measurement invariance and predictive validity. – CI is a three-dimensional construct with cognitive (imprudence), affective (self-indulgence) and behavioural (lack of self-control) dimensions. However, self-indulgence and lack of self-control positively (do not) correlate for consumers with independent (interdependent) self-concepts. These three dimensions also vary in their influence on different types of self-regulatory failures. – The student participants used in all the studies may be relatively younger and better educated compared to average consumers. Hence, there is a need to test the revised CI scale with erse consumer populations. – The revised CI scale would help future researchers study the influence of CI across erse cultures and self-regulatory failures in a reliable and rigorous manner. – Our findings may help control the onset and spread of self-regulatory failures among young consumers by early identification of their psychological origins. – This paper extends the scope of CI beyond impulse buying to study its impact on self-regulatory failure across five erse behavioural domains (driving, eating, entertainment, shopping and substance abuse).
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2012
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 04-2010
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 12-2016
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2022
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 31-10-2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2020
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 10-05-2019
DOI: 10.1108/JSTP-09-2017-0149
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of service separation on the ability of service firms to build and maintain customer relationships, by exploring the differences in the strength of interrelationships among key relational constructs between separated and unseparated service delivery modes. A field survey was conducted with retail banking customers in Saudi Arabia ( n =592) using a structured self-administered questionnaire consisting of well-established scales. Data were analyzed using AMOS 24. Service separation negatively moderates (weakens) the ability of the service firms to leverage their social benefits, relational trust and affective commitment to increase customer loyalty and to strengthen overall customer relationships. This study uses retail banking customers in Saudi Arabia to test the impact of service separation in their relationship with the bank hence, its findings may not be generalizable to other types of services and cultural settings. Service firms using online and mobile technologies should be aware that trust and commitment remain key to building customer loyalty. Hence, the trade-off between the benefits of these technologies and their negative impact on customer relationship needs to be factored into managerial decision making. The paper highlights the importance of maintaining face-to-face interactions with service customers to create robust relationships that yield loyalty, despite the growing popularity of online and mobile technologies.
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 2018
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 11-02-2019
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to contribute to transformative service research by drawing on self-determination, elicitation of emotions framework and feelings-as-information theories to explore how customer participation, task-related affective well-being, customer knowledge, task complexity and service outcomes relate with each other. A synthesis of relevant literature on customer participation and customer well-being reveals a conceptual model with 11 testable propositions. The conceptual model shows that task-related affective well-being mediates the link between customer participation and service outcomes. Moreover, customer knowledge and task complexity moderate these links. An empirically testable conceptual model models the roles of task-related affective well-being, customer knowledge and task complexity in the process by which customer participation influences service outcomes. Service managers can use the model to design services based on the effects of different types of customer participation on task-related affective well-being. This paper is one of the first to study the mediating role of task-related affective well-being in the relationship between customer participation and service outcomes. It does so by revealing the differential impact various types of participation have on service outcomes and the moderating role of customer knowledge and task complexity.
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 2018
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 22-04-2022
Abstract: This paper uses social identity theory to investigate the sequential mediating effects of extrinsic religiosity and perceived role of religious leaders in the impact of consumers' intrinsic religiosity on perceived value of brands endorsed by religious leaders. This paper comprises two survey-based studies with urban consumers in two emerging markets, India ( N = 303) and Indonesia ( N = 150). Intrinsic religiosity has a direct positive effect on extrinsic religiosity, which in turn mediates the effect of intrinsic religiosity on the perceived value of the brands endorsed by religious leaders in both India and Indonesia. However, extrinsic religiosity has a significant positive effect on the perceived value of these brands through the perceived role of religious leaders in India but not in Indonesia. S les for both the studies are drawn from urban consumers in India and Indonesia, which also have large rural populations. Hence, future research may use both urban and rural s les from other countries to replicate our results. The study findings may help both local and global brand managers in the emerging markets with religious societies, such as India and Indonesia, to understand how they may use endorsements by religious leaders to manage the differences in the impact of consumers' intrinsic versus extrinsic religiosity on their brand perceptions and evaluations. This paper extends social identity theory to the international marketing context by showing that religious consumers in the emerging markets are likely to support the brands endorsed by religious leaders vis-à-vis other national or multinational brands. Thus, religious identification offers a unique sacred worldview and unlimited group membership, unlike other social groups, especially in the highly religious emerging markets.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2022
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 25-10-2023
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 21-08-2015
DOI: 10.1057/JIBS.2014.42
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 12-09-2016
Abstract: This paper aims to examine the role that personal cultural orientations play in customer attributions in intercultural service encounters. A conceptual model was developed depicting the relationships between service delivery outcome, personal cultural orientations and customer attributions. Data were collected from 640 Chinese and Western customers using scenario-based experiments in a restaurant context to assess the hypothesized relationships in the model. The findings show that compared to service delivery success, customers tend to hold service employee and firm responsible for service delivery failure rather than themselves and cultural differences. Moreover, personal cultural orientations partially moderated the influence of the service delivery outcome on customer attributions. Future research could adopt different methodologies such as critical incident techniques and surveys to replicate the study. Service firms are recommended to design programs to influence customer attributions such as “customer education programs” and “customer appreciation programs” to achieve high customer satisfaction. This study examines the differences in customer attributions between successful vs unsuccessful service delivery. It also sheds light on the potential moderating role of personal cultural orientations on the relationship between service delivery outcome and customer attributions.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2019
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 03-03-2023
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 02-2022
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2020
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 06-05-2014
Abstract: – This study aims to develop a model based on attribution theory and intercultural literature to explain the underlying customer satisfaction process in intercultural service encounters. – In-depth interviews were used to develop an understanding of customer experience and evaluations in intercultural service encounters. A quasi-experiment with 236 customers was used to empirically examine the relationships between perceived culture distance, cultural attribution, intercultural competence and customer satisfaction. – Perceived culture distance is positively related to customer satisfaction, with cultural attribution mediating the relationship between perceived cultural distance and customer satisfaction, and partially mediating the moderating effect of intercultural competence on the relationship between perceived culture distance and customer satisfaction. – This study focuses on cultural attribution in intercultural service encounters. It is acknowledged that there are other attribution dimensions such as stability and controllability which may interact with perceived culture distance and influence subsequent customer satisfaction evaluation. Future research should consider these various dimensions and examine their mediating role in customer satisfaction. – It is recommended that service firms educate their customers of erse cultures about local norms and practices, and proactively manage their expectations throughout the service experience. – Despite the growing importance of intercultural service encounters, the findings of the relationship between perceived cultural distance and customer satisfaction are mixed. This study contributes to the literature by advancing our theoretical knowledge and empirical evidence of the role of cultural attribution and intercultural competence in intercultural service encounters.
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 03-2021
Abstract: This study aims to combine the theory of planned behave or (TPB) and the motivational framework to extend the research on online knowledge sharing (OKS) in an organization by exploring the factors that drive the knowledge sharing intentions (KSI) of posters and lurkers. A field survey with 501 employees in Vietnamese telecommunication companies is used to collect the data and a structural equation modeling approach with AMOS 25.0 is used to test all the hypotheses. Attitudes toward OKS and subjective norms influence online KSI for both posters and lurkers. Self-enjoyment has a stronger effect on the attitudes toward OKS for posters than lurkers. Self-efficacy, reciprocity and rewards only affect posters and not lurkers. This study uses self-efficacy and self-enjoyment to represent intrinsic motivation and reciprocity and rewards for extrinsic motivation. Future research may use additional motivational factors to provide additional insights. Managers should pay greater attention to subjective norms and attitudes toward knowledge sharing to motivate all the employees to share knowledge with each other to improve organizational performance. This is the first study to combine TPB with the motivational framework to explore the factors that drive online knowledge sharing in an organization.
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 2016
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 02-10-2019
DOI: 10.1108/JSTP-10-2018-0229
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to develop and test an integrated conceptual framework using construal level theory (CLT) to explain the differences in the effects of process and outcome service attributes on overall service evaluation and customer satisfaction based on consumption context (social), evaluation context (temporal) and in idual characteristics (expertise). The authors use two lab experiments (hotel and restaurant settings) and a field study of online reviews posted by actual hotel customers to test all the hypotheses. Process (outcome) attributes have a stronger influence on service evaluations under low-level (high-level) construal. Specifically, process attributes have a stronger influence when customers are accompanied by proximal (vs distal) social group, evaluate a service under near (vs distant) temporal frame or have high (vs low) level of customer expertise. Service managers can use the findings about the differences in the influence of social, temporal and in idual variables on customer evaluations under process and outcome attributes to improve customers’ service experiences and satisfaction. This paper extends past research on the influence of construal levels on customer decision making by exploring the differences in the effects of process vs outcome service attributes on overall service evaluation and customer satisfaction, under the influence of low (vs high) construal levels triggered by social, temporal and in idual variables.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 13-02-2017
DOI: 10.1002/MAR.20989
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 18-12-2010
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2021
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 05-05-2018
Abstract: This article extends the concept of customer perceived value (CPV) to the tourist outshopping context and explores the differences in antecedents and outcomes of CPV between cross-border and international outshoppers. A large-scale field survey in Hong Kong with cross-border outshoppers from mainland China and international shoppers from four Western countries (Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States) shows that perceived product quality, risk, and value for money have a stronger effect on CPV for cross-border outshoppers, and employee service quality and lifestyle congruence for international outshoppers. CPV also has a stronger positive effect on satisfaction, word of mouth, and repeat purchase intentions for cross-border outshoppers, whereas satisfaction has a stronger positive impact on word of mouth and repeat purchase intentions for international outshoppers. We discuss the conceptual contribution and managerial implications of our findings for international retailers, researchers, and tourism organizations.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2020
Publisher: IGI Global
Date: 2006
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59140-875-8.CH015
Abstract: Offshore outsourcing is a fast-growing aspect of the world economy today and it has drawn attention from policy makers as well as public at large in many developed countries. However, there is hardly any research on how outsourcing of customer services may influence in idual consumers, their perceptions, attitudes and behaviors. In this chapter, the authors first review the extant literature in the country-of-origin and services marketing areas to highlight key concepts and theories relevant to this area. Next, they show how offshore outsourcing of customer services may influence consumer perceptions about service quality, brand image and brand loyalty on one hand and impact customer satisfaction, complaint behavior and repurchase intentions on the other. The role of several relevant demographic and psychographic variables is also discussed. Finally, the findings from a survey-based study among customers in three developed countries (U.S., UK and Australia) are reported along with a discussion of managerial implications and future research directions in this area.
Publisher: IGI Global
Date: 2008
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-59904-943-4.CH010
Abstract: Offshore outsourcing is a fast-growing aspect of the world economy today and it has drawn attention from policy makers as well as public at large in many developed countries. However, there is hardly any research on how outsourcing of customer services may influence in idual consumers, their perceptions, attitudes and behaviors. In this chapter, the authors first review the extant literature in the country-of-origin and services marketing areas to highlight key concepts and theories relevant to this area. Next, they show how offshore outsourcing of customer services may influence consumer perceptions about service quality, brand image and brand loyalty on one hand and impact customer satisfaction, complaint behavior and repurchase intentions on the other. The role of several relevant demographic and psychographic variables is also discussed. Finally, the findings from a survey-based study among customers in three developed countries (U.S., UK and Australia) are reported along with a discussion of managerial implications and future research directions in this area.
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 2015
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 2016
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 14-07-2014
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 09-12-2019
DOI: 10.1108/JSTP-12-2018-0295
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of relationship comfort and relationship proneness on the ability of service firms to build and maintain customer relationships in emerging markets (EMs). A field-survey was conducted with retail-banking customers in India ( n =300) using a structured self-administered questionnaire with well-established scales. Relationship comfort positively affects key relationship marketing (RM) constructs (e.g. customer satisfaction, trust, commitment and loyalty) and relationship proneness positively moderates (strengthens) the impact of relationship comfort on customer commitment and loyalty. The findings may not be generalizable to all customer types using bank services as well as other types of services and in other EMs. Service firms in EMs can build and maintain robust customer relationships by using relationship comfort and relationship proneness to strengthen key RM constructs, such as customer satisfaction, trust, commitment and loyalty. The paper highlights the importance of maintaining RM as a tool to build valuable customer relationships but also reveals the importance of relationship comfort and relationship proneness in building trust-based customer relationships in the EMs.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2021
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 06-2015
Abstract: – The purpose of this paper is to investigate how counterfeit users estimate the probability of being detected and how this probability affects their counterfeit consumption behaviour. Specifically, it addresses three questions: do perceived social consequences influence counterfeit users’ probability estimate of being detected? What is the psychological mechanism underlying the estimation of this probability? And how does this probability estimate affect counterfeit purchase and usage intentions? – The authors used three scenario-based experimental studies with university students in Hong Kong, a place where counterfeit products are widely available. First study used a factitious brand of jeans as the stimulus and the other two studies used a Ralph Lauren polo shirt. In each study, the authors measured participants’ responses towards counterfeit purchase and the probability of being detected after they read the relevant brand information and had a close-up view of the attributes in the genuine and counterfeit versions. – The authors found that counterfeit users are susceptible to a pessimism bias such that they estimate a higher probability of being detected when they judge the outcome of being detected as more severe and this bias is driven by the spotlight effect in that counterfeit users judging the outcome as more severe tend to perceive that others pay more attention to their counterfeit usage. Moreover, this pessimism bias is mitigated when the target user is another person instead of oneself, thus suggesting the egocentric nature of the bias. – The authors used undergraduate students and scenario-based experimental approach in all the studies that may limit the generalisability of the findings. – The results suggest that brand managers should emphasise the importance of negative social consequences and highlight the role of outcome severity and egocentric bias in their advertising and communication programmes in order to curb counterfeit consumption. – The research contributes to the growing literature on counterfeit consumption by studying the process underlying estimation of the probability of being detected by others, an important but often neglected factor that influences counterfeit purchase decision. The authors also highlight the role of outcome severity and egocentric bias in this process.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2019
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 14-09-2011
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2023
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 04-04-2022
Abstract: This paper aims to introduce the Schmid–Leiman solution (SLS) as a useful tool to interpret the results of higher-order factor analyses in marketing research irrespective of the type of higher-order factor structure used (formative or reflective). Two studies, one with retail shoppers in India and another with undergraduate students in Hong Kong, are used to compare different types of higher-order factor structures to test the utility of SLS. The authors show that whether a reflective or a formative model is used to operationalize a higher-order construct, using SLS as an additional analysis gives useful insights into the factor structure at different levels and helps isolate their unique contributions to the explained variance. The authors test higher-order models for store environment and consumer impulsiveness with data from retail shoppers and undergraduate students in two Asian countries, which may restrict the generalizability of the study findings. Future research may try to replicate our findings with other higher-order constructs and consumers in other countries. The authors offer a checklist that can be used by future researchers to evaluate alternate higher-order factor structures and choose the appropriate one for their research context. The authors show that using SLS is especially useful when there is a lack of clarity on the nature of relationships between the factors at different levels or about the independent contribution of the factors at different levels, in a higher-order factor structure.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2021
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 04-07-2019
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 31-07-2009
DOI: 10.1108/08876040910973404
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to explore the moderating influence of attitude toward offshore call centers (OCCs) and brand image of the service provider firm on the relationships among perceived service quality (SQ), customer satisfaction (CS), complaint (CI) and repeat purchase (RP) intentions. A total of 285 adult shoppers with prior experience with OCCs were recruited using mall‐intercept approach in a large mid‐Western city in the USA. A structured questionnaire was used to record their perceptions about their service provider using OCCs. Structural equation modeling was used to test the measurement and basic structural model, along with multi‐group analysis to test the moderating effects. Multiple moderated regression analysis was also used to verify the moderating effects. As expected, SQ was found positively associated with CS, and CS was negatively associated with CI but positively with RP. Moreover, attitude toward OCC positively moderated the link between SQ and CS brand image negatively moderated the link between CS and CI and positively moderated the link between CS and RP. All the hypotheses were supported. It was found that negative attitudes towards OCC result in feelings of dissatisfaction, increase in complaints and decrease in repeat purchases. However, customers are likely to complain less and continue to patronize for a more reputed service firm compared to a less reputed firm. This finding contradicts recent market reports, hence future research should investigate actual customer complaints and repeat purchases to confirm the moderating role of brand image. Services firms using OCC should be aware that their customers have varying attitudes toward OCC. They should track these attitudes and their impact on customer complaint and repeat purchase behavior. They should also track and benchmark the service levels of their OCC with their own local call centers and those of the competitors. They could improve customer attitudes toward OCC by customer relationship management and improve the service standards through more training and empowerment of their OCC representatives. This study is one of the first few empirical investigations of customer reactions to OCCs exploring the moderating influence of “Attitude toward OCC” and “Brand image” on the relationships among perceived service quality, customer satisfaction, complaint and repeat purchases. The findings provide useful insights to managers and researchers alike.
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 05-10-2012
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 2017
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 13-10-2014
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2019
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 11-10-2015
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 28-12-2020
DOI: 10.1108/JPBM-04-2020-2879
Abstract: Brands today operate in a dynamic business environment, which often requires them to take courageous actions, from taking a stand on controversial issues to responding to changing market needs. However, these actions are not merely strategic but also represent a unique aspect of the brands’ identity, which includes holding up to their core values and being resilient to social pressure. To better understand this positive virtue, the current study introduces the concept of brand bravery – a novel brand archetype that emulates the brand’s distinct identity. This study aims to conceptualize brand bravery and develop a psychometrically sound scale to measure it and investigate its relationship with positive brand relationship outcomes. Two qualitative studies were conducted to identify the dimensions of perceived brand bravery. Three empirical studies develop and validate the proposed measurement scale and confirm the construct’s nomological validity by proposing a framework that explains the outcomes of perceived brand bravery. Results from multiple studies support a seven-factor second-order reflective scale of perceived brand bravery, with dimensions altruism, bold, courageous, determined, enduring, fearless and gritty. The construct of brand bravery is found discriminant from other conceptually distinct but related brand attributes. Nomological validity tests further suggest that perceived brand bravery leads to positive consumer-related outcomes such as brand advocacy behaviors, positive attitude and consumer brand identification. Brand bravery provides a vital roadmap to marketers who have sought to create a leading brand that can stay relevant in times of disruption. The multi-factor scale can help managers track, which dimension of the brand bravery scale is more relevant for shaping overall bravery perception. The study introduces a novel brand attribute that has not been previously discussed beyond social and moral psychology literature. It conceptualizes brand bravery that will strengthen the understanding of this specific brand characteristic and provides a practical scale to measure brand bravery.
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 11-05-2015
Abstract: – This paper aims to show the effect of brand equity, marketing investment and product differentiation on price in small and medium enterprises (SMEs), multinational companies (MNCs) and retailers (private labels). Academics have been researching brand equity, return on investment and effects of product differentiation for many years, but there has been little work that has taken a holistic view. – The author studied an aggregate data set for 735 fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands, taken from Nielsen (10,282 households). Regression analysis was used in the first step, a cluster analysis in the second step of modeling procedure. – The study suggests that brand equity, marketing investment and product differentiation are closely associated with price. Using a cluster analysis, the authors found that the premium price is significantly associated with product differentiation based on innovation and company type. – The managerial implications of the models estimated by regression analysis are discussed as well as the results of the cluster analysis and possible research enhancements. – The role of the value in brand performance output has not been investigated in the financial context, only in consumer or marketing mix context. Little is known about how price strategy depends on brand equity, product innovation activities or marketing investments intended to improve brand performance, neither how this strategy improves brand performance among different players in the market (retailers, SMEs and MNCs).
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 2020
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 2012
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2022
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 09-05-2016
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the direct and indirect effects of social visibility (private vs public), purchase motivation (intrinsic vs extrinsic vs altruistic) and external reference price (ERP) (absent vs present) on consumers’ pricing decisions in pay-what-you-want (PWYW) context. Two empirical studies with a fitness gym as the research setting were used to test all the hypotheses first, a lab experiment with undergraduate student participants and, the second, an online experiment with a consumer panel. Both studies show that consumers allocate a higher share (RATIO) of their internal reference prices (IRPs) to the prices to be paid (PTP) in PWYW context, in private under intrinsic purchase motivation and in public under extrinsic or altruistic motivation and this effect is more pronounced in the absence of ERP. Future research may validate and extend the findings of this paper with other product or service categories, different manipulations for the key variables, other research methods such as field experiments and expand our model by including other relevant variables. The findings of this paper will help managers understand how in idual customers’ purchase motivation and the social visibility in the PWYW setting affect their pricing decisions and how providing external pricing cues may moderate these effects. Prior research on PWYW shows mixed findings about the direct effects of many variables on consumers’ pricing decisions, but it ignores the differences in consumers’ purchase motivations and offers mixed evidence about the influence of social visibility and ERPs on payment decisions. The authors address all these gaps in this paper.
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 13-04-2015
Abstract: – This paper aims to explore the moderating effects of consumer ethnocentrism and intercultural competence on the impact of service outcome and perceived cultural distance, respectively, on interaction comfort and perceived service quality in intercultural service encounters. – A 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental design with university students was used, using service encounter scenarios to manipulate service outcome (failure or success) and photos of service employees to manipulate perceived cultural distance (low vs high). – As hypothesized, the impact of service outcome on interaction comfort and perceived service quality is moderated negatively by consumer ethnocentrism, whereas the impact of perceived cultural distance is moderated positively by intercultural competence. – An experimental design using imaginary service scenarios was used in a single service context (i.e. restaurant) with university students as participants, which may restrict the generalizability of our findings. – Managers in service firms with multicultural customers should try to recruit service employees with high intercultural competence and low consumer ethnocentrism. They should also develop employee training programs that help minimize the adverse impact of these variables on interaction comfort and service quality in intercultural service encounters. – This paper extends prior research by exploring the moderating effects of consumer ethnocentrism and intercultural competence on the direct and indirect effects of service outcome and perceived cultural distance on interaction comfort, service quality and satisfaction.
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 22-02-2013
DOI: 10.1108/08876041311296365
Abstract: – Prior research explores the moderating effects of age and gender on the relationships in the comprehensive service evaluation model, but it ignores the role of contextual variables. The study aims to test the moderating effect of an important contextual variable (shopping motivation) on the service evaluation process. – Responses were collected from 2,727 shoppers in six retail categories (cosmetics, electronics, fashion, jewelry, telecommunication services, and department stores) using a mall-intercept approach and all the hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling technique. – The study finds that relationships among sacrifice, value, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions are stronger in retail categories with utilitarian vs hedonic shopping motivation. In contrast, the relationships among service quality, value, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions are stronger in hedonic vs utilitarian retail categories. – This paper uses a cross-sectional survey to test all the hypotheses, hence it cannot study actual shopping behavior in future. Moreover, it examines shopping motivation at a retail category level and not at in idual shopper level. The results may also vary based on cross-cultural differences in customer expectations and perceptions. – The findings would help retail managers to identify relevant service dimensions, to improve perceived service quality, customer satisfaction, and value for the shoppers in their stores, which in turn may lead to more favorable behavioral intentions. – This paper offers new insights on the differences in expectations, perceptions, and evaluations of shoppers in hedonic vs utilitarian retail categories, and introduces the moderating role of shopping motivation, an important contextual variable.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2023
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2022
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 17-05-2010
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 14-06-2022
Abstract: This paper aims to create a better understanding of the challenges posed by work from home (WFH) during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, to investigate the public sentiment toward this transition, and to develop a conceptual model incorporating the relationships among the factors that influence the effectiveness of WFH. This paper uses netnography method to collect data from the Twitter platform and uses Python programming language, Natural Language Processing techniques and IBM SPSS 26 to conduct sentiment analysis and directed content analysis on the data. The findings are combined with an extensive review of the remote work literature to develop a conceptual model. Results show the majority of tweets about WFH during the pandemic are positive and objective with technology and cyber security as the most repeated topics in the tweets. New challenges to WFH during pandemic include future uncertainty, health concerns, home workspaces, self-isolation, lack of recreational activities and support mechanisms. In addition, exhaustion and technostress mediate the relationship between the antecedents and outcomes of WFH during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Finally, the fear of pandemic and coping strategies moderates these relationships. This paper is one of the first efforts to comprehensively investigate the challenges of WFH during a crisis and to extend the remote work literature by developing a conceptual model incorporating the moderating effects of fear of pandemic and coping strategies. Moreover, it is the first paper to investigate the tweeting behavior of different user types on Twitter who shared posts about WFH during the ongoing pandemic.
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 07-05-2019
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to extend the “Happy-Performing Managers” thesis to show that managers’ job-related affective well-being and affective job satisfaction mediate the impact of their role stressors (ambiguity, conflict and overload) on their contextual job performance. Results from an online survey of 305 managers from the private, public and third sectors in Western Australian support most of the hypotheses. The psychometric properties of all the scales were analysed using confirmatory factor analysis and the conceptual model was tested using structural equation modelling. Role stressors have a direct negative effect on the managers’ affective well-being and affective job satisfaction, which, in turn, mediate the negative effects of the three role stressors on the managers’ contextual performance. Conceptual and managerial contributions along with methodological limitations and future research directions are discussed. Contemporary managers face a wide range of intrinsic and extrinsic role and environmental stressors. This research suggests that organisations may need to redesign manager roles to reduce their role stressors (ambiguity, conflict and overload) in order to optimise their contextual performance.
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 15-04-2011
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 17-10-2016
DOI: 10.1108/JOSM-10-2015-0294
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to use “positive organizational behavior” and “transformative service research” paradigms to introduce “employee well-being” as a focal construct in the process by which internal service quality (ISQ) drives employee satisfaction, commitment and performance. A field-survey using a structured questionnaire is employed to test all the hypotheses with 250 employees and their 25 supervisors in a manufacturing unit in Guangdong province of the People’s Republic of China. All the eight hypotheses are supported. ISQ has a positive effect on employee satisfaction, commitment and employee well-being, which in turn positively influence employee performance. Employee well-being also positively moderates (strengthens) the effects of employee satisfaction and commitment on employee performance. This paper uses data from a single factory in China and focuses on a few key constructs, which may restrict the generalizability of its findings. Moreover, no significant differences were found among the supervisor-workers units. Managers in non-service industries should focus on improving ISQ and employee well-being in their organizations because both these constructs have significant direct and indirect effects on employee performance. This paper extends past research on ISQ by showing that it affects employee performance via satisfaction and commitment, and that employee well-being moderates the effects of employee satisfaction and commitment on performance.
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 12-10-2017
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to introduce a new conceptual model that incorporates internal service quality as a mediator between service climate and employee performance and two personal cultural orientations (independence and interdependence) as the moderators of these relationships. An online survey of 353 employees representing 19 different nationalities, working in 18 branches and offices of a multinational business-to-business (B2B) civil engineering services firm, spread across 14 countries. All the hypotheses are supported. Specifically, internal service quality mediates the influence of service climate on employee performance and these relationships are stronger for employees with interdependent (vs independent) cultural orientations. This paper uses data collected from the employees in a single B2B firm in one industry (Civil Engineering Services) and focuses on a few key variables, which may restrict the generalizability of its findings. The findings of this paper highlight the importance of cultural factors in building a service climate in multinational service organizations to help their employees work more effectively and efficiently with their colleagues from erse cultural backgrounds. This paper clarifies the relationships among service climate, internal service quality and employee performance, by showing that internal service quality mediates the influence of service climate on employee performance.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2021
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 23-06-2023
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 15-01-2021
DOI: 10.1002/MAR.21452
Publisher: Informa UK Limited
Date: 20-03-2015
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-2018
DOI: 10.1111/IJCS.12467
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2020
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2021
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 05-06-2009
Abstract: Customers and employees from different cultures are increasingly interacting with each other. However, there is little research in this area and it focuses mostly on the customers’ perspective. This article presents a conceptual framework for intercultural service encounters applicable to both customers and employees. Findings from an exploratory qualitative study show that perceived cultural distance and intercultural competence influence inter-role congruence, interaction comfort, adequate and perceived service levels, and satisfaction. These findings have important managerial implications for managing the expectations and perceptions of customers and employees involved in the intercultural service encounters and improving their satisfaction with the service experience.
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 13-07-2018
Abstract: The purpose of this special issue is to extend the growing research on the challenges and opportunities facing services marketers in an increasingly culturally erse global marketplace. The nine papers included in this special issue use a variety of research methods (e.g. case study, experiments and surveys), participants (e.g. customers, employees and online panel members) and service settings (e.g. fast food, post office, weight loss, bank, home loan, personal fitness and offshore outsourcing). All the nine papers highlight the importance of studying the unique perspectives of the customers and employees involved in intercultural interactions in erse service settings in marketplaces and societies that are either already or have recently become multicultural. The findings from the nine papers have useful implications for future research on services marketing in multicultural markets, although these may not always be generalisable beyond the unique context of the studies reported in each of these papers. All the nine papers also present some useful directions for services marketing managers in the multicultural markets, to help them understand and manage the expectations of their culturally erse customers, as well as employees. This special issue is unique because it is one of the first attempts to understand the unique challenges and opportunities for services marketers in the growing multicultural global marketplace, from a theoretical, as well as empirical, point of view.
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 19-05-2023
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 27-07-2012
DOI: 10.1108/08876041211245272
Abstract: Offshore outsourcing of customer services is growing rapidly but there is little known about its impact on customer perceptions and behavior. This paper aims to combine the learnings from the country‐of‐origin and service research to address this gap. An online survey was conducted by contacting a s le of 5,000 customers randomly chosen out of a database of over 100,000 customers provided by a large American retail financial services company, immediately after they had an interaction with an offshore service representative, resulting in 548 complete and usable questionnaires. Consumer ethnocentrism has a negative influence on the attitude towards offshore outsourcing and the perceived service quality and customer satisfaction with offshore call centers. Customer satisfaction also mediates the influence of perceived service quality on customer complaint behavior, brand image, brand loyalty, and repeat purchase intentions. This paper focuses on the effects of consumer ethnocentrism and attitudes towards offshore outsourcing on several perceptual and behavioral variables in a B2C context with American customers and Indian customer service executives. Hence, its findings may not apply to the B2B context and other country settings. The findings highlight the need for greater employee training as well as customer education for firms using offshore customer service centers, to minimize customer complaints and protect their brand image, loyalty, and repeat purchase intentions. The study offers new insights on the impact of consumer ethnocentrism and attitude towards offshore outsourcing on customer perceptions and behavioral intentions, mediated by customer satisfaction and perceived service quality.
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 24-03-2023
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 31-10-2006
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 23-11-2021
Abstract: This paper explores the moderating effects of four personal cultural orientations or PCOs (independence, interdependence, risk aversion and ambiguity intolerance) on the relationships among counterfeit proneness, subjective norms, ethical judgments, product evaluation and purchase intentions for counterfeit products. A field study with 840 consumers in Hong Kong using a self-administered structured questionnaire is used to test all the hypotheses. Consumers with high (low) scores on interdependence (independence) show stronger positive effects of counterfeit proneness on subjective norms and its effects on the counterfeit evaluation and purchase intentions. In contrast, consumers with high (low) scores on independence (interdependence) show stronger positive effects of counterfeit proneness on ethical judgments and its effects on counterfeit evaluation and purchase intentions. Consumers with higher scores on risk aversion and ambiguity intolerance show negative moderating effects on most of the relationships in the unified conceptual framework. The authors collected data in Hong Kong, which is predominantly Chinese in culture. Hence, future research in other parts of the world with more erse cultural values would help test the validity and generalizability of the results. The findings would be useful for managers of genuine brands to learn more about the process that explains deliberate counterfeit purchase behavior. The authors extend the unified conceptual framework for deliberate counterfeit purchase behavior by incorporating four PCOs to explore cultural differences in the socio-psychological decision-making process underlying this behavior.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2018
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 12-2022
DOI: 10.1108/JIBR-10-2021-0348
Abstract: This paper aims to highlight the positive and negative effects of technostressors on employee attitudes using psychological need satisfaction as an explanatory mechanism and mindfulness as an in idual resource, thereby developing an integrative conceptual model. A narrative literature review was performed in the technostress, job demands-resources and mindfulness literature to develop the propositions of the integrative conceptual model. This paper posits psychological need satisfaction as a mediator in the process by which technostressors impact important employee outcomes. It also proposes mindfulness as a personal resource that helps alleviate technostressor induced burnout and foster work engagement. The proposed integrative conceptual framework provides some useful directions for future empirical research on this topic of growing importance. Based on the findings of this paper, managers can devise and implement a technostressor-specific mitigation strategy to cope with information and communication technology–induced work demands. They can also introduce mindfulness-based programs to support positive outcomes when technostressors are present. This paper is the first to theoretically delineate specific characteristics of technostressors as challenge and hindrance demands and makes interdisciplinary contributions by extending the role of psychological mechanisms such as psychological need satisfaction and personal resources such as mindfulness in work-related technology use research.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 10-06-2022
DOI: 10.1002/BSE.3161
Abstract: This paper shows that brand reputation alone may not be sufficient to help firms successfully issue green bonds and that they may need superior corporate social responsibility performance in the form of high ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) scores to unlock the full potential of their brand reputation. Using a s le of 338 international green bond issues across 108 unique firms, we found significant positive effects of ESG disclosure score and its interaction brand reputation on the issuance of green bonds while controlling for other variables, such as fixed effects of industry, region, and time. We also show that it is the S (Social) component of ESG and the interactions of its E (Environmental) and G (Governance) components with brand reputation which drive successful green bond issuance. Besides extending the current research on the impact of brand reputation and ESG on green bonds, these results also have important managerial implications for analysts, fund managers, and firms planning to raise green capital.
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 2018
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 03-08-2020
Abstract: This paper aims to investigate the differences in the mediating roles of trust and knowledge sharing (formal vs informal) in the process by which training and incentives influence organizational performance (sales increase and labor productivity). The data from an online survey of Senior Managers from 119 firms in Hong Kong’s clothing industry (HKCI) was analyzed using SmartPLS software. Trust has a stronger mediating impact in the effects of incentives (vs training) on both formal and informal knowledge sharing. Informal (vs formal) knowledge sharing has a stronger mediating impact in the effects of trust on sales increase and labor productivity. Future research may consider different dimensions such as knowledge donating and collecting behaviors, as well as motives, such as self-enjoyment, reciprocity or social interaction ties to study knowledge sharing behavior. This study shows that incentives are more likely than training to help build a trusting environment in an organization and that informal knowledge sharing has a stronger influence on organizational performance than formal knowledge sharing. The study’s distinctive contribution is the under-researched context of HKCI for investigating the mediating effects of trust and formal and informal knowledge sharing between ability and motivational practices on performance.
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 06-2015
DOI: 10.1108/IJPHM-03-2013-0007
Abstract: – This paper aims to introduce a comprehensive conceptual framework to study the influence of “consumer ambivalence towards contraception” and “intercourse frequency” along with attitudes toward contraception and satisfaction with most familiar contraceptive method, on contraceptive usage and intentions. – A team of trained female interviewers used a structured questionnaire to conduct a clinic-intercept survey with 588 sexually active female consumers in two major hospitals and six randomly chosen clinics in Singapore (response rate = 29 per cent). – Consumer attitudes toward contraception, satisfaction with most familiar contraceptive method and intercourse frequency have a positive effect on contraceptive usage. Consumer ambivalence toward contraception has a negative effect on usage and intentions and it negatively moderates the effects of attitudes, satisfaction and intercourse frequency. – This paper explores the role of consumer ambivalence toward contraception in general and not toward specific contraceptive methods. Moreover, it does not measure differences in the impact of personal cultural values and orientations of the participants on contraceptive usage. These could be useful avenues for future research. – By clarifying the reasons for inconsistent contraception usage, this research will help health-care professionals, social workers and welfare organizations develop more focused consumer education programs and communication c aigns to reduce consumer ambivalence about contraception and improve contraception usage rates. – This paper extends prior research on consumer ambivalence by exploring its direct and moderating impact on contraceptive usage, an important issue for female health and well-being. The authors also show intercourse frequency as a moderator in this process.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2020
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 11-04-2016
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to address a long-standing gap in current research on intercultural service encounters, by exploring the direct and indirect roles of four personal cultural orientations (PCOs) [independence, interdependence (INT), risk aversion (RSK) and ambiguity intolerance (AMB)]. A 2 × 2 between-subjects experimental design with customers in two countries (Australia and China) using scenarios to manipulate service outcome (failure or success) and photos of foreigners as customer or employee to prime perceived cultural distance (PCD). Customers with higher (vs lower) independence perceive greater interaction comfort, service quality and satisfaction (SAT) and are affected to a lesser extent by PCD and service outcome, but those with higher (vs lower) RSK or AMB perceive lower interaction comfort, service quality and SAT and are affected more strongly by PCD and service outcome. The authors used an “experimental” design with “imaginary” service scenarios to collect data in “two” countries using “four” PCOs for greater control in this paper, but all of these choices may restrict the generalizability of the findings. Service managers need to look beyond visible cultural differences, such as ethnicity, nationality and language, and focus more on the invisible cultural differences in customs, values and norms, as reflected by the four PCOs in this paper. The authors extend prior research on intercultural service encounters by exploring the moderating effects of PCOs on the influence of service outcome and PCD on interaction comfort, service quality and SAT.
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 11-10-2015
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2016
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2020
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 18-03-2016
Abstract: This paper introduces a unified conceptual framework for deliberate counterfeit purchase behavior by combining its erse economic, ethical and socio-psychological perspectives using cognitive dissonance theory. Specific hypotheses are put forth about the interrelationships among counterfeit proneness, ethical judgments, subjective norms, counterfeit product evaluation and purchase intentions. A field-survey with 380 shoppers (who had ever purchased a counterfeit product) in Hong Kong across four frequently counterfeited product categories (backpack, luxury watch, software and movie DVD) with varying levels of involvement, usage context and purchase motivation. As hypothesized, counterfeit proneness positively influences ethical judgments and subjective norms about buying a counterfeit product, which in turn positively affect counterfeit product evaluation and purchase intentions. All these effects are fairly stable across the four product categories, which suggests robustness of the proposed unified model. Using Hong Kong as the research setting and a relatively younger s le of ethnic Chinese consumers helps ensure high internal validity but it may also restrict the generalizability of the findings. Future research with a more erse s le of consumers would help replicate the results reported in this paper. The conceptual framework may also be extended by including variables such as consumer innovativeness, risk-taking and change-seeking as antecedents of counterfeit purchase behaviour and usage. Findings show that consumers are influenced by a combination of in idual and sociological factors when they decide whether to buy and use counterfeit products. Hence, marketers and authorities need a multi-pronged strategy to curb the growing demand and usage of counterfeit products, especially among ethnic Chinese consumers. These results may also help identify consumer segments more prone to counterfeit purchase behavior and to develop special communication to target them more effectively. Past studies mostly explore the ‘direct’ and ‘independent’ effects of consumer attitudes, ethical judgments and subjective norms on their counterfeit purchase behavior, ignoring their impact on each other and the roles of ‘counterfeit proneness’ and ‘product evaluation’. This paper addresses all these gaps with a unified conceptual framework that incorporates all these constructs using cognitive dissonance theory and provides useful insights about their direct and indirect effects on each other.
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 11-10-2015
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 11-05-2021
DOI: 10.1002/SRES.2794
Abstract: Systems and their environments must be understood in an integrated manner because any changes in the systems will affect their environments and vice versa in the ubiquitous open systems. Existing studies classify systems based on the ersity of their interactions and the systems' responses to changes in their environments. However, the uses of such classifications are limited. We attempt to address this limitation by using morphological analysis (MA) to identify, represent and characterise the general system–environment complex (SEC) and its components. The latter, called ‘dimensions’, and their respective manifestations, termed ‘variants’, are integrated into the MA representation to enable a holistic understanding of SECs in terms of six dimensions and 101 variants. The resultant representation and characterisation will help researchers identify potential research opportunities, demonstrated through the construction of a variants intersection matrix, and help develop practical principles for system design and evaluation.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2022
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 02-2016
Abstract: – The purpose of this paper is to explore the mediating role of internal reference price (IRP) in a pay-what-you-want (PWYW) price setting. Specifically, it examines the effects of altruism, social desirability and price consciousness as the antecedents of IRP and consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP), future purchase intention and attitude toward the seller as the outcomes of IRP. – The data for the study were collected from 272 respondents through a structured survey and analyzed through structural equation modeling technique using AMOS 22.0. – Altruism and social desirability positively influence IRP whereas price consciousness influences IRP negatively. IRP mediates the effects of altruism, social desirability and price consciousness on WTP, future purchase intention and attitude toward the seller. – PWYW pricing strategy can help attract consumers with self-less characteristics or a desire to behave in a socially appropriate manner but not those who are highly price conscious as reflected by the differences in the way in which their IRPs influence their WTP, future purchase intention and attitude toward the seller. – This paper introduces a parsimonious framework to explain how three consumer characteristics influence consumers’ pricing decisions in PWYW context. The finding that the effects of antecedent variables on WTP, attitude and future purchase intention are mediated by IRP provides new insights that have not been explored earlier.
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2018
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 10-2021
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 2017
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 16-03-2015
DOI: 10.1108/JOSM-03-2013-0062
Abstract: – The purpose of this paper is to introduce a comprehensive framework incorporating service roles (customer vs employee) and outcomes (failure vs success) as moderators in the process by which perceived cultural distance (PCD) affects customers and employees in intercultural service encounters (ICSEs). – The authors used a 2×2×3 between-subjects experimental design with Chinese undergraduate students, manipulating service role (customer and employee), outcome (failure and success) and PCD (low, medium and high). – Compared to service employees, customers perceive higher cultural distance and lower interaction comfort (IC), service quality and satisfaction and stronger negative moderating effect of PCD in ICSEs. Compared to service success, failure results in lower IC perceived service quality and satisfaction, and these effects are stronger for customers (vs employees). – The authors used shorter versions of all the scales to minimize participant fatigue and to increase their involvement along with an experimental design with imaginary service scenario, both of which may restrict the generalizability of the findings. – Service managers should focus on customer education and employee training to reduce the negative impact of PCD and prevent service failure rather than try to improve service quality and satisfaction beyond customers’ expectations. – The authors extend prior research by exploring the moderating effects of service role (customer vs employee) and outcome (success vs failure) on the direct and indirect effects of PCD on IC, service quality and satisfaction.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2010
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.JSR.2022.04.006
Abstract: This paper uses an extensive review of the safety culture literature to identify three key themes (a) role of new employees, (b) absence of a pro-active approach, and (c) need for a 'No-blame' culture, and explores their impact on the occupational health and safety culture (OHS). We use a qualitative study with a constructivist phenomenological approach consisting of 55 in-depth interviews with a erse range of participants, including business owners, line managers and supervisors, OHS advisors, workers, and union representatives in Western Australia. A workplace vignette was used to elicit cultural norms derived from the participants' attitudes and beliefs, which were analyzed using NVivo software to conduct a thematic analysis to classify the interview text into specific concepts and phrases. Findings confirm the three themes identified from our literature review and provide useful insights into the challenges faced by the participants in the implementation of safety policies. Besides extending the occupational health and safety literature, these findings have important managerial implications in view of the evolving nature of work and workplaces.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Date: 04-2013
Abstract: Today, call center employees’ service encounters with external customers are extensively supported with modern information technology (IT). However, prior research on service quality and zone of tolerance (ZOT) focuses primarily on external customers with little attention paid to how internal customers (e.g., service employees) respond to services provided by internal functions, particularly IT function that supports employees’ IT use. Drawing on theory of administrative behavior and IT success literature, we conducted a study at a call center of a telecommunications firm and found that the impact of internal IT service quality (ITSQ) on employees’ service quality (ESQ) to external customers, as well as on their satisfaction with and use of the deployed technology, exhibits a positive diminishing pattern as ITSQ increases from below to within and to above the ZOT. We also found that ITSQ’s impact on ESQ employees' satisfaction with technology changes more dramatically around adequate service level than desired service level. Finally, we show that call center employees’ satisfaction with technology partially mediates ITSQ’s impact on ESQ. Besides adding to the service and IT literature, our findings suggest that managers should understand internal customers’ different levels of expectations toward internal IT service and the differential performance impacts of those levels.
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 06-05-2017
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to empirically examine the interactive effects of message framing, perceived threat and efficacy appeals on attitudes/intentions toward consumer healthcare communications, particularly, cataract surgery. This paper develops two conceptual models dealing with threat, efficacy and framing and tests them with data collected from two field experiments. The results reveal that high efficacy messages in combination with high threat or loss-framed messages have a significant positive influence on consumer attitudes and intentions in the consumer healthcare arena. The findings have managerial value and public policy implications for healthcare officials in developing effective communications material. Specifically, this paper recommends that high threat, high efficacy and loss-framed efficacy messages be used. This research extends previous work by demonstrating the effectiveness of threat appeals and framing on consumer attitudes and intentions to undergo cataract surgery. It also demonstrates the use of communication models in the healthcare domain.
Publisher: Swiss Association of Communication and Media Research; Università della Svizzera italiana, Faculty of Communication Sciences
Date: 2005
DOI: 10.5169/SEALS-790931
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2019
Publisher: Springer International Publishing
Date: 2017
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 05-2018
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 31-01-2022
DOI: 10.1108/JPBM-12-2020-3250
Abstract: This paper aims to examine the differences in the process by which three types of self-congruity (actual, ideal and social) interact with the need for uniqueness (NFU) to influence brand loyalty via brand experience and brand attachment. An online survey with 428 members of an Australian consumer panel. The data are analyzed using the structural equation modeling (SEM). The results show that social self-congruity (SSC) has a direct effect on the brand attachment, but actual and ideal self-congruity (ASC and ISC) influence it only indirectly through brand experience. Moreover, the NFU strengthens the positive effect of ISC but weakens the effect of SSC on brand attachment. This study uses publicly consumed brands and the NFU as the moderator. Future research may study privately consumer brands and use other moderators, such as regulatory focus (promotion vs prevention). This study extends current research on brand attachment by highlighting the positive influence of SSC on brand attachment. It also establishes the mediating role of brand experience and the moderating role of the NFU. These are new insights about the underlying process and the boundary conditions for the well-established relationship between self-congruity and brand attachment.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 03-2021
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 08-2020
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 06-06-2019
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 18-11-2020
DOI: 10.1108/JBIM-01-2020-0034
Abstract: This paper aims to explore the impact of salespeople’s goal orientation and self-regulatory mode on their performance through sales ambidexterity and sales technology infusion (STI) using a sales technology ecosystem approach. This paper adopts a qualitative methodology, through in-depth interviews with salespeople from a erse range of industries, age profiles and contexts, to explore the narratives and original meanings related to their goal orientation, self-regulatory mode, ambidexterity, STI and performance. Sceptics are salespeople who may fear or hesitate to fully use the sales technology, whereas enthusiasts are ambidextrous salespeople with high STI, who are more open to change and able to face uncertainty, regardless of the differences in their background in terms of industry, age and experience. STI may be influenced by in idual factors, such as the salesperson’s goal orientation and self-regulatory mode. Hence, sales organizations should try to foster and facilitate further STI and sales ambidexterity, which are key to achieving positive outcomes in today’s technology-intensive sales settings. This paper extends the current literature on sales technology and sales ambidexterity within a sales technology ecosystem perspective and provides new insight on the combined impact of these variables on the salesperson’s performance.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-03-2021
DOI: 10.1002/MAR.21474
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 11-2023
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 12-2016
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
Date: 28-11-2007
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 10-08-2015
Abstract: – This paper aims to extend the current research on zone of tolerance (ZOT) and its antecedents, to the context of business-to-business (B2B) professional services from both client and service firms’ perspectives, with a modified ZOT framework including five client and service firms attributes as antecedents of desired (DSL) and adequate (ASL) service levels. Prior research on zone of tolerance (ZOT) and its antecedents mostly focuses on business-to-consumer services and customers’ perspective. The authors address these gaps with a modified ZOT framework with five attributes of client and service firms as antecedents of customer expectations, namely, desired service level (DSL) and adequate service level (ASL), for business-to-business (B2B) professional services. – A combination of qualitative (focus groups) and quantitative (online survey) research methods with managers of professional audit firms and their clients, using a reduced AUDITQUAL instrument with 39 items and seven dimensions. – Professional firm size and fee premium have a positive effect on DSL service tenure positively influences both DSL and ASL client firm size has a negative effect on DSL both client and service firm sizes positively moderate each other’s influence on the DSL and DSL positively influences ASL. – The authors study a single B2B professional service (audit) in a single city (Hong Kong) from a single perspective (customers) that may limit the generalizability of the findings. Future research should validate the findings for other B2B professional services in erse locations and also include service providers’ expectations and perceptions. – Managers in professional service firms should understand the factors influencing different levels of expectations for their customers and develop suitable strategies (e.g. customer education and employee training) to manage these expectations more effectively. – The authors extend current research on customer expectations and ZOT by identifying five unique attributes of professional service and client firms and testing their roles as antecedents of adequate and DSLs using AUDITQUAL instrument.
Publisher: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
Date: 2023
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 06-2019
DOI: 10.1016/J.APPET.2019.03.008
Abstract: Few studies have examined the antecedents of nutrition involvement. Similarly, conflicting results have been recorded on the relationship between nutrition involvement and knowledge, knowledge and dietary behaviors, and nutrition involvement and dietary behaviors. This paper addresses these research gaps by exploring the role of regulatory focus as an antecedent of nutrition involvement. It also examines the effect of nutrition involvement on nutrition knowledge and the effects of both involvement and knowledge on diet adjustment. A large-scale study with 1125 Taiwanese consumers demonstrates a positive effect of promotion focus and no significant effect of prevention focus, on nutrition involvement. Income moderates the effect of promotion focus on nutrition involvement, which in turn has positive effects on nutrition knowledge and diet adjustment. Nutrition knowledge also has a positive effect on diet adjustment. The study clarifies these relationships and provides suggestions to policy making.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 07-2018
Publisher: Emerald
Date: 14-02-2020
Abstract: This paper aims to combine the social–technical systems and social exchange theories with the resource-based view of the firm, to investigate how business-to-business (B2B) service firms manage their social and technical resources to manage customer relationships. An online survey-based study with 321 managers working in Australian small and medium (SME) firms is used to test hypotheses about the sequential and substitutional impact of four social and technical resources (service quality, satisfaction, trust and commitment) on customer loyalty, using both offline and online platforms. The findings show that both social and technical chains of effects are viable channels for B2B service firms to build customer loyalty however, mixing of both social and technical resources results in the weakening of both these chains. The results based on B2B service relationships between Australian SME firms and their banks may not be generalizable to other contexts. This research would help managers in B2B service firms understand the pitfalls of combining their social and technical resources because it may h er their ability to build customer loyalty. Hence, they need to learn how to synergize their marketing resources across both offline and online platforms to achieve optimal results. This research introduces social and technical chains of effects as a novel way to examine the ability of B2B service firms to optimize their social and technical resources in a synergistic manner to build and nurture stronger customer relationships.
No related grants have been discovered for Piyush Sharma.