The importance of developing and maintaining enduring relationships with customers service businesses is generally accepted in the marketing literature. A key challenge for researchers to identify understand how managerially controlled antecedent variables influence important relationship outcomes (e.g., customer loyalty word-of-mouth communication). Relational benefits, which have a focus on benefits consumers receive apart from core service, quality, focuses overall nature relationship,...

Recent years have witnessed the rise of new media channels such as Facebook, YouTube, Google, and Twitter, which enable customers to take a more active role market players reach (and be reached by) almost everyone anywhere anytime. These threaten long established business models corporate strategies, but also provide ample opportunities for growth through adaptive strategies. This paper introduces ‘‘pinball’’ framework media’s impact on relationships with identifies key phenomena companies...

Customer satisfaction with a company's products or services is often seen as the key to success and long-term competitiveness. In context of relationship marketing, customer viewed central determinant retention. However, few empirical investigations in this area indicate that direct between these constructs weak even nonexistent. The overall purpose article develop conceptual foundation for investigating retention process, use concepts quality. involves critical examination...

The Internet makes it possible for consumers to obtain electronic word of mouth from other consumers. Customer comments articulated via the are available a vast number customers, and therefore can be expected have significant impact on success goods services. This paper derives several motives that explain why customers retrieve customers' on-line articulations Web-based consumer opinion platforms. relevance these their buying communication behavior tested in large-scale empirical study....

In this study, the authors examine effects of two facets employee emotions on customers' assessments service encounters. Drawing emotional contagion and labor theories, they investigate influence extent employees' display positive authenticity their states and, subsequently, interaction relationship with provider. To test study hypotheses, 223 consumers participated in a simulated encounter which actors played roles employees. 2 × factorial design, employees varied both smiling behavior by...

With the performance of service personnel often constituting a major element per se , customer orientation is regarded as main determinant firms' success. Drawing on deductively derived four‐dimensional conceptualization personnel, consisting employees' technical skills, social motivation, and decision‐making power, model impact has key marketing constructs theoretically developed. The then empirically tested against sample 989 consumers for two contexts (i.e. book/CD/DVD retailers travel...

The loyalty of customers is widely accepted as a critical factor in the long-term success service firm. In this article, authors develop model student by combining growing body knowledge on relationship marketing context services with insights from more traditional educational research. Their quality-based (RQSL) proposes that mainly determined dimensions quality. also includes students’ integration into university system and external commitment second-order factors. test RQSL using...

In this research, we extend emotional labor theories to the customer domain by developing and testing a theoretical model of effects employee on outcomes. Dyadic survey data from 285 service interactions between employees customers show that employees' strategies deep surface acting differentially influence customers' evaluations accuracy in detecting can intensify impact. We also investigate potential moderating type relationship outcomes but find no support for such an effect.

In this study, the authors examine effects of two facets employee emotions on customers’ assessments service encounters. Drawing emotional contagion and labor theories, they investigate influence extent employees’ display positive authenticity their states and, subsequently, interaction relationship with provider. To test study hypotheses, 223 consumers participated in a simulated encounter which actors played roles employees. 2 × factorial design, employees varied both smiling behavior by...

Emotional dissonance resulting from an employee's emotional labor is usually considered to lead negative employee outcomes, such as job dissatisfaction and exhaustion. Drawing on Festinger's (1957) cognitive theory, we argue that the relationship between service employees' surface acting exhaustion moderated by 2 aspects of a worker's self-concept: importance displaying authentic emotions (reflecting self-concept's self-liking dimension) self-efficacy when faking self-competence dimension)....

Abstract Real-time multisensory social interactions (RMSIs) between people are at the center of metaverse, a new computer-mediated environment consisting virtual “worlds” in which act and communicate with each other real-time via avatars. This research investigates whether RMSIs when accessed through virtual-reality headsets, can generate more value for interactants terms interaction outcomes (interaction performance, evaluation, emotional responses) than those on two-dimensional (2D)...

Illegal consumer file sharing of motion pictures is considered a major threat to the movie industry. Whereas industry advocates and some scholars postulate cannibalistic effect on commercial forms consumption, other researchers deny this effect, though sound evidence lacking both sides. Drawing extant research utility theory, authors present hypotheses consequences determinants test them with data from controlled longitudinal panel study German consumers. The contain information consumers'...

The lack of previous relevant consumer research in Germany, together with the need to test generalizability decision‐making styles different countries and non‐student samples, prompted an investigation German shoppers. original U.S. eight‐factor model could not be confirmed completely, but support was found for six factors: Brand Consciousness, Perfectionism, Recreational/Hedonism, Confused by Overchoice, Impulsiveness , Novelty‐Fashion Consciousness. Variety Seeking novel Germany replaced...

Abstract This article discusses the idea of a strategic communication customer skills - rather neglected relationship marketing strategy. is based on an interpretation as company's partner in value production process. Customer are defined total all product-related knowledge and relevance to any aspect customer's post-purchase behaviour (e.g. ability use full range product features). The author assesses whether communicating strategically may lead increase perceived quality retention key...

Hierarchical loyalty programs award elevated customer status (e.g., "elite membership") to consumers who meet a predefined spending level. However, if subsequently falls short of the required level, firms commonly revoke that status. The authors investigate impact such demotion on intentions toward firm. Building prospect theory and emotions theory, hypothesize changes in have an asymmetric negative effect, is stronger than positive increases. An experimental scenario study provides evidence...

Abstract With ever increasing amounts of marketplace information, confusion is becoming a problem for consumers and marketers, yet the topic remains under researched. This paper explores dimensions consumers' general tendency to become confused its relevance marketing practitioners. A three component conceptual model developed, operationalised validated using sample 264 consumers. Using structural equation modelling, results support similarity, overload ambiguity which have significant...

Although substantial differences between product quality and service have spurred research for the past 30 years, studies of brand extension success drivers in a services context measure core driver parent quality, using scales developed fast moving consumer goods (FMCG). This study instead assesses with context-specific measure, drawn from research, analyzes relative effects key services. Partial least squares (PLS) modeling offers diagnostic information about impact three dimensions...

Abstract VHB-JOURQUAL represents the official journal ranking of German Academic Association for Business Research. Since its introduction in 2003, has become most influential evaluation approach German-speaking countries, impacting several key managerial decisions German, Austrian, and Swiss business schools. This article reports methodological ranking’s second edition. It also presents main results additional analyses on validity rating underlying decision processes respondents. Selected...

Illegal consumer file sharing of motion pictures is considered a major threat to the movie industry. Whereas industry advocates and some scholars postulate cannibalistic effect on commercial forms consumption, other researchers deny this effect, though sound evidence lacking both sides. Drawing extant research utility theory, authors present hypotheses consequences determinants test them with data from controlled longitudinal panel study German consumers. The contain information consumers'...