Khalid Hussain, Asma Afzaal, Maha Khamis Al Balushi and Muhammad Junaid
The intense competition among restaurant brands made it difficult to retain and engage customers. Service innovation can play a vital role to serve this purpose, however…
Abstract
Purpose
The intense competition among restaurant brands made it difficult to retain and engage customers. Service innovation can play a vital role to serve this purpose, however, restaurant brands' efforts to bringing innovativeness may not yield desired results unless customers perceive them innovative. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the role of customer perceived innovativeness (CPRI) in enhancing brand love and evangelism among customers. This study compares these effects between fast-food and continental restaurants to offer deeper insights.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 303 customers of fast-food and continental restaurants through self-administered structured questionnaire. The reliability and validity were established through confirmatory factor analysis. The hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling and multi-group SEM with MPlus.
Findings
The findings of this study reveal that menu, experiential and promotional innovativeness dimensions of CPRI positively influence brand love. The effects of CPRI dimensions transcend to brand evangelism dimensions, i.e. brand purchase intension, positive brand referrals and oppositional brand referrals via brand love. The multi-group analysis showed that continental restaurants' menu innovativeness strongly impacts brand love and evangelism while promotional innovativeness matters more in the context of fast-food restaurants.
Practical implications
This study helps restaurant managers in devising tailor made strategies for fast-food and continental restaurants by focusing on the relevant attributes to bring innovation.
Originality/value
This research is one of the pioneering studies to investigate the relationship of CPRI with brand evangelism through the mediating role of brand love. This study also marks an initial attempt to compare fast-food and continental restaurants in the context of CPRI.
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Khalid Hussain, Fengjie Jing, Muhammad Junaid, Farasat Ali Shah Bukhari and Huayu Shi
The purpose of this paper is to suggest that the effects of service quality (SQ) on outcome variables may shift over time. However, scant attention has been paid to capturing that…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to suggest that the effects of service quality (SQ) on outcome variables may shift over time. However, scant attention has been paid to capturing that shift. The current study uses the theory of relationship dynamics to capture the rate and direction of change in the effects of SQ attributes on customer satisfaction (CS) and emotional attachment (EA). For this purpose, the study takes CS-velocity and EA-velocity as dynamic outcomes of SQ.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 306 restaurant consumers responded to a structured questionnaire at three points in time. Confirmatory factor analysis was carried out, followed by analysis of the data through latent growth curve modeling using MPlus (Version 8.1).
Findings
SQ attributes positively affect CS and EA, but these effects diminish over time, as SQ attributes negatively influence CS-velocity and EA-velocity. In addition, the study demonstrates that dynamic elements strongly impact behavioral intentions (BI).
Practical implications
The study enables service and relationship marketing managers to better understand the role of SQ attributes in maintaining longitudinal satisfaction, attachment and BI. The insights from this longitudinal investigation help managers to formulate long-term service management and relationship management strategies.
Originality/value
This study is the first attempt to examine SQ’s dynamic outcomes using longitudinal panel data. It is the first study to introduce EA-velocity as a dynamic construct of EA and the first to examine the relationships of CS-velocity and EA-velocity with BI.
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Khalid Hussain, Fengjie Jing, Muhammad Junaid, Qamar Uz Zaman and Huayu Shi
This study aims to investigate the outcomes of customers’ co-creation experience in a realistic and routinely performed co-creation setting, a restaurant. To fulfill this purpose…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the outcomes of customers’ co-creation experience in a realistic and routinely performed co-creation setting, a restaurant. To fulfill this purpose, the current study links the branding literature to hospitality research and offers a novel framework by incorporating customers’ co-creation experience, customer brand engagement, emotional brand attachment and customer satisfaction in an integrated research model.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 421 diners at Chinese hotpot restaurants via a self-administered questionnaire. The reliability and convergent and discriminant validities were established through confirmatory factor analysis, and then hypotheses were tested through structural equation modeling.
Findings
This study demonstrates that customers’ co-creation experience with a restaurant brand positively impacts customer brand engagement, emotional brand attachment and customer satisfaction. In addition, current study examines these relational paths at the dimensional level by taking the co-creation experience and customer brand engagement as multidimensional constructs. The resulting in-depth investigation reveals that the hedonic, social and economic experience dimensions of co-creation experience positively influence customer satisfaction, emotional brand attachment and customer brand engagement’s buying, referring, influencing and feedback dimensions.
Practical implications
This study helps relationship and brand managers better understand customer experience in co-creation settings and paves the way for managers to devise engagement strategies.
Originality/value
The current study marks an initial attempt to delineate the outcomes of customers’ co-creation experience in a realistic co-creation setting. Furthermore, the study is first of its kind that investigates the relationship of co-creation experience and customer brand engagement at the dimensional level.
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Mirza Mohammad Didarul Alam, Khalid Hussain, Khaldoon Nusair and Shamsun Nahar Momotaz
This paper investigates the influence of e-service quality (process and user experience) and price fairness on customer satisfaction, which, as a consequence, affects brand love…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates the influence of e-service quality (process and user experience) and price fairness on customer satisfaction, which, as a consequence, affects brand love toward Food Delivery App (FDA) services. More importantly, it examines the moderating roles of generation (Gen Y vs Gen Z) and usage frequency (low vs high) in affecting user behaviors.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 354 food delivery app users (Gen Y and Z) in Bangladesh through structured questionnaire and analyzed with PLS-SEM.
Findings
The findings show that, apart from reliability, all the dimensions of service quality influence app users’ satisfaction, which, in turn, enhances their brand love. Furthermore, the outcome reveals that the impact of customer satisfaction on brand love is stronger among Gen Y compared to Gen Z. Finally, the outcomes suggest that as users use the FDA services more frequently, the relationship between customer satisfaction and brand love weakens.
Practical implications
The study outcomes facilitate the FDA service providers and restaurant operators to focus on the quality and price of services to ensure the satisfaction and brand love of Gen Y and Gen Z. Separate policies must be taken for Gen Y and Gen Z to manage their brand love towards FDA services.
Originality/value
Grounded on the S-O-R paradigm and the Generational Cohort theory, this study expands the knowledge horizon of FDA services by focusing the behavior of Gen Y and Gen Z. More specifically, investigating how the impact of user satisfaction on brand love towards FDA services changes across generations and usage frequency are the novel contributions of this study.
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Muhammad Zulfiqar, Khalid Hussain, Muhammad Usman Yousaf, Nadeem Sohail and Sadeen Ghafoor
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of Chinese listed family firms on lean innovation strategies. Additionally, the authors also examined the moderating role of CEO…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of Chinese listed family firms on lean innovation strategies. Additionally, the authors also examined the moderating role of CEO compensation on the family ownership and lean innovation strategies relationship.
Design/methodology/approach
Data is obtained from CSMAR database about Chinese family firms listed at Shenzhen Stock Exchange and Shanghai Stock Exchange. Panel data comprising of firm year observations from 2007 to 2016 is analyzed using STATA.
Findings
Family firms are proactive towards research and development investment (innovation input) as well as towards patent applications (innovation output). Moreover, family firms show propensity towards patent applications and towards converting their R&D investment into granted patent applications. CEO compensation negatively moderates the nexus between family firms and lean innovation which seriously needs to be addressed to reduce agency costs.
Research limitations/implications
The study has focused on Chinese market only. The study is useful for policy makers to address the serious concerns identified in the conclusion section, i.e. effectiveness of CEO compensation in addressing the lean innovation strategies in emerging economy like that of China.
Originality/value
Given the usually considered conservative approach of family firms towards innovation, this is the first study which has tested the moderating role of CEO compensation on family firms and lean innovation relationship in an emerging economy. This study is unique because it provides a detailed analysis of lean innovation process by splitting the process into different stages. The negative moderating impact of CEO compensation raises new concerns to resolve agency conflicts.
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Md Moynul Hasan, Yu Chang, Khalid Hussain and Lu Tingyu
Drawing on service-dominant logic and co-creation literature, this study explores how social media marketing activities (SMMAs) in online healthcare communities (OHCs) impact…
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on service-dominant logic and co-creation literature, this study explores how social media marketing activities (SMMAs) in online healthcare communities (OHCs) impact patients’ electronic word of mouth (E-WOM). Additionally, it aims to understand how patients’ E-WOM contributes to participation in value co-creation (PVCC) during the healthcare journey and influences patient well-being. This study also investigates the mediating role of patients’ E-WOM in bridging the relationship between the dimensions of SMMAs and patient PVCC dimensions.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 601 healthcare customers through a structured survey. Hypotheses were tested using partial least structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) with SmartPLS 4.0.
Findings
Results demonstrate that interactivity and trendiness dimensions of SMMAs positively impact patients’ E-WOM communication. Patients’ E-WOM communication enhances their PVCC by influencing information seeking, information sharing, personal interaction and responsible behavior dimensions. Information seeking, personal interaction and responsible behavior in patient-provider interactions during the healthcare journey augment patients’ well-being, such as satisfying patients’ overall healthcare needs, ensuring mental peace and physical comfort and guaranteeing quality of life. Additionally, patients’ E-WOM mediates the relationship between SMMAs dimensions, such as interactivity and trendiness, with each dimension of patient PVCC.
Originality/value
This study extends the service-dominant logic and enriches the literature on healthcare service co-creation. It explores how SMMAs can enhance patient PVCC through E-WOM and improve patient well-being. Additionally, it provides valuable insights for social media marketing managers, healthcare professionals and marketing strategists.
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Khalid Hussain, Muhammad Junaid, Muzhar Javed, Moazzam Ali and Asif Iqbal
This study aims to investigate the effect of healthy food advertising (HFA) in preventing obesity (measured using the healthy eating attitude and perceived self-regulatory…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the effect of healthy food advertising (HFA) in preventing obesity (measured using the healthy eating attitude and perceived self-regulatory success) through the meta-cognitive role of consumer wisdom (CW). The meta-cognitive role of CW to better promote healthy eating attitude and behavior is relevant and underexplored.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 310 young consumers through an online survey. Reliability and validity were established using confirmatory factor analysis, and hypotheses were analyzed through structural equation modeling using MPlus V8.3.
Findings
The results reveal that HFA has a positive influence on all dimensions of CW: responsibility, purpose, perspective, reasoning and sustainability. All dimensions but one augment a positive healthy eating attitude, but only responsibility and sustainability enhance consumers’ self-regulatory success. The findings show that HFA does not directly prevent obesity, but CW mediates the relationship between that advertising and obesity prevention. These findings show that CW establishes a mindful connection between HFA and obesity control.
Research limitations/implications
This research extends the theory of CW in the context of healthful eating and contributes significantly to the advertising, hospitality and obesity literature.
Practical implications
This study also has implications for multiple stakeholders, including consumers, restaurant operators, hospitality managers, brand managers, the government and society in general.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study marks the first attempt to investigate the role of CW in preventing obesity. It is also the first study to examine the relationships of HFA with CW and a healthful attitude toward eating.
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Muhammad Junaid, Marc Fetscherin, Khalid Hussain and Fujun Hou
This study aims to investigate the relationship between brand love and brand addiction and their effects on consumers' negative behaviors with respect to excessive spending…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the relationship between brand love and brand addiction and their effects on consumers' negative behaviors with respect to excessive spending, trash-talking and the feeling of anxiety.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 352 young fashion brand consumers responded to a structured questionnaire. The resulting data were analyzed with structural equation modeling in MPlus.
Findings
While brand love and brand addiction are related concepts, their effects on negative consumer behaviors differ. In the presence of brand addiction as a mediator of brand love, brand addiction has a significant effect on the three negative behaviors, and the authors observe a suppression effect of brand love on the outcome variables, with total effects (direct and indirect) being insignificant.
Research limitations/implications
The main limitation of this study was its single-country cross-sectional convenience sample.
Practical implications
While brand addiction could aid brands by leading consumers to spend excessively on them and trash-talk rival brands, it may also lead to increased consumer anxiety.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to empirically assess the relationship between brand love and brand addiction and their effects on three distinctive negative consumer behaviors. This shows that brand love is an important antecedent of brand addiction.
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Khalid Hussain, Fengjie Jing, Muhammad Junaid, Huayu Shi and Usman Baig
Contemporary scholars contend that the buyer–seller relationship is dynamic in nature, so it grows, matures and declines over time. However, most studies that adopt the dynamic…
Abstract
Purpose
Contemporary scholars contend that the buyer–seller relationship is dynamic in nature, so it grows, matures and declines over time. However, most studies that adopt the dynamic perspective debates its conceptualization and how dynamic effects are captured. This scholarly discourse has led to multiple dynamic perspectives and resulted in fragmented and scattered literature on the subject. This study aims to synthesize the large body of research on dynamic perspectives in a systematic way.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper follows a systematic review approach to extract and review 192 research articles from four electronic databases: Web of Science, EBSCOhost Business, ScienceDirect and Emerald. Based on the inclusion criteria that the articles examine time-dependent relationship development in light of a generalizable dynamic perspective, 61 articles were selected for the final examination and reporting.
Findings
This review reveals that most research on the buyer–seller dynamic relationship follows at least one of four perspectives: the relationship lifecycle, relationship age, relationship velocity and the asymmetric–dynamic perspective. Each perspective offers a distinct conceptualization of relationship development and has certain advantages that enable researchers to capture information about relationships’ growth trajectory in a unique manner.
Practical implications
Firms need a set of diverse strategies for their customers, depending on the state of the relationships’ development, as strategies that pay off at initial levels may fail at later stages. This study helps managers select an appropriate dynamic perspective that best aligns with their customers’ stage of relationship development so they can devise customized relationship-management strategies.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this article is the first attempt to organize the discourse of a large body of research on dynamic perspectives, and therefore it helps academicians and practitioners to choose the dynamic perspective that best suits their objectives and research settings. This review documents key research areas that have been overlooked and highlights opportunities for future research.