The purpose of this study is to investigate the contribution of benevolence as a moderator variable that enhances the effect of service employees' competence on the customer's…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the contribution of benevolence as a moderator variable that enhances the effect of service employees' competence on the customer's perception of a service firm's image.
Design/methodology/approach
A hierarchical multiple regression analysis was performed on data collected from 445 customers in a financial service setting to assess the influence of competence and benevolence, as well as their interactive effects on corporate image.
Findings
The results show a significant interaction between competence and benevolence in their influence on corporate image. The results reinforce the idea that benevolence intervenes as a moderator variable that enhances the impact of competence on corporate image.
Research limitations/implications
The study has limited generalisation given the convenient sample and the great variety of service industries. The efficacy of the direct measures and the hierarchical multiple regression must be considered. It would be helpful to realise similar studies in other service settings by using multidimensional scales of competence, benevolence and corporate image.
Practical implications
Service firms should not only highlight the role of the service employees' expertise but also their attitude and behaviour during the service encounter in a manner so as to increase the customer's trust in the firm's capability, to satisfy his/her needs and to enhance the firm's image.
Originality/value
The present study contributes specifically to understanding how major characteristics of service employees can influence the assessment of corporate image by consumers.
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This paper aims to argue that Economics is not a neutral science.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to argue that Economics is not a neutral science.
Design/methodology/approach
Post-structuralist perspective of Lyotard (1984), alongside the Pragmatics of Searle (1979) and Travis (1981) are useful for analyzing enunciations in mainstream Economics.
Findings
Economists use illocutionary acts expressed in formal language to achieve perlocutionary effects. Because of the importance attached to objectivity in mainstream Economics, the use of artificial languages is preferred to natural language. However, formal language is preferred regarding its perlocutionary effects on economists' community.
Originality/value
This paper puts together the Continental and the Analytical Philosophy and show, in an original manner, how their intersections and how they can be useful to better understand the epistemology of Economics.
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Argues that convergent trends in environmental evolution have led toconvergent swings towards structural changes in the European retailingmarket. However, substantial differences…
Abstract
Argues that convergent trends in environmental evolution have led to convergent swings towards structural changes in the European retailing market. However, substantial differences continue to survive, each country preserving its specificities, the fruits of its history and culture. The single European market is not therefore uniform and, compared with the manufacturing industry, remains localized.
Sarah Curtis and Anne‐Cecile Hoyez
This review arises from a series of multidisciplinary Franco‐British workshops which were supported by a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Agence…
Abstract
This review arises from a series of multidisciplinary Franco‐British workshops which were supported by a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Agence Nationale de la Recherche (ANR). More than 30 participants from a range of institutions and agencies were involved in compiling the material in this review (Appendix I). The workshops offered an opportunity to exchange ideas from research on the relationships between migration, health and well‐being in Britain and France. In the following discussion we compare and contrast experiences in the two countries, with the aim of assessing the importance of international, national and local contexts, in their various cultural, social and political dimensions, for the relationships of interest. Drawing on these ideas, we suggest the definition of a future international research agenda.
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Nompumelelo Zungu, Warren Parker, Inbarani Naidoo, Mokhantšo Makoae and Salome Sigida
Complex inequalities have shaped the trajectory of the HIV epidemic in South Africa. These include factors related to gender disempowerment, poverty, family disruption and…
Abstract
Complex inequalities have shaped the trajectory of the HIV epidemic in South Africa. These include factors related to gender disempowerment, poverty, family disruption and violence – all of which have intensified the risk of HIV infection among the majority of South Africans, contributing to one of the most severe country-level HIV epidemics globally. Neo-liberal economic policies adopted in the post-apartheid period failed to address poverty and burgeoning urban migration – both of which were key factors exacerbating vulnerability to HIV. While there was, ostensibly, a strong commitment to addressing the HIV epidemic by the post-apartheid government, HIV prevalence among pregnant women quadrupled from 7.6% in 1994 to 30.2% in 2005. Contributing to this rise, was a series of missteps by the national Department of Health in the late 1990s, which constrained HIV prevention efforts and stifled HIV treatment. The mid-2000s saw a reprioritisation of the response to the epidemic, with international guidelines supported by biomedical and social research underpinning a rights- and evidence-based response. Multisectoral HIV prevention activities were complemented by high levels of investment in implementing prevention of mother to child HIV transmission and expanding access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV through the public sector. While these efforts contributed to stabilising the epidemic, stark inequalities in vulnerability and susceptibility to HIV infection continued – in particular, among youth. In this chapter, we draw on a review of the research literature to describe concerns and explore opportunities for a response.
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The purpose of this paper is to expand the Swiss Index of Customer Satisfaction (SWICS) model by investigating the role of customer dialogue in the interrelationships among…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to expand the Swiss Index of Customer Satisfaction (SWICS) model by investigating the role of customer dialogue in the interrelationships among customer satisfaction, customer trust, perceived value and customer loyalty upon Vietnam banking industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The conceptual framework was developed from both an exploratory research with focus group method and the literature. A structural equation model linking customer dialogue to customer satisfaction, customer trust, perceived value and loyalty is tested using data from a sample of 389 Vietnamese individual bank customers.
Findings
The results indicate the key role of customer dialogue in bank marketing since it not only has an independent impact on customer loyalty but also mediates the effect of customer satisfaction on loyalty completely and the relationship between customer trust and loyalty partially. Besides, the central role of customer trust was also highlighted since it mediates totally the effect of perceived value on both of customer dialogue and customer loyalty while explaining partially the path from customer satisfaction and customer dialogue.
Research limitations/implications
First, regarding sample size, the authors have used suitable sampling methods with adequate sample representation. However, a larger sample size with more diverse age range and usage of various banking services may be more helpful and effective for the path analysis and managerial implication. Second, the authors have used only a limited set of measurement items due to the concerns of model parsimony and data collection efficiency. For example, perceived value can be measured upon more detailed dimensions, and yet the author focussed only on some selected measures based mainly on their relevance to the context studied.
Practical implications
The findings imply that building trust and engaging with customers better through communication are keys for Vietnamese commercial banks to gain more customer loyalty in such competitive conditions.
Originality/value
The study is noteworthy that it adds perceived value and customer trust in the SWICS model and investigates the interrelationships between all variables in a single model.
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With the development of new public libraries such as the Idea Stores in Tower Hamlets and Discovery Centres in Hampshire, it has been debated whether the inclusion of non‐book…
Abstract
Purpose
With the development of new public libraries such as the Idea Stores in Tower Hamlets and Discovery Centres in Hampshire, it has been debated whether the inclusion of non‐book materials and activities illustrates the death of public libraries by the marginalisation of books. This paper aims to investigate these assumptions by examining the use of space in public library buildings for book and non‐book purposes over time.
Design/methodology/approach
The methodology involves a survey of secondary data on library buildings and the comparison of floor plans, observations and stock statistics of libraries in the two authorities over time.
Findings
This study concludes that the inclusion of non‐book space is not a new trend in library buildings and that books still have a significant role in terms of floor space and stock in new libraries even with the increased addition of non‐book space, illustrating less dramatic changes than suggested by some commentators. These trends in fact indicate a diversification of public libraries and their buildings not their imminent death.
Research limitations/implications
Although this research was only able to study a few examples of libraries, this alternative method of investigating space could be repeated in future research.
Originality/value
The study of use of space in libraries is important as it has implications for the library profession and the design of future library buildings. This methodology provides a different way of studying the issues of space.