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Grounded on approach/avoidance behaviour theory, the purpose of this paper is to develop a typology of grocery shoppers based on the concomitant perceived advantages and disadvantages of shopping online and in store for a single cohort of consumers who buy groceries in both channels.

A survey design was employed using a sample of 871 UK shoppers who had purchased groceries online and offline. The survey instrument contained items that measured the perceived advantages and disadvantages of grocery shopping online, and items relating to the perceived advantages and disadvantages of grocery shopping in traditional supermarkets. Items were selected from the extant literature and subjected to content and face validity checks. Cluster analysis was used to develop typologies of online and offline grocery shoppers. The inter-relation between the two typology sets was then examined.

The results of the research provide several insights into the characteristics, perceptions and channel patronage preferences of grocery shoppers. In particular, profiling e-grocery shoppers on the basis of their concomitant perceptions of shopping online and in store suggests that the choice of whether to shop online or in store may be driven not by the perceived advantages of one channel vs the other, but by the desire to avoid the greater disadvantages of the alternative. These perceptions differ somewhat between different consumer groups.

This study makes a noteworthy contribution to the internet and general shopping literature by providing a profile of grocery shoppers based on their concomitant and often conflicting perceived advantages and disadvantages of shopping online and their perceived advantages and disadvantages of shopping in traditional supermarkets. The use of a single cohort of consumers overcomes the bias in previous studies that employ separate cohorts of online and offline shoppers and reveal important insights into the complex perceptions and behaviours of multichannel grocery shoppers.

Models of the components of brands are gaining more attention among practitioners and academics. We review why managers have a tendency to develop mental models and overview the key published models of the components of brands. Among 20 leading edge brand practitioners we found evidence of their using their own mental models to make sense of brand complexity. There were similarities between elements of their models and those of the “atomic brand model”. This particular model was favourably received by experts and from their evaluations we propose the more comprehensive “double vortex model” of the brand.

This research aims to investigate consumers' likelihood of purchasing services online in two countries, the UK and Italy, which differ significantly in the population's uptake of internet shopping. Four influences are considered: service type, contact with service provider prior to online purchase, familiarity with service provider, and experience with internet purchasing.

For motor insurance and travel, respondents were asked to indicate the probability of purchasing on the internet the service of a provider they had used before, after a face‐to‐face contact with the provider, and also without prior contact with the service provider. Respondents were asked the same questions also for a provider they had not used before.

Differences in the relative uptake of internet shopping in the two countries did not alter the general results: a need for face‐to‐face contact with the service provider prior to online purchase and a preference for buying services from a familiar provider. Previous general experience of online shopping increases the likelihood of purchasing online.

Future studies should examine a broader range of service categories and should consider travel products of different complexity.

Online/offline integration of service provision is very important, as consumers highly appreciate some form of human contact, prior to online purchase, even in countries where consumers are more used to shopping from home.

The paper provides a better understanding of the influences on consumers' likelihood of purchasing services online. Findings are generalized in two countries, with different uptake of internet shopping.

Much has been written about the strategic importance of added value as a means for achieving competitive advantage, but little attention has been paid to the meaning of the term “added value”. For the concept to realise its purported advantages, a better understanding of added value is crucial. To gain greater insight into the concept we undertook depth interviews with 20 leading‐edge brand experts to explore their views about the nature, roles and sustainability of added value. We conclude that added value is a multidimensional construct, playing diverse roles, and interpreted in different ways by different people. The more sustainable added values are the emotional values.

The paper addresses the issue of the use of the Internet for the management of luxury brands. We investigate luxury managers’ attitudes towards the use of the Internet to promote their brands and also assess consumers’ opinions and behaviour concerning luxury brands Web sites. Finally, we present the results of a content analysis of a number of luxury brands sites. Any discrepancies between expectations and reality are investigated. Results indicate that reality falls short of the expectations of both managers and customers and that the interactive potential of the Internet is not exploited. Furthermore, there is evidence that the Internet works best as a communication than as a customer acquisition channel for luxury brands.

This paper seeks to understand the triggers which influence the adoption (and the discontinuation) of online grocery shopping. Specifically, the research aims to establish the role of situational factors in the process of adoption.

A two‐step research process is employed. First, exploratory qualitative research is carried out, with the purpose of gaining an in‐depth understanding of consumers' online grocery shopping behaviour. This is followed by a large‐scale quantitative survey extending the findings of the qualitative research and validating the role of situational factors in instigating the commencement (and discontinuation) of online grocery buying. Cluster analysis is used to segment consumers based on the importance of specific types of situations.

Both qualitative and quantitative results establish the importance of situational factors, such as having a baby or developing health problems, as triggers for starting to buy groceries online. Many shoppers are found to discontinue online grocery shopping once the initial trigger has disappeared or they have experienced a problem with the service.

While situational factors are beyond a marketer's control, they could be used as a basis for marketing communications content and target advertising, for instance, by using magazines directed at new parents.

The importance of situational factors as triggers for the adoption of online grocery shopping suggests an erratic adoption process, driven by circumstances rather than by a cognitive elaboration and decision. The adoption of online shopping seems to be contingent and may be discontinued when the initiating circumstances change.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the detailed human resource policies and practices that favor the expansion of consumer-brand relationships.

Due to the lack of studies in this specific field, this research leans toward adopting an exploratory and interpretative methodology. The data stems from 53 in-depth interviews spanning three case studies in the hotel industry.

The main contribution of this research is the identification and description of the human resource management (HRM) policies and practices which enable the development of consumer-brand relationships. The six policies and practices which this research considers key are: recruitment, promotion, training, communication, evaluation and compensation.

This is the first research that identifies and describes the HRM policies and practices which enable the development of consumer-brand relationships.