Diana M.R. Tribe and Gill Korgaonkar
This, the first of three papers, provides an overview of the law of negligence as it affects medical practitioners in the UK. The standard of care owed by doctors to patients is…
Abstract
This, the first of three papers, provides an overview of the law of negligence as it affects medical practitioners in the UK. The standard of care owed by doctors to patients is considered in the light of recent increases in malpractice claims, the escalating cost of medical insurance and current Government proposals for Crown indemnity.
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The concept and practice of e-services has become essential in business transactions. Yet there are still many organizations that have not developed e-services optimally. This is…
Abstract
The concept and practice of e-services has become essential in business transactions. Yet there are still many organizations that have not developed e-services optimally. This is especially relevant in the context of Indonesian Airline companies. Therefore, many airline customers in Indonesia are still in doubt about it, or even do not use it. To fill this gap, this study attempts to develop a model for e-services adoption and empirically examines the factors influencing the airlines customers in Indonesia in using e-services offered by the Indonesian airline companies. Taking six Indonesian airline companies as a case example, the study investigated the antecedents of e-services usage of Indonesian airlines. This study further examined the impacts of motivation on customers in using e-services in the Indonesian context. Another important aim of this study was to investigate how ages, experiences and geographical areas moderate effects of e-services usage.
The study adopts a positivist research paradigm with a two-phase sequential mixed method design involving qualitative and quantitative approaches. An initial research model was first developed based on an extensive literature review, by combining acceptance and use of information technology theories, expectancy theory and the inter-organizational system motivation models. A qualitative field study via semi-structured interviews was then conducted to explore the present state among 15 respondents. The results of the interviews were analysed using content analysis yielding the final model of e-services usage. Eighteen antecedent factors hypotheses and three moderating factors hypotheses and 52-item questionnaire were developed. A focus group discussion of five respondents and a pilot study of 59 respondents resulted in final version of the questionnaire.
In the second phase, the main survey was conducted nationally to collect the research data among Indonesian airline customers who had already used Indonesian airline e-services. A total of 819 valid questionnaires were obtained. The data was then analysed using a partial least square (PLS) based structural equation modelling (SEM) technique to produce the contributions of links in the e-services model (22% of all the variances in e-services usage, 37.8% in intention to use, 46.6% in motivation, 39.2% in outcome expectancy, and 37.7% in effort expectancy). Meanwhile, path coefficients and t-values demonstrated various different influences of antecedent factors towards e-services usage. Additionally, a multi-group analysis based on PLS is employed with mixed results. In the final findings, 14 hypotheses were supported and 7 hypotheses were not supported.
The major findings of this study have confirmed that motivation has the strongest contribution in e-services usage. In addition, motivation affects e-services usage both directly and indirectly through intention-to-use. This study provides contributions to the existing knowledge of e-services models, and practical applications of IT usage. Most importantly, an understanding of antecedents of e-services adoption will provide guidelines for stakeholders in developing better e-services and strategies in order to promote and encourage more customers to use e-services. Finally, the accomplishment of this study can be expanded through possible adaptations in other industries and other geographical contexts.
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Gianfranco Walsh, Heiner Evanschitzky and Maren Wunderlich
Research on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty has advanced to a stage that requires a more thorough examination of moderator variables. Limited…
Abstract
Purpose
Research on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty has advanced to a stage that requires a more thorough examination of moderator variables. Limited research shows how moderators influence the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty in a service context; this article aims to present empirical evidence of the conditions in which the satisfaction‐loyalty relationship becomes stronger or weaker.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a sample of more than 700 customers of DIY retailers and multi‐group structural equation modelling, the authors examine moderating effects of several firm‐related variables, variables that result from firm/employee‐customer interactions and individual‐level variables (i.e. loyalty cards, critical incidents, customer age, gender, income, expertise).
Findings
The empirical results suggest that not all of the moderators considered influence the satisfaction‐loyalty link. Specifically, critical incidents and income are important moderators of the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty.
Practical implications
Several of the moderator variables considered in this study are manageable variables.
Originality/value
This study should prove valuable to academic researchers as well as service and retailing managers. It systematically analyses the moderating effect of firm‐related and individual‐level variables on the relationship between customer satisfaction and loyalty. It shows the differential effect of different types of moderator variables on the satisfaction‐loyalty link.
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Souheila Kaabachi, Selima Ben Mrad and Maria Petrescu
The purpose of this paper is to investigate internet-only banks’ (IOBs) adoption by French consumers and attempt to understand the factors that influence consumers’ initial trust…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate internet-only banks’ (IOBs) adoption by French consumers and attempt to understand the factors that influence consumers’ initial trust in this type of service.
Design/methodology/approach
A non-probability convenience sample of potential IOBs adopters from France was used to test a structural equation model that analyzed the antecedents of initial trust and usage intentions of IOBs.
Findings
The study shows that trust is a major influencer in IOBs’ adoption in France. It has also been found that consumer familiarity with internet banking, high perceived structural assurance, perceived website quality, bank reputation and relative advantage are critical factors influencing IOBs’ initial trust formation.
Research limitations/implications
This study shows the applicability of the initial trust-building model in the context of IOBs and underlines the importance of factors such as familiarity, reputation and perceived quality in the context of online banking services in France.
Practical implications
This paper provides e-banking companies with the most important factors that contribute to build the initial trust of customers. E-banks need to focus on making themselves known and promoting their brand more effectively through advertising and advocacy.
Originality/value
This study contributes significantly to the marketing research related to consumer trust and brand reputation, as well as to the electronic banking literature. The results show the importance of initial trust in the context of services and the main factors that influence it, including a key branding variable such as reputation. The paper also focuses on the IOBs’ adoption in France, a market understudied compared to the USA, and seeks to understand the mechanisms associated with the initial formation of French consumers’ trust toward it.
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Priyanka Jayashankar, Sree Nilakanta, Wesley J. Johnston, Pushpinder Gill and Reed Burres
This paper aims to study the antecedents of Internet of Things (IoT) adoption among farmers and determine how trust in the technology influences its adoption when mediated by…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to study the antecedents of Internet of Things (IoT) adoption among farmers and determine how trust in the technology influences its adoption when mediated by perceived value and risk. Through the conceptualization of trust and perceived risk, the authors factor in farmers’ perceptions of agricultural technology providers and discuss different forms of perceived value, spanning economic, green and epistemic value.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper develops a distinctive research design, drawing on elements of the value-based adoption and technology acceptance models. By linking different elements of perceived value with IoT technology, the authors also apply the service-dominant logic to this study. They study how trust affects perceived value and risk and then determine how perceived value and risk, in turn, affect IoT adoption. The authors test the hypotheses by developing a structural equation model to analyze the results of a survey, wherein 492 farmers from Iowa, the USA, participated.
Findings
The results show a positive relationship between trust and perceived value and a negative relationship between trust and perceived risk. Perceived value had a positive impact on IoT adoption, whereas perceived risk had a negative impact on IoT adoption.
Practical implications
The research findings on trust and perceived value and risk are timely and relevant for business-to-business (B2B) marketing practitioners and agricultural stakeholders, especially in an era where farmers are expressing growing concerns about data handling risk posed by IoT technology adoption.
Originality/value
The research findings signal a transition in focus from the goods-dominant logic to the service-dominant logic in agriculture, whereby farmers are drawn to IoT technology because of perceived economic, green and epistemic value and as a result, can differentiate themselves on how well they deploy operant resources. This paper not only provides a unique conceptualization of perceived value but also pave the way for a richer conceptualization of IoT core functions that enable farmers to fulfill green and epistemic goals. This is the first B2B marketing paper discussing the antecedents of IoT adoption in agriculture, such as farmers’ perceptions of both monetary and non-monetary forms of value and perceived data handling risk.
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Gurjeet Kaur Sahi, Harjit Singh Sekhon and Tahira Khanam Quareshi
India’s retail sector is going through a significant transitional period with the internet as a new distribution channel becoming more common. Given the barriers to adoption, the…
Abstract
Purpose
India’s retail sector is going through a significant transitional period with the internet as a new distribution channel becoming more common. Given the barriers to adoption, the purpose of this paper is to understand the role played by trusting beliefs when engaging with an online retailer. In the Indian market, online vending is expected to increase at a rate of 35 per cent per annum, and by understanding trusting beliefs retailers will be able to develop their market share by developing appropriate and/or innovative strategies.
Design/methodology/approach
The work is based on a sample of more than 200 internet customers in India. In understanding the data and the relationships that emerged from the modelling, the authors used a range of tools to analyse the data, including CFA and structural equation modelling. The authors also used descriptive statistics to provide a holistic overview of response profiles.
Findings
The study reveals that trusting beliefs are negatively influenced by an uncertainty avoidance culture and positively influenced by a firm’s image and a customer’s price awareness. Moreover, purchase intentions (PIs) are significantly enhanced by trusting beliefs in an online environment. Hence, it leads us to conclude that PIs can be augmented by facilitating and ensuring good quality service by placing special emphasis on timeliness, accuracy and conditions of the order, security and privacy paradigms, aftersales services, etc.
Research limitations/implications
As can be seen, the internet is an emergent tool for retailers in India. By understanding trusting beliefs, retailers will be able to better understand customers’ behaviour and thus design management strategies accordingly. Although this is likely to take more than a decade, as internet retailing becomes embedded it may have a detrimental effect on the historical channel to market, thus altering the country’s retail landscape which is currently dominated by small retailers.
Practical implications
The work’s findings are insightful for those seeking to maximize the opportunities presented by the internet as a channel to market. The works shows how the channel is influenced and thus how it can be managed. In making the contribution the authors provide guidance in terms of operational activity to engage with potential customers.
Originality/value
This paper examines trusting beliefs when using the internet as a channel to market and in doing so it makes a new contribution because it establishes links with culture and other factors. For the research venue the authors use a developing market and therefore the findings are applicable to markets with similar characteristics.
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Joëlle Vanhamme, Adam Lindgreen and Michael Beverland
This study aims to explore surprising gifts received and given by close relations to identify the variables involved in creating surprising gifts. The analysis of the viewpoints…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore surprising gifts received and given by close relations to identify the variables involved in creating surprising gifts. The analysis of the viewpoints of the giver and the recipient, reflecting their profiles, leads to recommendations for retailers.
Design/methodology/approach
An exploratory, small-scale, open-ended questionnaire (48 respondents) produces 43 (38) accounts of surprising gifts given (received), informed further by in-depth interviews (eight informants, both givers and recipients of surprising gifts).
Findings
This study identifies and elaborates on the variables (why, when, what, where, who and how, and their combinations) that define surprising gift giving, from both giver and recipient perspectives. The findings indicate a paradox: even if givers or recipients prefer a surprising gift, they might give or wish for an unsurprising gift to avoid disappointment.
Research limitations/implications
Further research should confirm the findings using representative samples. Moreover, gender differences in surprising gift giving should be investigated further. Finally, the exact characteristics and properties that make common objects potential candidates for successful surprising gifts should be studied further.
Practical implications
The discussion has relevant implications for manufacturers and retailers. For example, if recipients are surprised, happy and satisfied, they likely exhibit higher brand recall. The recipient’s (happy versus not happy) emotions also have spillover effects on the giver’s. Thus, retailers should provide assistance in the store and advertise their salespeople as experts who can offer advice about selecting appropriate gifts. The exact characteristics and properties that make common objects potential candidates for successful surprising gifts should be studied further.
Originality/value
The systematic account of all six variables, not previously analyzed in the literature, provides rich insights into surprising gift giving. The discussion of the study of givers and recipients supplements these insights.
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Samaan Al‐Msallam and Amal Abdelhadi
This paper examines factors that lead consumers to engage in unethical consumer behaviour (UECB) to develop a framework for understanding this phenomenon.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper examines factors that lead consumers to engage in unethical consumer behaviour (UECB) to develop a framework for understanding this phenomenon.
Design/methodology/approach
The study data were collected using the qualitative approach by conducting personal interviews with 27 marketers in two Arab countries, Libya and Syria.
Findings
The findings indicate that previous models of UECB are applicable to Arab consumers. However, the effects of the examined factors on UECB adoption are influenced by the local environment. Also, the paper explored some newly factors that clearly affect UECB.
Practical implications
This study provides a model of UECB for Arab consumers to help companies to understand Arab consumers’ behaviour. This model determines the influencing factors on this behaviour that companies can use to build their marketing strategies directed at the Libyan and Syrian markets during the reconstruction phase. Moreover, the research results help companies avoid and control UECB.
Originality/value
Almost all studies of UECB have been conducted in Western countries; the present study attempts to address this gap in the ethical decision-making literature, as well as marketing literature, and examine the UECB in Arab countries. Furthermore, previous studies of UECB mostly look at one typical form of UECB; this study provides a broader contribution to the literature on UECB by using a set of scenarios; shoplifting, software piracy and pilfering from hotel rooms.
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Charles Dennis, Bill Merrilees, Chanaka Jayawardhena and Len Tiu Wright
The primary purpose of this paper is to bring together apparently disparate and yet interconnected strands of research and present an integrated model of e‐consumer behaviour. It…
Abstract
Purpose
The primary purpose of this paper is to bring together apparently disparate and yet interconnected strands of research and present an integrated model of e‐consumer behaviour. It has a secondary objective of stimulating more research in areas identified as still being under‐explored.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is discursive, based on analysis and synthesis of e‐consumer literature.
Findings
Despite a broad spectrum of disciplines that investigate e‐consumer behaviour and despite this special issue in the area of marketing, there are still areas open for research into e‐consumer behaviour in marketing, for example the role of image, trust and e‐interactivity. The paper develops a model to explain e‐consumer behaviour.
Research limitations/implications
As a conceptual paper, the study is limited to literature and prior empirical research. It offers the benefit of new research directions for e‐retailers in understanding and satisfying e‐consumers. The paper provides researchers with a proposed integrated model of e‐consumer behaviour.
Originality/value
The paper links a significant body of literature within a unifying theoretical framework and identifies of under‐researched areas of e‐consumer behaviour in a marketing context.
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Gaby Odekerken-Schröder, Kristof De Wulf and Kristy E. Reynolds
Relationship marketing is not effective in every situation or context. This study investigates the impact of three categories of potential contingency factors on the effectiveness…
Abstract
Relationship marketing is not effective in every situation or context. This study investigates the impact of three categories of potential contingency factors on the effectiveness of relationship marketing efforts in a retail services context: demographic characteristics of the consumer (age and gender), personal values of the consumer (social affiliation), and shopping-related consumer characteristics (product category involvement, consumer relationship proneness, and shopping enjoyment). The data relate to more than 1,700 mall intercept personal interviews conducted in the United States, and in two western European countries (the Netherlands and Belgium), covering a wide variety of food and apparel retailers. The found moderating influences were inconsistent across samples, stressing the need for an adapted relationship marketing strategy per country and industry. The results do provide a first indication that relationship marketing efforts are relatively more effective if they are directed at consumers who are young and female, have a high need for social affiliation, and show high levels of product category involvement, consumer relationship proneness, and shopping enjoyment. The results provide a preliminary framework for retailers to optimize the allocation of their relationship marketing budgets.