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This illustrative study of the effects of a strike‐induced supply interruption in an Australian product market shows that, although in the short term customers changed to a competitor's product when their usual brands were unavailable, overall market share returned to previous levels in the post‐strike period. However, the structure of the market was changed in that intra‐company brand competition increased after the strike relative to the degree of inter‐company brand competition. The study was too limited to rule out the influence of advertising, but this change is likely to have an influence on future profitability policy.

Customer loyalty presents a paradox. Many see it as primarily an attitude‐based phenomenon that can be influenced significantly by customer relationship management initiatives such as the increasingly popular loyalty and affinity programs. However, empirical research shows that loyalty in competitive repeat‐purchase markets is shaped more by the passive acceptance of brands than by strongly‐held attitudes about them. From this perspective, the demand‐enhancing potential of loyalty programs is more limited than might be hoped. Reviews three different perspectives on loyalty, and relates these to a framework for understanding customer loyalty that encompasses customer brand commitment, customer brand acceptance and customer brand buying. Uses this framework to analyze the demand‐side potential of loyalty programs. Discusses where these programs might work and where they are unlikely to succeed on any large scale. Provides a checklist for marketers.

The purpose of this paper is to show that many companies are degrading their corporate reputations because they are making (“bad”) profits at the expense of customer satisfaction.

The practices of Australia's Big 4 commercial banks are used to describe the practice of making “good” and “bad” profits.

“Good” profits are made by creating value for customers and dealing fairly with other stakeholders. “Bad” profits annoy or exploit customers and other stakeholders.

When “bad” profits are a significant part of a company's overall profitability, then corporate reputation and trust amongst stakeholders degrades.

This paper helps managers understand the reputation implications of making “bad” profits.

Reports on a study to investigate the impact of customer satisfaction of different types of company responses to letters of complaint. Considers the effects on consumers of various defensive marketing strategies: letter and free good, letter only, and no response. Surmises that the results support the notion that appropriate defensive marketing strategies can improve the company′s image among customers who write complaint letters.

This article is premised on the idea that social networks represent an important, but often overlooked, unit of analysis in management and entrepreneurship studies. The concept of embeddedness, emphasizing the significance of social relationships, is of particular relevance as more and more frequently minorities and immigrants engage in small businessownership. This article borrows from the ethnicity and social network traditions, and offers that an analysis of the ethnic homogeneity of an entrepreneur's strong and weak social ties would be fruitful in gauging entrepreneurial success.