Sabine Gebert-Persson, Mikael Gidhagen, James E. Sallis and Heléne Lundberg
The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a theoretical framework explaining the adoption of online insurance claims characterised by infrequent interactions, inherent…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a theoretical framework explaining the adoption of online insurance claims characterised by infrequent interactions, inherent complexity and risk. It extends the technology acceptance model to include knowledge-related and trust-related beliefs.
Design/methodology/approach
The framework is tested with structural equation modelling using data from a survey of 292 customers who made online insurance claims. Findings are further explained through 30 telephone interviews conducted with online and offline claimants.
Findings
Previous research in financial services has shown trust to be equally or more important than perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use in forming attitudes towards adopting online insurance applications. The findings of this paper contradict this by showing, at best, a weak relationship between trusting attitude and intention to use the online service. Trust is somewhat meaningful; however, perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness and technology attitude are substantially more important in an online insurance claims setting.
Research limitations/implications
Contradictory results always beg further research to assure their robustness. Nevertheless, they can also point to a developing trend where trust in the internet channel, per se, is of diminishing importance. Internet and product knowledge are not as pertinent to forming intentions as usefulness and ease of use.
Practical implications
To encourage customers to adopt online applications for a trusted company, all emphasis should be on user friendliness and perceived usefulness of the online interface.
Originality/value
Compared to other channels, consumers are no longer naïve or distrustful of the online channel for interacting with a firm. If they perceive usefulness and ease of use, they will adopt the offered service.
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Håvard Hansen, Bendik M. Samuelsen and James E. Sallis
While satisfaction, value, image, and credibility are commonly assumed to drive customer loyalty, there is nevertheless reason to question whether their effects vary across groups…
Abstract
Purpose
While satisfaction, value, image, and credibility are commonly assumed to drive customer loyalty, there is nevertheless reason to question whether their effects vary across groups of consumers. This paper seeks to explore how individuals with contrasting need-for-cognition (NFC) levels differ in using memory-based information when forming behavioral intentions towards a current service provider.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors tested the hypotheses by means of survey data from customers of retail banks, and applied two-group analysis using structural equation modeling (SEM) to test the moderating effects of NFC.
Findings
Satisfaction positively affects loyalty for high NFCs, but not for low NFCs. Image is insignificant in both groups. Value positively affects loyalty for low NFCs, but not for high NFCs. Credibility has a positive effect for low NFCs, but not for high NFCs.
Research limitations/implications
The limited sample size affects the power of the test methodology, but Chow-tests of regression models gave similar results. Further research should test the model in other contexts to enhance external validity.
Practical Implications
To develop more effective customer strategies, both researchers and practitioners need to understand how different types of consumers attend to and utilize information when forming behavioral intentions. The standard practice of surveying customer satisfaction and loyalty typically requires the consumer to make a memory-based judgment.
Originality/value
Previous research has primarily focused on how consumer demographics moderate satisfaction-loyalty links. This paper includes additional drivers of loyalty, and assesses moderation by a personality trait (NFC) not previously used in satisfaction-loyalty research. The results indicate that a consumer ' s dispositional tendency to think and elaborate (more or less) can bias survey results.
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Inga-Lill Söderberg, James E Sallis and Kent Eriksson
The purpose of this paper is to use psychological theory to improve our understanding of financial advice-taking. The paper studies how a working alliance between financial…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to use psychological theory to improve our understanding of financial advice-taking. The paper studies how a working alliance between financial service customers and advisors affects the advisor's assessment of the financial service buyer's perceived risk preferences, and what role trust plays as a mediating variable.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper obtained data by means of a questionnaire that was answered by 375 matched pairs of bank advisors and customers.
Findings
This paper explains how the working alliance method – a concept from psychotherapeutic theory – between financial service customers and advisors affects the advisor's understanding of the financial service buyer's perceived risk preferences. The paper also finds that the role of trust is perceived differently by the advisor and the customer. Advisors see that as their clients learn to trust them they lose touch with the customer's perceived risk preferences, whereas customers do not perceive that their trust in the advisor has any relationship to their risk preferences.
Practical implications
This results suggest that advisors lose touch with the risk preferences of trusting customers, and that psychological methods are needed if the advisor should actually understand customer perceived risk preferences.
Originality/value
The paper advances psychological methods in marketing, and provides a partial answer to the difficulties of financial advice giving.
Nina Veflen Olsen and James E. Sallis
Most new product development (NPD) studies focus on manufacturer brands; few consider distributor brands. The purpose of this paper to investigate whether NPD processes and…
Abstract
Purpose
Most new product development (NPD) studies focus on manufacturer brands; few consider distributor brands. The purpose of this paper to investigate whether NPD processes and outcomes differ between manufacturers and distributors.
Design/methodology/approach
Interviews within the grocery industry in Norway and analysis of sales numbers from an AC Nielsen ScanTrack database illustrate that through different NPD processes manufacturers and distributors reach different outcomes.
Findings
Distributors differ from manufacturers in the NPD process in several ways: more in‐store interaction resulting in very market‐driven products. They usually outsource technical development, and launch brands with substantially less market communication through fewer marketing channels. Distributors, who mostly develop copycat products of large volume manufacturer brands, have lower failure rates. More surprisingly, the paper reveals that distributor brands achieve faster growth in market share than manufacturer brands when brand concentration is low, and some low volume distributor brands have a higher average retail price than manufacturer brands, indicating that different private label categories exist.
Research limitations/implications
The sample has only three product categories (pizza, juice, and jam). Replication with other categories in other industries would help validate the results. The distributor NPD process and outcomes are still not well understood, and as distributors move into more value‐added products it will evolve, requiring further research.
Originality/value
This is one of the first empirical investigations of differences in NPD processes and outcomes between manufacturer and distributor brands. It also shows the effect of brand concentration on distributor brand growth.
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Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Term. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are…
Abstract
Communications regarding this column should be addressed to Mrs. Cheney, Peabody Library School, Nashville, Term. 37203. Mrs. Cheney does not sell the books listed here. They are available through normal trade sources. Mrs. Cheney, being a member of the editorial board of Pierian Press, will not review Pierian Press reference books in this column. Descriptions of Pierian Press reference books will be included elsewhere in this publication.
Alice Schmuck, Katarina Lagerström and James Sallis
This study aims to understand the performance implications of when a business internationalizes. Many managers take the performance implications of internationalization for…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to understand the performance implications of when a business internationalizes. Many managers take the performance implications of internationalization for granted. Whether seeking a broader customer base or cost reduction through cross-border outsourcing, the overwhelming belief is that internationalization leads to higher profits.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper offers a systematic review, content analysis and cross-tabulation analysis of 115 empirical studies from over 40 major journals in management, strategy and international business between 1977 and 2021. Focusing on research settings, sample characteristics, underlying theoretical approaches, measurements of key variables and moderators influencing the multinationality and performance relationship, this study offers a detailed account of definitions and effects.
Findings
The findings of this study suggest a tenuous connection between internationalization and performance. No strain of research literature conclusively identifies a consistent direct path from internationalization to performance. The context specificity of the relationship makes general declarations impossible.
Research limitations/implications
Future researchers should recognize that internationalization is a process taking different forms, with no specific dominant form. General declarations are misleading. The focus should be on the process of internationalization rather than on the outcome.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the international business literature by exploring reasons for the inconsistent results and lack of consensus. Through a detailed account of definitions and effects, this paper explores the lack of consensus as well as the identified shapes of the relationship.
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Outlines, via a series of letters, the problems and rewards ofmentorship among librarians.
Abstract
Outlines, via a series of letters, the problems and rewards of mentorship among librarians.
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Sally R. Ross, Lynn L. Ridinger and Jacquelyn Cuneen
This study presents an analysis of the evolution of advertising's portrayal of women in motorsport. The construct of source credibility is examined and used as a framework to…
Abstract
This study presents an analysis of the evolution of advertising's portrayal of women in motorsport. The construct of source credibility is examined and used as a framework to better understand the limitations and opportunities of female athlete endorsers in general and female racing car drivers in particular. The advertising images of pioneer drivers Janet Guthrie, Lyn St. James and Sarah Fisher are discussed and compared to that of Danica Patrick, a media star in the Indy Racing League (IRL). Patrick has been successful in capitalising on her expertise and attractiveness to enhance her image and endorse products. Attitudes towards using sex appeal to sell products are presented and discussed.
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Tom Schultheiss, Lorraine Hartline, Jean Mandeberg, Pam Petrich and Sue Stern
The following classified, annotated list of titles is intended to provide reference librarians with a current checklist of new reference books, and is designed to supplement the…
Abstract
The following classified, annotated list of titles is intended to provide reference librarians with a current checklist of new reference books, and is designed to supplement the RSR review column, “Recent Reference Books,” by Frances Neel Cheney. “Reference Books in Print” includes all additional books received prior to the inclusion deadline established for this issue. Appearance in this column does not preclude a later review in RSR. Publishers are urged to send a copy of all new reference books directly to RSR as soon as published, for immediate listing in “Reference Books in Print.” Reference books with imprints older than two years will not be included (with the exception of current reprints or older books newly acquired for distribution by another publisher). The column shall also occasionally include library science or other library related publications of other than a reference character.