Linda Deigh and Jillian Dawes Farquhar
The purpose of this study is to contribute to the theory and practice of financial services marketing in sub-Saharan Africa (sSA) by investigating how financial service providers…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to contribute to the theory and practice of financial services marketing in sub-Saharan Africa (sSA) by investigating how financial service providers are developing corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices, in particular, seeking to uncover the involvement of stakeholders.
Design/methodology/approach
Following an interpretivist approach, the study uncovers fresh and context-rich insights through an analysis of a multiple case study consisting of retail banks in Ghana. Data consist of semi-structured interviews with senior managers and analysis of documents and archives.
Findings
The study uncovers three key CSR practices practised by the retail banks: giving, community and corporate reputation/brand with which their stakeholders are only to some extent involved. Banks not as yet drawing extensively on stakeholder resources for CSR practices.
Research limitations/implications
The study uses an inductive and in-depth approach to explore contextual insights into CSR, but with subsequent limitations on how far the findings can be extended.
Practical implications
The study offers outline for financial services marketing involving stakeholders in CSR.
Social implications
It discovers that banks acquire social capital through their CSR activities in the community.
Originality/value
The study contributes to financial services marketing theory and practice through an evidence-based framework uncovering the development of CSR through practices that as yet draw on stakeholder resources to a limited extent. Research suggests that CSR practices are dynamic and subject to a range of situational conditions.
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Estelle van Tonder, Daniël Johannes Petzer and Jillian Dawes Farquhar
Jessica Lichy, Jillian Dawes Farquhar and Maher Kachour
The purpose of this paper is to extend understanding of marketing in MENA by investigating how women entrepreneurs use social networking sites (SNS) in marketing their businesses…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to extend understanding of marketing in MENA by investigating how women entrepreneurs use social networking sites (SNS) in marketing their businesses in Lebanon.
Design/methodology/approach
To address contextual issues arising from research in this region, this study consists of a two-phase research design of, first, a panel of specialised business commentators and, second, digital qualitative data collection that enabled access to hard to reach informants.
Findings
The study reveals that the activities of women entrepreneurs are fundamentally enabled by SNS as it allows them to optimise their networks in prospecting, communicating and developing relationships with stakeholders. It also allows them to support the social fabric of the family unit by providing an extra source of income and facilitating connections.
Research limitations/implications
This study draws on a single country within the MENA region; nonetheless, the analysis offers new and nuanced understanding to marketing of small businesses in uncovering how Lebanese women entrepreneurs are able to build and run their businesses using SNS.
Practical implications
This research demonstrates how women entrepreneurs can set up and run businesses using SNS to reach and extend their networks in a culturally diverse and growing economy. SNS provides an inclusive platform through which women build and run a small business.
Social implications
This research responds to a World Development aim of studying the relationships between gender and trade such as women entrepreneurs using social technologies.
Originality/value
This research responds to a World Development aim of studying the relationships between gender and trade, here by investigating how women entrepreneurs set up and run small businesses enabled by SNS.
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Julie Robson and Jillian Dawes Farquhar
Building on crisis management studies, this study aims to advance research on brand recovery from the existing focus on product brand/customer dyad into stakeholder marketing and…
Abstract
Purpose
Building on crisis management studies, this study aims to advance research on brand recovery from the existing focus on product brand/customer dyad into stakeholder marketing and corporate branding.
Design/methodology/approach
This study uses a single case of industry-dominant corporate brand in an enriched context through in-depth analysis of industry informant and secondary data.
Findings
The paper uncovers detail of corporate brand and stakeholder interactions directed towards recovering corporate brand and restoring trust in the industry.
Research limitations/implications
This study offers an evidence-based framework of stakeholder interactions designed to support corporate brand recovery (CBR). The rich data are bounded within a single case.
Practical implications
Framework illustrates the importance of drawing on stakeholders in CBR, particularly in an industry crisis, emphasises trust restoration and reveals the peripheral role of customers in CBR.
Social implications
This study points to significance of stakeholder networks, particularly in insurance and financial services, in addressing social and ethical issues related to corporate misdeeds is identified.
Originality/value
This study makes noteworthy contribution to brand recovery research in two ways: firstly, by investigating the recovery of brands at corporate level and, secondly, by detailing the interactions between corporate brand and industry stakeholders in recovering the brand within a stricken industry.
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Emmanuel Mogaji, Jillian Dawes Farquhar, Patrick van Esch, Clara Durodié and Rodrigo Perez-Vega
Henry Jones and Jillian Dawes Farquhar
The purpose of this paper is to examine minor service failures in UK banking and consider the impact that satisfaction with service recovery has on customer intentions to continue…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine minor service failures in UK banking and consider the impact that satisfaction with service recovery has on customer intentions to continue their custom and make recommendations, used as measures of loyalty behaviours.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were gathered on customer satisfaction with service recovery attempts, intended loyalty behaviours and the sources of service failures were gathered by means of an on‐line survey from approximately 2,000 respondents.
Findings
Few customers who complained about minor service failures report that they were very satisfied with the service recovery. Weak service recovery influenced customer intentions about continued custom and recommendation. Minor failures in account management and bank charges are shown to have a marked effect on intended loyalty behaviours.
Research limitations/implications
This paper reports the work of a short, e‐mail survey, gathering frequency data from customers of UK banks and reports the impact of service recovery on customer intentions rather than their actions. Further investigation is needed using more a more sophisticated instrument.
Practical implications
In this paper low levels of satisfaction with managing service recoveries are reported, no matter which channel the customer used, no matter how the service failure is managed.
Originality/value
The preliminary work in this paper demonstrates the impact that weak service recovery of minor complaints has on customers' intended loyalty behaviours in UK banking.
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A survey commissioned by HSBC questioned 2,155 expatriates (expats) across four continents about the challenges that they face. This paper aims to present its findings under three…
Abstract
Purpose
A survey commissioned by HSBC questioned 2,155 expatriates (expats) across four continents about the challenges that they face. This paper aims to present its findings under three headings of: expat existence, expat offspring, and expat experience.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were captured by using a virtual survey between February and April 2008. The survey was concerned with a range of topics: lifestyle, earning capacity, issues affecting children, and ease of integration into the community.
Findings
Expatriates provide an example of a global segment that would appear to offer financial institutions opportunities for increasing customer value. The survey provides data that can form the basis for a global bank wanting to meet the needs of this potentially affluent group not only in providing financial services but also working with other service providers to create packages to suit this group, including accommodation or housing, the needs of children, and concierge services.
Originality/value
From a financial services marketing perspective, expats present an interesting and potentially valuable customer segment with specific banking needs.
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Jillian Dawes Farquhar, Tracy Panther and Len Tiu Wright
The purpose of this paper is to examine multiple channels in retail banking and demonstrate how qualitative market research investigations can inform strategic decision making…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine multiple channels in retail banking and demonstrate how qualitative market research investigations can inform strategic decision making. Research into customer acquisition and retention has only recently begun to consider them as part of a single marketing process Inviting exploratory qualitative expert investigation.
Design/methodology/approach
A review of the literature suggested an outline guide for interviewing a selection of expert informants, from a variety of high‐street banks and building societies. The interview data were analysed using both computer‐aided and manual techniques in parallel as part of strengthening the findings.
Findings
The analysis of the interview data suggest five themes of that make up the management of channels in UK high‐street banks that have an impact on customer acquisition and retention and which are as follows: customer groups, interaction style, relationship and loyalty, networks and service and satisfaction.
Originality/value
The themes identified in this preliminary investigation provide a model that maps five aspects that underpin customer acquisition and retention in traditional high‐street banks including for the purposes of this research, building societies in the UK.
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Chiung‐Ju Liang, Wen‐Hung Wang and Jillian Dawes Farquhar
The purpose of this study is to develop and empirically test a model examining the relationship between customer perceptions (product attributes, benefits, customer satisfaction…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to develop and empirically test a model examining the relationship between customer perceptions (product attributes, benefits, customer satisfaction, trust, commitment and customer behavioral loyalty) and financial performance of a merchant bank.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the SEM tool of Linear Structure Relation (LISREL), this study develops and empirically tests a model examining the relationships between customer perspectives (product attributes, benefits, customer satisfaction, trust, commitment and customer behavioral loyalty) and the financial perspective (financial performance). A cross‐department study in the financial services industry was conducted based on three consumer samples (department of Loans, Deposits, and Credit Cards) drawn from XYZ bank, one of the most famous banks providing merchant banking services in Taiwan.
Findings
SEM results indicate that: customer perceptions positively affect financial performance; and customers purchase financial services with dissimilar benefits, all of which come with corresponding attributes, and hence result in different levels of customer satisfaction and behavioral sequence, which is important in reinforcing customers' trust, commitment, repurchase intentions and corporate financial performance.
Practical implications
The findings suggest that financial service managers could consider treating consumers as partners in their provision of existing services or their quest to develop successful new services. Reciprocal behavior will foster a positive atmosphere, remove barriers arising from risk, and enable relationships to progress, ultimately improving financial performance.
Originality/value
The research proposes an empirical model of the customer perceptions in the consumption of financial services that has a positive impact on the financial performance of the company. The findings are based on data from one company across three product departments.
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This paper reports the findings of a survey of staff perceptions on how customers are being retained in two traditional financial service retailers. In spite of a frequent…
Abstract
This paper reports the findings of a survey of staff perceptions on how customers are being retained in two traditional financial service retailers. In spite of a frequent acknowledgement that customer retention (CR) is a critical business objective, there is limited literature on how customers are actually being retained by organisations. A theoretical framework of managing customer retention is developed to form the basis for a 34‐item questionnaire, which was administered to two independent probability samples of staff working in two large retail financial service retailers. The study finds that these financial service retailers are aiming to retain customers through building relationships but that systems, strategies and structures may reflect transactional exchange.