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Although numerous articles emphasize the importance of the servicescape (the physical facilities of a service company), the effect of the servicescape on quality perception has been inadequately captured by previous empirical research. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the servicescape on perceived quality in a more comprehensive way.

The article proposes a new model for assessing the effects of the servicescape on quality perception based on SERVQUAL. The model considers the special role of the servicescape (or what is called “tangibles” in SERVQUAL) by taking into account that the servicescape elements act as search qualities, while the other SERVQUAL dimensions represent experience or credence qualities. In doing so, the model captures direct and indirect influences of the servicescape. Additionally, a more comprehensive scale for the servicescape is suggested, which exceeds the mostly tangible aspects of the physical environment covered in the SERVQUAL scale. The model is tested in a population survey in two service industries (retail banking and restaurants).

The results show that the servicescape plays a greater role than was supposed in most previous studies. The servicescape is not only a cue for the expected service quality, but also influences customers' evaluations of other factors determining perceived service quality. Thus, the servicescape has a direct and an indirect effect on perceived service quality, which leads the servicescape to have a high overall effect. The results also show that the servicescape is of greater importance in determining customers' evaluations of the expected service quality in a hedonic service compared to a utilitarian service.

Since the results of the study refer to two specific industries, the empirical results should be used with care. Thus, it would be conceivable that the influence of the servicescape might be larger even in utilitarian services if the customer spends an extended period in a facility. It is also worthwhile to consider the price paid for the service and consumer perceptions of quality relative to the price paid in future research. Further shortcomings of the study result from problems in examining the measurement models. Clearly, more effort is needed to develop a comprehensive measurement tool for assessing the service quality as well as the servicescape. Since the present study was primarily aligned with the general question about the meaning of the servicescape, the results obtained do not allow concrete managerial implications for the use of different servicescape elements. There is a need for further research examining the effect of single aspects as well as the entire servicescape.

Service providers should give careful consideration to their servicescape. In accordance with findings from environmental psychology, the servicescape may not remain limited to tangible elements, but must also consider ambient components such as odours and background music.

This paper provides a better assessment of the meaning of the servicescape from previous approaches. The servicescape is shown to be of greater importance for the perceived service quality than has been assumed.

Critique of an earlier article by Kuehn in 1962 suggesting that a particular factorial analysis of customer brand buying could predict with accuracy repurchase trends. Uses tables and mathematical formulae for emphasis of discussions. Sums up that the factorial analysis by Kuehn is satisfactory only as a result of artificial assumptions whereby variance is ignored within groups – but when this factor is taken into account the model fails to adequately fit the data of Snow Crop – frozen orange juice.

Introduction Operations research, i.e. the application of scientific methodology to operational problems in the search for improved understanding and control, can be said to have started with the application of mathematical tools to military problems of supply bombing and strategy, during the Second World War. Post‐war these tools were applied to business problems, particularly production scheduling, inventory control and physical distribution because of the acute shortages of goods and the numerical aspects of these problems.

In 1969, Warren Nutter left the University of Virginia Department of Economics to serve as the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs in the Nixon administration. During his time in the Defense Department, Nutter was deeply involved in laying the groundwork for a military coup against the democratically elected president of Chile, Salvador Allende. Although Nutter left the Pentagon several months before the successful 1973 coup, his role in Chile was far more direct than the better-known cases of Friedrich Hayek, Milton Friedman, James Buchanan, and Arnold Harberger. This chapter describes Nutter’s role in Chile policymaking in the Nixon administration. It shows how Nutter’s criticisms of Henry Kissinger are grounded in his economics, and compares and contrasts Nutter with other economists who have been connected to Pinochet’s dictatorship.

Traditionally, the distribution activities of a firm have been regarded solely as a cost of doing business. Because of this orientation, the analytical techniques applied to the solutions of problems in this area have tended to be optimising models aimed at reducing total cost subject to various constraints. Typically, service levels were incorporated either as an absolute level requirement so that the specific demand restricted the optimising technique or as an opportunity cost of lost sales with this cost included as a part of the total objective function to be minimised.

This study compared different types of full-time caregiver (e.g., children, older adults, COVID-19 patients) and subgroups (e.g., disability, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation) in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic for potentially meaningful distinctions.

Data from the 9,854 full-time caregivers identified in Phase 3.2 (July 21–October 11, 2021) of the US Census Household Pulse Survey (HPS) were analyzed in this study using multinomial logistic regression to examine relationships between caregiver types, marginalized subgroups, generation, and vaccination status.

The prevalence of caregiving was low, but the type of full-time caregiving performed varied by demographic group (i.e., disability, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, generation, and vaccination status). The relative risk of being a COVID-19 caregiver remained significant for being a member of each of the marginalized groups examined after all adjustments.

To date, the HPS has not been analyzed to predict the type of full-time informal caregiving performed during the COVID-19 pandemic or their characteristics. Research limitations of this analysis include the cross-sectional, experimental dataset employed, as well as some variable measurement issues.

Prior informal caregiver research has often focused on the experiences of those caring for older adults or children with special healthcare needs. It may be instructive to learn whether and how informal caregivers excluded from paid employment during infectious disease outbreaks vary in meaningful ways from those engaged in other full-time caregiving. Because COVID-19 magnified equity concerns, examining demographic differences may also facilitate customization of pathways to post-caregiving workforce integration.

Editors' Note In this short article the authors briefly review and comment on the most common approaches used by companies or proposed by specialists for setting the budgets to be spent on advertising in an organisation.

Editors' Introduction In this article Hugh Murray questions many of the assumptions underlying popular theories of how advertising works, and criticises the lack of empirical research findings to validate them. On the basis of relationships shown by empirical research to exist between consumer purchasing behaviour of repeat‐purchase items, and consumer knowledge of attitudes towards alternative brands, he puts forward a model of how advertising works which differs from conventional theories. If this theory were accepted it would lead to a different approach to advertising strategies in this area, and the article spells out these implications.

Market intelligence is critical to marketing strategy planning for any business. While considerable study has been made of the intelligence‐gathering practices of large corporations, very little research has been reported focusing on the competitive information activities of small businesses. The research involved a survey of small business owners and managers in South Carolina, USA. The study addressed three questions: What market intelligence practices do small businesses use? What market intelligence practices do they think their competitors use? How important is market intelligence to small businesses? The market intelligence practices most frequently used are observing competitors and talking with suppliers or delivery people. Small business owners were least likely to use practices such as job interviews or hiring competitors′ employees to gain information. Respondents perceived their competitors as being more likely to pursue market intelligence activities. If a firm used a specific practice, they thought their competitors did also. Among small business owners market intelligence does not appear to be a critical management concern.