Rujirutana Mandhachitara and Siriporn (NaPombhejara) Allapach
This paper investigates how affirmative leadership management styles, market orientation and marketing intelligence drive the performance of small business enterprises in Bangkok…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates how affirmative leadership management styles, market orientation and marketing intelligence drive the performance of small business enterprises in Bangkok, Thailand.
Design/methodology/approach
Small business performance is a formative measurement consisting of financial and marketing metrics. Other constructs are reflective. Some 200 manager-owners of small businesses were interviewed. The authors use structural modeling, partial least squares (PLS).
Research limitations/implications
The data were collected from two of 50 districts in Bangkok. The study is cross-sectional. Performance measures were self-reported.
Practical implications
Building and exercising affirmative leadership skills and behaviors in small business operations is crucial. Small businesses should focus their recruitment on this quality. Affirmative leaders must create and promote a systematic approach to gathering and analyzing market intelligence on customers and competitors and utilize this strategically.
Originality/value
This empirical paper establishes two important mediating roles of market orientation. First, affirmative leadership is necessary to motivate a market-oriented enterprise in its successful performance. Second, marketing intelligence contributes to business performance when it is driven by market orientation.
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Keith Blois, Rujirutana Mandhachitara and Tasman Smith
Retailing organizations in Bangkok range in type from the traditional through to the most modern. Also, while there are agglomerations of small stores selling similar ranges of…
Abstract
Retailing organizations in Bangkok range in type from the traditional through to the most modern. Also, while there are agglomerations of small stores selling similar ranges of goods, there are also some of the most up‐to‐date large shopping malls in the world. Although such agglomerations of retailing activity are not unique to Bangkok, Bangkok’s development is arguably unusual in three ways: the number of agglomerations continues to grow; these new agglomerations are dealing in a wide range of goods and not just electronic gadgets; and one particular agglomeration dominates the Bangkok market for its range of goods. A survey was carried out in 1999 of a sample of the stores in Pantip Plaza, a mall that is in an agglomeration. The results show the need to improve our understanding of the factors leading to agglomeration.
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Randall Shannon and Rujirutana Mandhachitara
The purpose of this paper is to examine attitudinal and behavioral shopping patterns related to hypermarket shopping in an Asian market, which has undergone a revolutionary…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine attitudinal and behavioral shopping patterns related to hypermarket shopping in an Asian market, which has undergone a revolutionary transition from traditional to modern trade food retailing in the past decade. The first class includes shopping enjoyment, risk aversion, price signaling, innovativeness, trust and future purchase intentions. The second group of behavioral shopping patterns includes advocacy, time, and money spent shopping.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 244 shoppers was interviewed across Bangkok using a structured questionnaire through face‐to‐face personal interviews.
Findings
The study finds that grocery shoppers tend to be more risk averse when time pressured, but less risk averse if they are innovative. Bangkok Thais score high on innovativeness and shopping enjoyment and are more frequent patrons of hypermarkets than other grocery store formats. While a particular aspect of hypermarket grocery shopping behavior is found to relate to advocacy and future loyalty intentions, it does not contribute to enhanced store trust.
Research limitations/implications
While Thailand is part of Southeast Asia, not all countries share the same cultures or consumer behavior. Similarly, as Bangkok is a mega city, it cannot be said to represent rural parts of the country.
Practical implications
As the majority of modern retailers are owned and managed by western countries, the format is relatively new in most Asian markets. Their growth has not evolved naturally and may result in cross‐cultural consumer behavior conflicts, thus findings help extant or new retailers better understand consumer behavior. Because of high risk aversion, private label brands may require that stores develop greater trust among consumers, perhaps through sampling or building awareness of the concept behind private label. Thai hypermarket shoppers appear driven more by convenience than by time pressure. Because they tend to shop in groups and enjoy this experience, retailers may want to consider more of the experiential or social aspects involved in shopping, rather than purely functional offerings.
Originality/value
By applying predominantly western theories to a developing Asian market, their generalizability can be tested.
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Rujirutana Mandhachitara and Yaowalak Poolthong
This paper aims to examine the roles of corporate social responsibility (a non service‐related concept) and perceived service quality (a service‐related concept) in determining…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the roles of corporate social responsibility (a non service‐related concept) and perceived service quality (a service‐related concept) in determining the attitudinal and behavioral loyalty of customers in the retail banking sector in Bangkok, Thailand.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is quantitative in nature using the responses of 275 bank customers who answered a survey questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using partial least squares (PLS), a variance‐based structural equation modeling method.
Findings
The results of the study demonstrate that corporate social responsibility (CSR) has a significantly strong and positive association with attitudinal loyalty. Perceived service quality mediated the relationship between CSR and repeat patronage intentions (behavioral loyalty). Direct effects were reported between perceived service quality and both attitudinal and behavioral loyalty. A positive relationship between attitudinal and behavioral loyalty was demonstrated.
Research limitations/implications
While the results are clear and have strong salience for the retail banking industry, future research should take into account the specific industry context within the national culture.
Practical implications
The study provides a set of findings relating to CSR initiatives and perception of service quality that could be readily incorporated into banks' corporate strategic plans.
Originality/value
The paper demonstrates an empirical operationalization of CSR initiatives measured from the customers' point of view, and from which banks could learn for corporate strategy development.
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Rujirutana Mandhachitara and Larry Lockshin
This paper examines the Scotch whisky market in Thai department stores over a two‐year period and shows their importance to Thai retailing. The paper then finds that the category…
Abstract
This paper examines the Scotch whisky market in Thai department stores over a two‐year period and shows their importance to Thai retailing. The paper then finds that the category behaves as both a fast moving consumer goods market and as a luxury market. Product movement is rapid when compared to other luxury good categories and there is some evidence of discounting. The data, derived from a sample of weekly sales through 25 department stores over two years, show differences in distribution, merchandising, and pricing strategy across different chains. The paper concludes by looking at the potential causes of profit differences across these chains.
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Thinada Piamphongsant and Rujirutana Mandhachitara
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between independent and interdependent self‐construal and attention to social comparison information (ATSCI) on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between independent and interdependent self‐construal and attention to social comparison information (ATSCI) on professional career women's fashion clothing conformity.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 207 professional career women aged 21‐50 living in London and New York were interviewed using a structured questionnaire via the internet.
Findings
A partial least square analysis found that interdependent self‐construal has strong and positive relationships with ATSCI, and that this construct, in‐turn, has a strong and positive relationship with motivation to conform. Independent self‐construal has a significant, but unhypothesized, relationship with ATSCI. However, independent self‐construal is significantly negatively related to conformity motivation.
Research limitations/implications
A limitation of the study includes the reliance on internet self‐administered data collection method.
Practical implications
The integrations of the individuals into, and their interactions with, the fashion adoption process is a phenomenon very relevant to marketers in identifying patterns of individual and social influences on fashion clothing tastes.
Originality/value
The findings are valuable because they apply, for the first time, four important psychological constructs to the subject field of professional career women's fashion choices.
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Yaowalak Poolthong and Rujirutana Mandhachitara
This paper aims to explore how social responsibility initiatives can influence perceived service quality and brand effect from the perspective of retail banking customers in…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore how social responsibility initiatives can influence perceived service quality and brand effect from the perspective of retail banking customers in Bangkok, Thailand. The paper also aims to examine the impact of trust as a mediating variable between perceived service quality and brand effect.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is quantitative in nature, using the responses of 275 bank customers to a closed‐end questionnaire administered on a face‐to‐face basis by trained fieldworkers. The data analysis is performed by partial least squares (PLS), a second generation statistical SEM variance‐based modeling technique.
Findings
The results of the study demonstrate how corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives influence service quality perceptions and also examine CSR's impact on trust and affective attitudes of customers towards their banks. The study's hypothesized relationships were principally supported, i.e. perceived service quality is positively associated with brand effect mediated by trust. CSR initiatives play an important role in perceived service quality, which in turn, influences trust and brand effect. Finally, CSR is shown to be directly related to brand effect.
Research limitations/implications
While the results are clear and have strong salience to the retail banking industry in Thailand, applications of the findings beyond Thailand should take into account other factors such as the nature of retail banking industry, the perception, behavior and demographics of retail banking customers as well as the strategic focus of retail banking toward CSR.
Practical implications
The study provides a set of findings relating to CSR initiatives that could be readily incorporated into a bank's corporate plan.
Originality/value
To the authors' knowledge, their study proposes an exhaustive review of CSR activities a company could use to best match its stakeholders' interests. Also the paper demonstrates the contribution of advanced modeling methodology to understanding key relationships in the financial services sector.
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Ratna Achuta Paluri and Saloni Mehra
Research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and consumer perception of CSR activities is increasing over the recent past. The purpose of this paper is to gain an…
Abstract
Purpose
Research on corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and consumer perception of CSR activities is increasing over the recent past. The purpose of this paper is to gain an understanding of the consumer perceptions of CSR activities of banks in India. It provides insights on whether consumers want their banks to take up CSR initiatives and would these perceptions influence their attitude towards the bank.
Design/methodology/approach
Self-report questionnaires were personally administered by the researchers and their team. Respondents’ responses were based on their awareness of their bank’s involvement in CSR initiatives. The study uses convenience sampling, given the resource limitations. The research was conducted in the city of Nashik, India during June–October 2015.
Findings
The results of the study show that consumer perception towards the CSR activities of the bank influenced their attitude and satisfaction. Though consumers expressed a need for their bank’s taking up CSR initiatives, this need did not influence their attitude towards the bank, contradicting studies in the past. Consumer perception of the bank’s involvement in the CSR activities was moderate, indicating that banks need to increase their communication about the CSR initiatives undertaken by them.
Practical implications
Unique contribution of current research is that the CSR reputation and CSR concern of consumers in the Indian context have been investigated for their influence on consumer attitude. Unlike previous studies, CSR concern does not influence consumer attitude or satisfaction. Findings provide important insights for practitioners and academicians focussing on the banking sector in India.
Originality/value
Little research is reported on consumer perception of CSR in banking sector. Current research tries to fill this gap.