In-Tae Lee, Jinyong Choi and Sangyoo Kim
The authors investigate the antecedents of psychological ownership from the customers' perspective by applying employee psychological ownership (EPO) to human resource management.
Abstract
Purpose
The authors investigate the antecedents of psychological ownership from the customers' perspective by applying employee psychological ownership (EPO) to human resource management.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted questionnaires on utilitarian benefits, hedonic benefits, perceived risk, customer satisfaction, customer trust and customers' psychological ownership (CPO) on 205 people. They verified their hypotheses using structural equation modeling analysis.
Findings
The authors found that customer trust positively influences CPO, but customer satisfaction does not. Instead, customer satisfaction indirectly affects CPO through the mediating effects of customer trust. They also found that utilitarian and hedonic benefits positively influence customer satisfaction and confidence, but perceived risk negatively influences it.
Research limitations/implications
This study contributes to the service marketing literature by empirically confirming that customers have psychological ownership, such as employees, and by incorporating benefits, risk, trust and CPO into a comprehensive framework.
Practical implications
Marketers should formulate service strategies that strengthen customers' perceptions of utilitarian and hedonic benefits and avoid customers' perceived risk, which is expected to exert a significant CPO-enhancing effect.
Originality/value
In the service context, customers are perceived as partial employees. The authors empirically explored the role of perceived benefits and risks in enhancing CPO via customer satisfaction and trust by applying EPO concepts. Strengthening perceived benefits and avoiding perceived risk were verified as critical drivers of CPO in the service context. The results of this study confirm that customer trust is required for customers to feel CPO.
Details
Keywords
Gary Knight, Tage Koed Madsen and Per Servais
Companies that internationalise at or near their founding, “born globals,” are emerging in great numbers world‐wide. Characterised by a specific Gestalt of marketing‐related…
Abstract
Companies that internationalise at or near their founding, “born globals,” are emerging in great numbers world‐wide. Characterised by a specific Gestalt of marketing‐related competencies, they are playing an increasing role in international trade. Born globals are investigated using data from case and survey‐based studies in Denmark and the USA. First introduces and describes the born‐global phenomenon. Then, hypotheses are developed and tested via a structural model that represents key factors in the international success of this important breed of firm. Results suggest that born‐global international performance is enhanced in the wake of managerial emphasis on foreign customer focus and marketing competence. Product quality and differentiation strategy also play important roles, particularly in the US firms. These and additional findings are discussed in light of their theoretical and practical implications.