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Traditionally only cognitive measures, such as the disconfirmation of some comparison standard or perceived service performance, have been used to explain perceived service quality and satisfaction. Suggests that emotions could play an important role in determining satisfaction with a service. The results from an empirical study of customers’ experiences of the services of a labour force bureau show that customers experience different positive and negative emotions in connection with the service, and that these emotions influence service satisfaction. Finds that, on an aggregate level, direct disconfirmation of adequate service, together with positive emotions, explain satisfaction best. Identifies four groups of customers with different emotional profiles. Analyses of emotions in these groups show that negative emotions have the largest impact on customer response.

Focuses on proposing a new method for capturing the customer′s zone of tolerance for service quality. Interprets the zone of tolerance as a kind of inertia regarding behavioural responses to disconfirmation of expectations. Gives a predicted example in which adequate and desired expectations are operationalized by conjoint analysis. Explores the relationship between expectations, service quality, and service value. Gives examples of the kinds of result which one can obtain using the proposed method.

Relationship marketing (RM) has been widely accepted as an important determinant of long‐term business success and is believed to be especially well suited for services because of the personal contact between customers and service providers. Past research has focused mainly on the advantages of RM for companies, while less attention has been paid to relationships from the customer’s point of view. We suggest that relationships may be described as ranging from spurious to true, depending on customer‐perceived relationship benefits, trust and commitment. A qualitative study of customer relationships was conducted in a car dealership, where profitability depends on customer commitment to both after‐sales services and the car brand. Customer relationships were found to be more spurious than true. The study revealed that behavioural commitment to after‐sales services was high, but that affective commitment was low to moderate. Customers were satisfied but did not perceive the services to be superior to the competitors’ service offerings. They trusted authorised repair in general and did not feel that after‐sales service would have more than a minor influence on their future car purchases.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship marketing (RM) strategy of a retail bank and examine whether – after its implementation – customer relationships were strengthened through perceived improvements in the banking relationship and consequent loyalty towards the bank.

A survey was conducted on two profitability segments, of which the more profitable segment had been directly exposed to a customer oriented RM strategy, whereas the less profitable segment had been subjected to more sales oriented marketing communications.

No significant differences were found between the segments on customers' evaluations of the service relationship or their loyalty toward the bank. Furthermore, regression analysis revealed that relationship satisfaction was less important as a determinant of loyalty in the more profitable segment.

This study was conducted as a case study of one specific branch of a bank group in Finland, which limits the external validity of its results. It was not possible to ascertain if, or to what extent, customers of the more profitable segment had received the intended RM treatment. Other limitations are also discussed.

Customer orientation is desirable within retail banking and more studies are needed on the differential drivers of loyalty across customer profitability segments. By identifying the aspects of a banking relationship that are more highly valued among more profitable customers than among less profitable customers, bank managers would be able to more effectively devise appropriate strategies for different segments.

The study contributes to the RM literature and marketing of financial services by providing empirical evidence of the effects of RM activities on customer relationship perceptions in different profitability segments.

The purpose of this paper is to study the responses of young consumers to suspected covert and overt product-brand recommendations in a blog.

Experimental design was applied to investigate the effect of covert and overt marketing on young consumers’ perceptions of blogger credibility and their behavioural intentions.

Overt marketing had a negative effect on behavioural intentions, such as future interest in the blogger, intention to engage in word-of-mouth, and purchase intention. Covert marketing did not affect the intended behaviour. Neither covert nor overt marketing influenced the blogger’s credibility.

The study was delimited to a small sample; one blog, one type of product recommendation, and a well-known brand. Young, well-educated consumers with experience in reading blogs may be able to filter the brand recommendations and focus on the content of the blog.

This study has implications for bloggers, companies, and policy makers. Although overt marketing is the most open and the recommended form of blog marketing, the study showed that overt marketing has negative effects. Therefore, bloggers need to carefully consider how they present a sponsorship.

The study makes three important contributions. First, it answers the call for research on consumer reactions to covert (deceptive) and overt marketing tactics. Second, it contributes to blog marketing research by studying a case of suspected covert marketing where consumers do not know whether the blog is sponsored or not. Third, the study contributes to knowledge around young consumers, demonstrating that covert and overt tactics do not affect blogger credibility.

The commercial importance of e‐services, accessed via Internet or mobile phone, grows steadily. There is a clear need to develop a better understanding of how consumers evaluate these services and develop e‐loyalty. An empirical study of an Internet portal was tied in with extant theories about service quality, customer satisfaction and loyalty. Data were collected by means of an on‐line survey. The effect of customer satisfaction with three service components on value perception and overall satisfaction was measured. Customers’ overall satisfaction was influenced by their satisfaction with the core service, supplementary services and the user interface. A strong positive effect of overall satisfaction on the intention to continue using the portal was found. Noteworthy was the predominant effect of satisfaction with supplementary services on value perception. No significant direct effects were found of satisfaction with the user interface on value perception. Some implications as well as future research directions are provided.

The automotive industry in the European Union (EU) faces a sharply reduced regulatory environment, with Block Exemption (1400/2002). Economists have predicted fundamental changes in the market as a result of the modified Block Exemption. In this article, the aim is to investigate how the relationship between a car dealer and its main supplier (i.e. an OEM or its national representative), affects how the dealer perceives threats and opportunities in this more competitive environment.

Based on relationship marketing theory, propositions about antecedents and consequences of commitment to a supplier are formulated for the changing automotive market. Data were collected from 413 car dealerships in Belgium, The Netherlands and Finland, countries without domestic automobile brands.

Commitment to the main supplier is mainly driven by satisfaction and trust. The more car dealers are committed to their main supplier, the lower the threat they perceive from new intermediaries, and the lower their intention to expand their business beyond the current relationship. Commitment to their main suppliers also reinforces their confidence in the future. This confidence in the future spurs dealers' expansion plans within their current relationship.

Longitudinal research would allow better inferences about market evolution and causal sequences.

Satisfied and committed dealers seem reluctant to make radical changes in their relationships and marketing strategy, apparently being entrenched in traditional channel structures. The modified Block Exemption could increase the average size of dealerships, improve the competitive position of large dealers, accelerate consolidation in the automotive distribution sector, and decrease competition between traditional dealerships. Opportunities have been created by the modified Block Exemption for new entrants to capitalize on new market niches and customer categories. Multi‐brand dealers could use these opportunities to create a purchasing experience that differentiates them from the traditional dealers.

Contributing to scarce research on complex channel relationships within a captive distribution structure, this is the first empirical study of the European car industry in the context of the modified Block Exemption. It is also one of the few studies that takes the perspective of the dealership.

In e‐commerce, loyal customers are considered extremely valuable. Loyalty is generally attributed to satisfaction with the quality of service. Since online transactions involve many uncertainties for the customer, trust is a condition for exchange. Trust in the electronic medium – here called “e‐trust” – is believed to increase online customer loyalty, but empirical confirmations are scarce. The present study empirically investigates the roles of service quality, satisfaction and trust in an e‐commerce context. In the study, e‐trust is found to directly affect loyalty. The e‐service quality dimension of assurance, i.e. trusting the merchant, influences loyalty via e‐trust and e‐satisfaction. Other e‐quality dimensions, such as ease of use, e‐scape, responsiveness, and customization influence e‐loyalty mainly indirectly, via satisfaction. Managerial implications and suggestions for further research are provided.

Past e‐service research has largely concentrated on customer responses to online retailers. The present study sheds light on the determinants of customer loyalty to a content‐based service, a healthcare Web site. Content‐based service providers must build a loyal customer base in order to attract advertisers and sponsors. Lack of trust has been one of the most important reasons for consumers not adopting online services involving financial exchanges, but trust appears to be equally important to exchanges that require divulging sensitive information, such as health issues. Results reveal that loyalty to the health site is satisfaction‐driven, but that trust is the main antecedent of satisfaction. Need fulfilment, responsiveness, security and technical functionality of the Web site are shown to influence trust. Managerial implications are provided.

The purpose of this paper is to examine reactions when customers in service encounters receive preferential treatment (i.e. something extra in relation to other customers). The examination is conducted in a social context that allows the customer to compare what he or she receives with what other customers receive. The main effect variables are perceived justice and customer satisfaction.

An experimental method is employed to examine the effects of providing customers with preferential treatment. The study involves four treatment groups with various combinations of receiving or not receiving preferential treatment.

Customers perceived preferential treatment as relatively unjust. This was true for customers who received the preferential treatment and for those who did not. However, customer satisfaction among those receiving preferential treatment was enhanced, thus signaling that preferential treatment affects perceived justice and satisfaction differently. In addition, different contexts for receiving preferential treatment (i.e. receiving it alone or sharing it with another customer) produced different levels of customer satisfaction.

The extant research on preferential treatment has failed to acknowledge that this treatment often occurs in the presence of several customers, which is likely to evoke perceptions of justice. At the same time, extant research on perceived justice in service situations has mainly focussed on service failures as antecedents of justice perceptions. This study attempts to extend theory on both preferential treatment and perceived justice in service-encounter settings.