Wenhua Shi, Lingshu Tang, Xiaohang Zhang, Yu Gao and Yameng Zhu
Although word of mouth (WOM) affects customers’ purchasing intentions to a large extent, prior research has neglected the role of WOM as a driver of customer satisfaction.
Abstract
Purpose
Although word of mouth (WOM) affects customers’ purchasing intentions to a large extent, prior research has neglected the role of WOM as a driver of customer satisfaction.
Design/methodology/approach
Several scholars have suggested that WOM can not only affect customer expectation but also can influence perceived quality. Consistent with existing research results and the expectancy disparity model, this paper established a causal relation between WOM and customer satisfaction and confirmed it was drawing on an experimental study.
Findings
This paper indicates that positive or negative WOM affects customer satisfaction by promoting or lowering customers’ expectations. This relation is moderated by product type, rather than the source of the WOM. With experience goods, positive (negative) WOM will decrease (increase) customer satisfaction. However, with search goods, positive (negative) WOM will increase (decrease) customer satisfaction.
Originality/value
The results of this study have implications for academia and management. Academically, this study establishes the causal relation between WOM and customer satisfaction, expanding the research on the relation between WOM and satisfaction. From a managerial perspective, the promotion of WOM also can create certain service risks.
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Wenhua Shi, Jianmei Ma and Chen Ji
The purpose of this paper is to study how customers’ social ties can be performed as one kind of switching costs, which can affect customer loyalty and have a moderate effect on…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study how customers’ social ties can be performed as one kind of switching costs, which can affect customer loyalty and have a moderate effect on the relationship between customer satisfaction and customer loyalty, and to improve the typology study of switching costs and give suggestions for companies about how to strengthen customer loyalty.
Design/methodology/approach
An empirical research is implemented to prove the effectiveness of the study model, using factor analyses, regression analyses and structural equation model analyses as data analyses approaches.
Findings
The research results prove the direct and moderate effect of social ties loss costs, and the effectiveness and reasoning of the new typology of switching costs.
Practical implications
According to the research results, companies can take measures to enhance customers’ social ties loss costs properly so as to strengthen their loyalty.
Originality/value
This research comes up with a new kind of relational switching costs, social ties loss costs and proves its effects, thus improving the typology of switching costs, and makes practical suggestions for companies.
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Studies of Tianhou-Mazu cult have been focused on three themes: studies in Taiwan emphasize hegemonic order; studies in Hong Kong reveal a relationship of “sisterhood” alliances;…
Abstract
Purpose
Studies of Tianhou-Mazu cult have been focused on three themes: studies in Taiwan emphasize hegemonic order; studies in Hong Kong reveal a relationship of “sisterhood” alliances; and studies in Singapore highlight the important role of ethnic groups. The rebuilding of the goddess’s ancestral temple in early 1980s and her acquiring a world intangible cultural heritage status in the early twenty-first century facilitate the redefinition of overseas Chinese’s religious affiliation. The purpose of this paper is to discuss this global development of the cult from the 1980s and its ritual implication in overseas Chinese communities.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper, by comparing the Tianhou-Mazu cult in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asian Chinese settlements, argues that from sisters to descended replicas, or from local alliances to global hegemony, the cult of Tianhou-Mazu since the 1980s has not only replaced local culture with an emphasis on “high culture,” but also represents a religious strategy regarding local people’s interpretation of correctness and authority.
Findings
This paper argues that despite the imposition of hegemonic power from various authorities, popular religion is a matter of choice. This reflects how local religious practice is construed according to the interpretation of global cultural languages by the elite Chinese; their decision of when and how to reconnect with the goddess’s ancestral temple or the “imperial state,” or to form alliances with other local communities; and the implementation of the local government’s cultural policy.
Originality/value
This paper is one of the few attempts comparing development of a folk cult in various communities.
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This study aims to understand the epistemic foundation of the classification applied in the first Chinese library catalogue, the Seven Epitomes (Qilue).
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to understand the epistemic foundation of the classification applied in the first Chinese library catalogue, the Seven Epitomes (Qilue).
Design/methodology/approach
Originating from a theoretical stance that situates knowledge organization in its social context, the study applies a multifaceted framework pertaining to five categories of textual data: the Seven Epitomes; biographical information about the classificationist Liu Xin; and the relevant intellectual, political, and technological history.
Findings
The study discovers seven principles contributing to the epistemic foundation of the catalogue's classification: the Han imperial library collection imposed as the literary warrant; government functions considered for structuring texts; classicist morality determining the main classificatory structure; knowledge perceived and organized as a unity; objects, rather than subjects, of concern affecting categories at the main class level; correlative thinking connecting all text categories to a supreme knowledge embodied by the Six Classics; and classicist moral values resulting in both vertical and horizontal hierarchies among categories as well as texts.
Research limitations/implications
A major limitation of the study is its focus on the main classes, with limited attention to subclasses. Future research can extend the analysis to examine subclasses of the same scheme. Findings from these studies may lead to a comparison between the epistemic approach in the target classification and the analytic one common in today's bibliographic classification.
Originality/value
The study is the first to examine in depth the epistemic foundation of traditional Chinese bibliographic classification, anchoring the classification in its appropriate social and historical context.
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José M. Merigó, Anna M. Gil-Lafuente and Jaime Gil-Lafuente
This special issue of the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, entitled “Business, Industrial Marketing and Uncertainty”, presents selected extended studies that were…
Abstract
Purpose
This special issue of the Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, entitled “Business, Industrial Marketing and Uncertainty”, presents selected extended studies that were presented at the European Academy of Management and Business Economics Conference (AEDEM 2012).
Design/methodology/approach
The main focus of this year was reflected in the slogan: “Creating new opportunities in an uncertain environment”. The objective was to show the importance that uncertainty has in our current world, strongly affected by many complexities and modern developments, especially through the new technological advances.
Findings
One fundamental reason that explains the economic crisis is that the government and companies were not well prepared for these critical situations. And the main justification for this is that they did not have enough information. Otherwise, they would have tried any possible strategy to avoid the crisis. Usually, uncertainty is defined as the situation with unknown information in the environment.
Originality/value
From a theoretical perspective, the problem here is that enterprises and governments should assess the information and the uncertainty in a more appropriate way. Usually, they have some studies in this direction, but many times, it is not enough, as it was proved in the last economic crisis.
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Mengyuan Xu, Ruixue Zhao, Mengyao Li, Stephen Nicholas, Elizabeth Maitland, Jinnan Zhang, Huan Jia, Jing Wang and Wenhua Wang
The study aims to address the gap between leaders’ preventative self-regulatory focus and its impact on Chinese primary care physicians (PCPs) well-being, measured by work–family…
Abstract
Purpose
The study aims to address the gap between leaders’ preventative self-regulatory focus and its impact on Chinese primary care physicians (PCPs) well-being, measured by work–family spillover stress and work exhaustion and on healthcare quality, measured by preventive service delivery and clinical guideline adherence.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper conducted a cross-sectional in-person survey with 38 leaders and 224 PCPs in 38 primary health centers (PHCs) in Jinan, Tianjin, Shenzhen and Shanghai. Guided by the regulatory focus theory, this paper built hierarchical linear regression models to examine the association between the leadership’s regulatory focus and physician burnout, work–family conflict, clinic guideline adherence and preventive service delivery.
Findings
This paper added the knowledge of leadership’s regulatory focus impact on the well-being and medical service quality of PCPs. Prevention regulatory focus of leaders was significantly associated with work exhaustion and physicians’ reported work–family conflict. There is no significant association between leadership’s prevention regulatory focus and PCPs’ preventive service delivery or clinical guideline adherence.
Research limitations/implications
Data on the regulatory focus of PCPs were not collected. Future studies should collect longitudinal data, allowing for exploration of the mechanism.
Practical implications
This paper revealed that PHC leaders should restructure their leadership focus away from preventive regulatory behavior, promoting a team atmosphere and enhancing PCP attitudes, behaviors and well-being.
Social implications
To improve the well-being of PCPs and the quality of medical services, our results recommend a focus on establishing a positive organizational culture and addressing the emotional and professional needs of PCPs. To achieve these aims, policymakers should implement measures that promote a more comprehensive and balanced regulatory focus within PHC institutions. These measures should aim to create an environment that supports physician well-being and enhances the quality of healthcare services. Providing ample resources and support, promoting a collaborative team atmosphere and encouraging open communication are vital to empowering PCPs.
Originality/value
This study examined the preventive regulatory focus of PHC leaders on the well-being and medical service quality of PCPs in China.
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Mingli Zhang, Mu Hu, Lingyun Guo and Wenhua Liu
Thriving brand communities are inseparable from engaged members and their word-of-mouth behavior. The purpose of this paper is to investigate which customer experience elevates…
Abstract
Purpose
Thriving brand communities are inseparable from engaged members and their word-of-mouth behavior. The purpose of this paper is to investigate which customer experience elevates customer engagement and consequent word-of-mouth intention in online brand communities, and how.
Design/methodology/approach
From the perspective of service ecosystem theory, a framework with several hypotheses was proposed. The model was verified with structural equation modeling based on questionnaire data collected from smartphone communities in China.
Findings
Empirical results indicate that customer experience promotes community engagement, and further enhances word-of-mouth intention. Furthermore, the mediating effect of community engagement in the relation between customer experience (social support and flow) and word-of-mouth intention has been verified.
Practical implications
This paper informs practitioners about the importance of experience co-creation with community members in brand and community promotion, and provides several implications to encourage more engaged customers with fostering pleasant customer experiences.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the theory of service ecosystem by empirical examination of its several propositions in a brand community context. The paper extends the present theory with the discussion of the mediation effect of community engagement in the continuing value co-creation process.
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It is a very prominent problem that Chinese universities lack school-running characteristics. In the past ten years, because of undergraduate teaching assessment requirements of…
Abstract
Purpose
It is a very prominent problem that Chinese universities lack school-running characteristics. In the past ten years, because of undergraduate teaching assessment requirements of the Ministry of Education, universities attach great importance to school-running characteristics. What is the reality and how to improve the effectiveness of creating the school-running characteristics of universities? It is a problem that needs to be solved. The purpose of this paper is to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the survey method, literature study, case studies and other methods, this study reviewed ten years of school-running characteristics construction and explored some laws of creating school-running characteristics.
Findings
This study found although universities in China are beginning to attach great importance to the school-running characteristics, but they are still staying in the summarization of characteristics. School-running characteristics are very rough. Creating school-running characteristics are mainly efforts responding to the superior government. Creating school-running characteristics should be based on category characteristic. Universities need to change in competition and create characteristics within its history and culture. Universities need to refine the core idea of education, develop a big picture and then renew them in the assessment cycle.
Originality/value
The originality of this study was that it put forward some new laws including changing from summarizing to creating its own school-running characteristics, putting category characteristic as the prerequisite and considering the core idea of education as the focus of school-running characteristics. This research will enrich the theory building of higher education research and has some value in promoting the creation of school-running characteristics.
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Wenhua Hou and Wenlu Ran
This study aims to investigate the determinants of the capital structure of public–private partnership (PPP) projects in China and the nonlinear relationship between them.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate the determinants of the capital structure of public–private partnership (PPP) projects in China and the nonlinear relationship between them.
Design/methodology/approach
First, this study identifies potential factors that can influence the capital structure of PPP projects based on literature and theoretical analysis. Second, this paper collects data from PPP projects in China and empirically investigates them using multiple linear regression and machine learning methods. Finally, for machine learning model results, this paper adopts the Shapley additive explanations to interpret them.
Findings
The results show that project size, contract duration, number of sponsors, urbanization level and regional openness are key factors influencing project capital structure, and there is a nonlinear relationship between all these factors and capital structure.
Research limitations/implications
Theoretically, this study complements the influencing factors of PPP project capital structure and reveals their nonlinear relationship. Practically, the findings of this study can help PPP project participants formulate project capital structure more scientifically.
Practical implications
Practically, the findings of this study can help project managers to recognize the important factors affecting the capital structure of PPP projects and formulate capital structure more scientifically. Moreover the results are conducive to policymakers to predict a reasonable capital structure for PPP projects and better control project risks. These research findings can also help creditors make more accurate loan decisions and promote project success to meet the needs of the general public.
Originality/value
Most existing literature has studied the linear relationship between influencing factors and the capital structure of PPP projects. This study uses machine learning models to explore the nonlinear relationship between influencing factors and the capital structure of PPP projects and explains the working principles.
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Using literature and related documents, the study reviews and analyzes the global trend of liberal arts education (LAE) resurgence and experimentation in different societies…
Abstract
Using literature and related documents, the study reviews and analyzes the global trend of liberal arts education (LAE) resurgence and experimentation in different societies across three continents, East Asia, North America, and Western Europe. The study explores how LAE has been incorporated into different societies, how the variations in each model reflect local traditions and values, and what these adaptations contribute to the new LAE model. Through the angle of new institutional theory, the study focuses specifically on how these local models are impacted by institutional factors, the constraint of market, policy, state, as well as historical figures or organizations. This research with document analysis of global LAE summarizes the innovation and insights to date and calls for further research on LAE through new institutional theory and ideal types. This study builds the foundation for further research exploring the implementation and educational outcomes of LAE in different societies.