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Developers and terminators in hypermarkets' relationships with Chinese customers

James O. Stanworth (Department of Business Administration, National Changhua University of Education, Changhua, Taiwan, Republic of China)

Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics

ISSN: 1355-5855

Article publication date: 27 March 2009

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify distinguishing attributes of (dis)satisfying service contacts in a Chinese cultural context. Design/methodology/approach – The data were collected in the form of critical incidents from a purposive snowball sample of hypermarket customers. Analysis of the responses revealed 277 critical judgements related (dis)satisfying determinants.

Findings

Findings reveal 17 determinants with 37 sub‐determinants for all the experiences: five determinants relate to satisfactory evaluations, seven to dissatisfactory, and a further five to both. The determinants represent a marked departure from existing determinants of service quality described in the Western oriented literature.

Originality/value

The findings are related to Chinese (Confucian) culture to suggest determinants that can both develop and lead to termination of hypermarkets' relationships with their customers. A focus on the developers and terminators provides practical insights to foreign and indigenous managers of hypermarkets in the Far East for focus in service delivery.

Keywords

Citation

Stanworth, J.O. (2009), "Developers and terminators in hypermarkets' relationships with Chinese customers", Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Vol. 21 No. 2, pp. 280-293. https://doi.org/10.1108/13555850910950086

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2009, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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