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1 – 10 of over 1000The purpose of this paper is to discuss and use living stories to provide examples and some basic principles of cooperation as the alternative way of organising island community…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to discuss and use living stories to provide examples and some basic principles of cooperation as the alternative way of organising island community.
Design/methodology/approach
This study draws upon autoethnography and storytelling to show co-operative practices. Storytelling is supported by deconstruction of living stories.
Findings
Island communities create and maintain resistance through a culture of cooperation. Living stories (I-V) illustrate different instances of cooperative practices, for example, friends in need, gathering, search and moba, and where sympathy, gift, and humanity and care are essential elements.
Research limitations/implications
It would be interesting to explore whether island communities elsewhere exhibit similar patterns.
Practical implications
Deconstructed stories helped in reconstructing the bigger picture of how the people on the island offer collective resistance by developing different ways of cooperation.
Social implications
Living stories (I-V) based on reciprocity of taking turns and giving back to the community, is a strategy for survival and of collective resistance within the rural island communities.
Originality/value
Appreciation of the true value of collective resistance based on gift and reciprocity rather than financialisation and economisation aids to better understanding of the needs of traditional societies of island archipelagos, on the part of policy makers and other stakeholders who are involved in the process of planning for island development.
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This paper aims to develop a link between word-of-mouth and attribution of credit or blame following a purchase. Attribution is important because it can affect repurchase…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to develop a link between word-of-mouth and attribution of credit or blame following a purchase. Attribution is important because it can affect repurchase behavior, loyalty and word-of-mouth; therefore, understanding who receives credit or blame for a purchase outcome following a product recommendation is critical.
Design/methodology/approach
Through three studies, how recommendation context affects attribution of credit or blame to consumers, reviewers and retailers is experimentally examined. These studies test the thesis that context factors that are independent of the product recommendation can affect how consumers assign responsibility for the product’s performance.
Findings
Results demonstrate that while consumers trust online reviews, the addition of reviewer incentives diminish that trust, especially when a consumer identifies with the retailer. Findings show support for retailers using online reviews and provide evidence for using caution when incentivizing reviewers.
Research limitations/implications
This study makes a theoretical connection between word-of-mouth (reviews) and attribution. As this connection is not seen often in the literature, future research should look at the role the recommender plays in the purchasing process. This study forced participants to attribute a purchase success/failure to certain parties to find a baseline with which to begin. Future studies should look at this process as more spontaneous. It may not always occur or possibly only occur for certain types of purchases or experiences.
Practical implications
Retailers should be continuing to use online reviews as they provide protection from blame and an increase in credit for successful outcomes. This study also provides evidence that incorporating social media into online reviews as many sites have been doing may actually backfire. While it might be more helpful to the consumer, it can increase blame to the retailer. Reviewers are receiving incentives more frequently, and this study finds that loyal consumers should not be shown incentivized reviews as it heightens blame after a negative outcome.
Social implications
While attribution has been found to be an important part of the purchasing process, it has not been looked at in relationship to word-of-mouth/electronic word-of-mouth (offline/online reviews). Knowing that who recommends a product to us impacts post-purchase behavior is important, as online reviews are utilized more frequently. Many social media strategies have been implemented without information as to how the retailer themselves will be impacted. This study provides evidence of how to better utilize online reviews.
Originality/value
Though online reviews have been studied widely, less is known about how reviews and product recommendations affect attribution of credit or blame for a post-purchase outcome. The theoretical link between word-of-mouth and product outcome attribution provided here will help guide future research in this area.
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Lei Guo and Irene C.L. Ng
This paper aims to examine the driving factors of salespeople's relational behaviors in the business to business marketing context.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the driving factors of salespeople's relational behaviors in the business to business marketing context.
Design/methodology/approach
The hypotheses were tested through a quantitative study via an online survey. Data were collected from 224 salespeople dealing with business customers in manufacturing as well as service industries in China.
Findings
The results showed that perceived consequences, affect‐based judgment and salespeople's communal or exchange orientation influenced their relational behaviors. In particular, communal orientation, perceived reciprocity from the customer, and a liking for the customer positively affected relational behaviors, whilst exchange orientation had a negative impact on those behaviors.
Originality/value
This paper provides a framework of the antecedents to salespeople's relational behaviors in the business to business marketing context, filling in the gaps found in previous research by studying the driving factors, not the outcomes, of individual salespeople's relational behaviors.
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This paper analyzes the communal fund of a school alumni association in South Korea and attempts to expand the understanding of money's social role in maintaining its network. The…
Abstract
This paper analyzes the communal fund of a school alumni association in South Korea and attempts to expand the understanding of money's social role in maintaining its network. The analysis concentrates on the account book of the 1974 alumni association of Hani High School in Seoul and follows the expenditure traces of its communal fund since 1987. Over the last 30 years, money for the communal fund has been regularly collected at the alumni reunions and distributed on various ceremonial occasions, such as member weddings and funerals. By defining the alumni association as a type of kye, this study explores the correlation between the communal fund's operation and the members' belongingness in the association. Most of them have actively engaged in operating their communal fund. They have applied flexible management regulations, reflecting members' respective financial conditions and life events. In the distribution of their fund, not only economic principles but also moral and normative standards are manifested. The 1974 alumni association and their communal fund demonstrate the symbolic meaning of money and its active role in a community. It also challenges the widespread belief that money is an alienating object in the market society. Indeed, money has morality and the potential to help maintain social ties in the long run.
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Pankaj Aggarwal and Megha Agarwal
This research uses the distinction between communal relationships (based on mutual care and concern) and exchange relationships (based on the principle of quid pro quo) to propose…
Abstract
Purpose
This research uses the distinction between communal relationships (based on mutual care and concern) and exchange relationships (based on the principle of quid pro quo) to propose a framework that predicts differences in the shape of consumer response function to increasing levels of brand transgressions.
Methodology/approach
The paper proposes a conceptual model based on insights from prior research on brand relationships.
Findings
The premise being proposed in this paper is that exchange-oriented consumers, being focused on the balance of inputs and outcomes, base their evaluations on an objective assessment of the final outcome, such that their response function will be relatively proportional to increasing levels of brand transgression. On the other hand, communally oriented consumers are concerned with whether or not the relationship partner cares for them, such that up to a point brand transgressions are overlooked while beyond a threshold there is a sudden negative shift in brand evaluations. These consumers thus exhibit a step-function response to brand transgressions.
Research limitations
This paper proposes a conceptual framework and leaves it to future researchers to test it empirically.
Practical implications
Managers now have a toolkit to better manage instances of product and service failure.
Social implications
Findings from this model can be applied to better manage interpersonal relationships too.
Originality/value of the paper
This paper proposes a model that shows how and why consumers might differ in their response to brand transgressions. Further, this is a dynamic model in that it traces the response function of the consumers at increasing levels of transgressions.
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Laura D'hont, Rachel Doern and Juan Bautista Delgado García
The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential influence of friendship on entrepreneurial teams (ETs) and on venture formation and development. The theoretical framework is…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the potential influence of friendship on entrepreneurial teams (ETs) and on venture formation and development. The theoretical framework is built on the literature around friendship ties, the interaction of friendship ties and professional ties, and ETs.
Design/methodology/approach
Taking an interpretative methodological approach, the authors carried out qualitative interviews with ten business founders in Paris, France.
Findings
The authors identified different four profiles or types of ETs according to how friendship ties interact with professional ties among team members, which the authors designate as “fusion” and “separation”, and describe the orientation of this interaction, which the authors label as “affective” or “strategic”. These profiles affect the emergence of the idea and the choice of members in the formation of teams. They also shape the functioning of teams in terms of decision-making processes, recruitment and investment.
Research limitations/implications
The findings underline the difficulties of studying friendship in ETs empirically and recommend longitudinal approaches for further research.
Practical implications
Findings offer insights in to why and how ETs based on friendship ties approach the pre-launch, launch and development phases of businesses as well as in to the interactions between professional and friendship ties, which is helpful to both practitioners and academics. The authors also discuss the consequences and implications of the different team types in terms of their risks and strategies for mitigating these risks.
Originality/value
This is one of the first empirical studies to examine how friendship and professional ties may combine and evolve in ETs, and their influence on the entrepreneurial process as it relates to venture formation and development.
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Emma Dresler and Margaret Anderson
Young adult’s drinking is about pleasure, a communal practice of socialising together in a friendship group. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the evolving support…
Abstract
Purpose
Young adult’s drinking is about pleasure, a communal practice of socialising together in a friendship group. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the evolving support practices of drinking groups for better targeting of health communications messages.
Design/methodology/approach
This qualitative descriptive study examined the narratives of 28 young people’s (age 18-24 years old) experience of a “night out” framed as the Alcohol Consumption Journey.
Findings
The Alcohol Consumption Journey ritual consisted of three phases: preloading, going out and recovery. The participants described multiple forms of support practices located at each phase of the Alcohol Consumption Journey for maximising pleasure, minimising risk, encouraging supportive behaviours, enhancing group cohesion and protecting the drinkers from alcohol-related harm. Hence, support practices played a critical part in constituting and consolidating the drinking group. While the support practices appeared to be structured into the Alcohol Consumption Journey, they were activated differently for young men and young women. Support practices were an important driver in perpetuating the Alcohol Consumption Journey.
Originality/value
The paper extends Vander Ven’s concept of “drunk support” to better understand young adults’ evolving support practices in the ritualised Alcohol Consumption Journey.
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Leigh Anne Liu, Chi-Yue Chiu and Zhi-Xue Zhang
The purpose of this paper is to conceptually distinguish between communal and exchange relationship schemata and analyze their dynamic interactions and transformations in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to conceptually distinguish between communal and exchange relationship schemata and analyze their dynamic interactions and transformations in multicultural contexts.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on theories of social capital, social exchange, networks and relational models, the authors propose a framework to conceptualize how the communal and exchange relationship schemata can be transformed, integrated and multiplied under contextual influences, especially in culturally complex settings faced by multinational organizations.
Findings
The authors elucidate the dynamic processes of schemata interactions and transformations in relationship management at interpersonal, interorganizational and national levels in a variety of intercultural contexts, including interactions between monoculturals from different cultures and interplay of cultures within biculturals and among multiculturals. The authors explain how schemata integration and fusion can provide competitive advantages in navigating multicultural relationships.
Research limitations/implications
Systematic qualitative and quantitative studies are recommended to further test and refine the proposed ideas regarding the dynamic interactions and transformations of relationship schemata.
Practical implications
This paper presents implications for individuals, country managers and leaders who need to initiate and maintain relationships with culturally different others. The authors highlight the desirability of being aware of one's own relational schema, understanding others' schema, bridging the two schemata as well as fostering integration and fusion of the schemata.
Social implications
The 2020 global pandemic and various social upheavals around the world highlight the urgency of finding effective mental models to manage relationships. The inclusive and adaptive ways of thinking about relationships can potentially facilitate harmonious connections and conflict resolution.
Originality/value
The authors conceptually disentangle two established relationship schemata and offer a model of their dynamic synergetic transformations.
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JungYun (Christine) Hur and SooCheong (Shawn) Jang
Given the increasing importance of relationship management in service recovery encounters, this study aims to investigate the role of consumer–organization relationship norms …
Abstract
Purpose
Given the increasing importance of relationship management in service recovery encounters, this study aims to investigate the role of consumer–organization relationship norms (communal versus exchange) in connection with the service recovery process.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on a thorough review of the previous literature, the model was developed. Using a scenario-based survey method, a total of 204 usable responses were obtained via self-administered questionnaires in the USA. Anderson and Gerbing’s two-step approach was used to assess the measurement and structural models.
Findings
The findings indicate that consumers’ recovery processes are influenced by relationship norms. For consumers in the communal relationship, perceived social recovery had a greater influence on satisfaction with the service recovery. Consumers in the exchange relationship reacted more sensitively to perceived economic recovery in terms of satisfaction with the service recovery.
Research limitations/implications
The focus of this study is restaurant consumers’ responses to service recovery in the context of an established relationship. Therefore, the results may not be generalizable for other consumers and segments.
Practical implications
The findings have important implications for increasing the understanding of consumer behavior in established relationships and suggesting effective recovery strategies.
Originality/value
This study investigates the effect of different relationship norms that could explain varying consumer responses to service recovery within a high-quality relationship. It also provides directions for improving consumers’ satisfaction with service recovery. This differs from previous studies that mainly focused on relationship quality.
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The literature on friendship reveals particular tensions within the notion of friendship; tensions such as that between the significance of similarity by comparison with…
Abstract
The literature on friendship reveals particular tensions within the notion of friendship; tensions such as that between the significance of similarity by comparison with difference within the relationship; or the tension between liking a friend for his traits and qualities and liking him uniquely. The work of Jacques Derrida in The Politics of Friendship helps to elucidate the first of these tensions, beginning with an examination of the claim sometimes attributed to Aristotle: ‘O, my friends, there is no friend’ to argue that friendship as fraternity can become the schema that democracy adopts for the future. This paper explores and argues for the inter-relatedness of two questions about friendship in the context of politics: Can friendship act as a model for political community? And is friendship itself a political relationship? It argues that while both these questions can be answered in the affirmative, those answers create value by providing a guide that can support the development of our complex identities as mature individuals and citizens.
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