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Article
Publication date: 29 October 2021

Estelle van Tonder, Stephen Graham Saunders, Mwarumba Mwavita and Sohee Kim

This study aims to examine customer helping and advocacy behaviours within dyadic financial service relationships involving customers and fellow customer helpers.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to examine customer helping and advocacy behaviours within dyadic financial service relationships involving customers and fellow customer helpers.

Design/methodology/approach

The gift-giving literature was used to propose a customer-to-customer interaction model, which was tested and cross-validated among electronic banking customers in South Africa (n = 404) and Australia (n = 244). Self-administered questionnaires were distributed to respondents who are users of electronic banking services and who previously received help with the service from a fellow customer. Data analysis included multi-group structural equation modelling.

Findings

The findings support the view that selected source credibility dimensions may influence greater affective commitment towards fellow customer helpers at various levels. Subsequently, further altruistic gift-giving in the form of customer helping and advocacy behaviours may result from higher levels of affective commitment. Feeling secure in their relationships with fellow customer helpers, customer recipients of help are likely to further socialise other customers who may share a common interest in the service category (e.g. electronic banking), but do not necessarily support the financial service provider of the customer.

Originality/value

The findings extend the conceptual domain of affective commitment and shed light on the factors contributing to the development of strengthened bonds between customers and fellow customer helpers within dyadic financial service relationships. Additionally, greater financial service socialisation and use may be achieved when the helping and advocacy behaviours of customer helpers are not restricted to a specific service provider. Subsequently, the current investigation advances knowledge of the underlying processes involved in motivating these desired service outcomes and behaviours.

Details

International Journal of Bank Marketing, vol. 40 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-2323

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 May 2014

Susanne Curth, Sebastian Uhrich and Martin Benkenstein

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how affective commitment to fellow customers influences a customer's affective commitment to the service provider and customer citizenship…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to analyze how affective commitment to fellow customers influences a customer's affective commitment to the service provider and customer citizenship behavior (CCB). In addition, the paper seeks to examine the moderating role of a customer's calculative commitment to the service organization.

Design/methodology/approach

The study used a large-scale survey among customers of a health club and a scenario-based experiment to test the hypotheses.

Findings

Both empirical studies provide evidence that affective commitment to fellow customers has positive consequences for the customer-firm-relationship. The findings suggest that commitment to fellow customers and commitment to the service organization influence very specific facets of customer citizenship behavior. In addition, the study found preliminary support for the moderating role of calculative commitment. Affective commitment to fellow customers showed the strongest effect on affective commitment to the provider in customer-firm relationships characterized by high (versus low) calculative commitment.

Practical implications

The results of this research have a number of managerial implications. This study suggests measures to strengthen customer-firm-relationships, e.g. generating intensive exchange among customers or attraction of consumer pairs. Providing customers with platforms of valuable relationships to multiplex ties can be a competitive advantage for service providers.

Originality/value

This article is the first that highlights the role of other customers as a target of customer commitment and how this commitment affects both the customer's relationship to the service provider and his or her customer citizenship behavior. The present study therefore broadens our knowledge of how bonding among customers influences consumer behavior in service settings.

Details

Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 28 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0887-6045

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 December 2020

Estelle van Tonder and Daniël Johannes Petzer

Marketing literature has made little progress on the connection between service quality and customer citizenship advocacy, helping and feedback sub-dimensions that may promote…

Abstract

Purpose

Marketing literature has made little progress on the connection between service quality and customer citizenship advocacy, helping and feedback sub-dimensions that may promote competitiveness. It is also unclear to what extent service quality may serve as an underlying motivation for explaining the relationship between affective commitment (a primary antecedent of customer citizenship) and the selected sub-dimensions. Consequently, the aim of the current research is to develop a customer citizenship behaviour model and address these matters in a peer-to-peer service context.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data were collected from 610 customers of a ride-hailing peer-to-peer service brand. Data analysis included structural equation modelling and bootstrapping.

Findings

Affective commitment influences service quality. Service quality motivates customer citizenship behaviours directed towards the ride-hailing brand (feedback) and other customers (advocacy and helping). Service quality provides an indirect path for connecting affective commitment with the customer citizenship behaviours in varying degrees.

Originality/value

This study is the first to verify the relevance of all three customer citizenship behaviours in a single model as influenced by service quality. The current research is further a step forward in understanding the mediating role of service quality and its potential to ensure customers' feelings of attachment towards the brand are translated in citizenship actions. The findings are noteworthy, considering the varying service levels generally experienced in a peer-to-peer service environment. Peer-to-peer service brands may fall back on their emotional connection with customers to influence service judgements and ultimately benefit from customer citizenship behaviours.

Details

The TQM Journal, vol. 33 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1754-2731

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 July 2022

Estelle Van Tonder and Daniel J. Petzer

This study aims to broaden understanding of why customers engage in helping and feedback citizenship behaviours. Beyond traditional attitude–behaviour relationships, limited…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to broaden understanding of why customers engage in helping and feedback citizenship behaviours. Beyond traditional attitude–behaviour relationships, limited insight is available on the additional role of symbolic factors, such as self-congruence perceptions, in motivating citizenship behaviours. Literature further suggests self-monitoring affects social behaviours, yet extant research has not accounted for this personality trait’s moderating influence on customer helping and feedback citizenship behaviours. Accordingly, a research model is developed, providing novel insight into factors promoting helping and feedback citizenship behaviours and the moderating role of self-monitoring in a ride-hailing service context.

Design/methodology/approach

The research is guided by self-monitoring literature and the social exchange and similarity-attraction theories. Survey data from 609 ride-hailing customers in an emerging market country is analysed using multi-group confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling, and the chi-square difference test.

Findings

This study shows that perceived justice (a cognitive attitudinal factor) influences helping citizenship intention in the low self-monitoring group, while self-congruity (a symbolic factor) affects helping and feedback citizenship intention in the high self-monitoring group. Affective commitment towards the ride-hailing brand (an affective attitudinal factor) does not impact customer citizenship intentions.

Research limitations/implications

Although customers may be interested in brands’ functional and symbolic benefits, positive attitudes about the service experienced motivate low self-monitors, while a symbolic-driven factor like self-congruence is more successful in motivating high self-monitors to engage in customer citizenship behaviours.

Originality/value

Novel insight is obtained into the additional influence of self-congruity on customer citizenship behaviours, a neglected factor in extant research involving customer citizenship behaviours that is explained by the similarity-attraction theory. Furthermore, this study provides a pioneering view of the relevance of the self-monitoring theory in moderating customer citizenship behaviours, specifically in ride-hailing services.

Details

European Business Review, vol. 34 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0955-534X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 April 2016

M.S. Balaji, Sanjit Kumar Roy and Khong Kok Wei

Given the role of communication in relationship development and maintenance, the purpose of this study is to examine the multidimensional nature of relationship communication and…

3353

Abstract

Purpose

Given the role of communication in relationship development and maintenance, the purpose of this study is to examine the multidimensional nature of relationship communication and examine its association with customers’ cognitive and affective states (consisting of trust, intimacy and image) and relationship commitment.

Design/methodology/approach

A set of hypotheses is developed based on review of the literature. The hypotheses are tested empirically using partial least square path modelling on survey data collected from users of retail banking services.

Findings

Results show that relationship communication is a second-order construct consisting of the first-order factors of clarity, pleasantness, responsiveness and language. The findings suggest that service firm’s communications influence customers’ cognitive and affective states, which, in turn, affects customer’s commitment towards the firm.

Practical implications

The study provides useful insights to both researchers and practitioners on the role of relationship communication in relationship development and maintenance. Through investigation of the relationship communication dimensions, an optimum communication mix can be achieved to deliver messages in an effective way to the customers.

Originality/value

The contribution of the study lies in proposing and testing relationship communication as a higher-order construct and explicating its role in developing committed customers.

Details

Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 30 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0887-6045

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 April 2013

Claartje L. ter Hoeven and Joost W.M. Verhoeven

The effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication on external stakeholders' perceptions and behaviours have been studied extensively; however, researchers have…

3458

Abstract

Purpose

The effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication on external stakeholders' perceptions and behaviours have been studied extensively; however, researchers have largely overlooked the effects of CSR communication on internal stakeholders. This study seeks to propose that, by enhancing employee awareness of the organisation's CSR activities (aimed at society, the government, customers, and employees), organisational communication can increase affective commitment.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected at a Dutch healthcare insurance company, using a web‐based questionnaire (n=301). The proposed model was tested with structural equation modelling (SEM) using Amos.

Findings

The bootstrapping results showed a positive association between information flow and affective commitment, with a mediating effect for CSR aimed at employees and customers. CSR projects aimed at the government and society at large did not mediate the relationship between information flow and affective commitment.

Originality/value

The impact of CSR towards employees and customers can be explained by social exchange theory. When employees feel that their organisation values their well‐being and that of their customers, they reciprocate what they receive from the organisation by committing themselves to the organisation. As such, this study provides an important argument for the implementation of CSR activities: it increases the emotional attachment of employees towards their organisation.

Details

Corporate Communications: An International Journal, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1356-3289

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 August 2022

Praveen Dhiman and Sangeeta Arora

Relying on social identity and social exchange perspectives, the present study aims to investigate the role of employee branding dimensions in stimulating employees’ brand…

Abstract

Purpose

Relying on social identity and social exchange perspectives, the present study aims to investigate the role of employee branding dimensions in stimulating employees’ brand citizenship behaviour (BCB) directly and indirectly through job satisfaction and affective brand commitment.

Design/methodology/approach

A field-survey method was used to target customer-contact employees of luxury chain hotels. Regression-based approach and bootstrap method (via PROCESS MACRO, Model 6) were applied to test the direct and indirect effects.

Findings

The results show that perceived external brand prestige has a strong direct effect on BCB. Through mediation analysis, this study observes that job satisfaction and affective brand commitment have significant mediation effects (i.e. individual, parallel and sequential) between employee branding dimensions and BCB. Analysing the results precisely, job satisfaction and affective brand commitment have the lowest sequential mediation effect and the greatest parallel mediation effect concerning the said relationships.

Originality/value

This study is novel in applying a three-path mediation model in the Indian hospitality context, considering a multi-dimensional perspective of employee branding to capture its diverse impact on BCB directly and indirectly through job satisfaction and affective brand commitment. Moreover, this study advances employee branding research by considering the under-investigated mediating (individual, parallel and sequential) role of job satisfaction and affective brand commitment.

Details

Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 32 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1061-0421

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 January 2019

Anupama Vohra and Neha Bhardwaj

The purpose of this study is to outline a conceptual framework for customer engagement in the context of social media for emerging markets. Three competing models of customer

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to outline a conceptual framework for customer engagement in the context of social media for emerging markets. Three competing models of customer engagement were identified and tested to arrive at the best suited model for the given contexts. The alternative conceptual frameworks involve the constructs of active participation, community trust and community commitment in relation to customer engagement.

Design/methodology/approach

Data were collected using questionnaires sent via e-mail to respondents. Structural equation modelling was then used to arrive at the best suited model, while also empirically testing for the relationships among the constructs.

Findings

The study, by way of an empirical comparison of alternative conceptual frameworks, presents a customer engagement framework best suiting the social media context for emerging markets. The study also outlines active participation, community trust and community commitment to be acting as antecedents to customer engagement. Further active participation is identified as a necessary antecedent to customer engagement based on the comparative assessment of the frameworks.

Research limitations/implications

While there is not much consensus on the nature of customer engagement, the study offers insights to marketers in terms of managing customer engagement with their brand communities. The study identifies the role and importance of inducing active participation in a brand community context. Further, it also identifies community trust and community commitment to be occurring as antecedents to customer engagement, with commitment implying for a more pronounced role in the framework.

Originality/value

There is no consensus among researchers regarding the nomological network surrounding customer engagement. Further, very few of these studies have focussed on this construct in the context of emerging markets. This study thus attempts to close the above gap, by testing for alternative conceptual frameworks involving customer engagement, in the context of social media for emerging markets.

Details

Journal of Research in Interactive Marketing, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2040-7122

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 23 July 2019

Sara Lombardi, Sara Sassetti and Vincenzo Cavaliere

Building on the attitude–behavior relationship model, this study aims to contribute to customer orientation literature by suggesting that service employees’ commitment (i.e…

1341

Abstract

Purpose

Building on the attitude–behavior relationship model, this study aims to contribute to customer orientation literature by suggesting that service employees’ commitment (i.e. personal attitude) affects their customer orientation via the effect of their participation in knowledge sharing with colleagues (i.e. employees’ behavior).

Design/methodology/approach

The empirical analysis has been developed around survey data, collected from 165 service workers of Italian museums. The hypotheses are tested through the SPSS PROCESS macro plugin.

Findings

Drawing on the importance of human capital to tourism organizations, this study illustrates that affective commitment has a positive and significant influence on employees’ customer orientation, and that this relationship is fully mediated by knowledge-sharing behaviors.

Practical implications

As attitudes are more stable than behaviors, the findings suggest that managers of tourism organizations implement appropriate selection and recruitment techniques, together with adequate involvement and empowerment activities, to identify and support individuals whose attitudes fit the organizational goals.

Originality/value

Acknowledging the contribution that workers can give to service organizations’ success, this paper enriches the understanding of the mechanisms that underlie the relationship between employees’ attitudes and their orientation toward the customer. Building on the cognitive dissonance theory, it adds to extant research on the individual antecedents of employees’ customer orientation by shedding light on the attitude–behavior relationship in tourism organizations.

Details

International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management, vol. 31 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-6119

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 December 2021

Abdul Alem Mohammed, Alberto Ferraris and Ciro Troise

This study aims to explore how corporate social responsibility (CSR) dimensions (i.e. economic; legal; ethical; philanthropic) foster employee creativity during the COVID-19…

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Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to explore how corporate social responsibility (CSR) dimensions (i.e. economic; legal; ethical; philanthropic) foster employee creativity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, an attempt is made to investigate the mediating role of affective commitment to explain the above linkage.

Design/methodology/approach

The survey data were collected from 167 employees in the emerging market of Saudi Arabia. The data was analysed using PLS-SEM for frequency, reliability, confirmatory factor analyses and structural equation modelling.

Findings

The CSR dimensions, particularly the ethical and philanthropic dimensions, showed both direct and indirect effects on the creativity behaviour of employees during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, affective commitment mediated the relationship between the legal, ethical and philanthropic CSR dimensions and creativity behaviour.

Originality/value

This study enriches previous CSR empirical research and adds to current literature focused on the determinants of CSR dimensions' effectiveness; particularly, the research is set in a challenging scenario characterized by the pandemic. So, this paper extends previous studies by investigating under which key conditions CSR dimensions are most effective, in particular in two main directions. First, it contributes to the CSR literature by determining how various CSR dimensions influence creativity behaviour during a pandemic. Pandemics are events that occur regularly, and the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular, offers the opportunity to explore its effects on employees' behaviours in the current context. Second, the study's mediation findings contribute to new empirical evidence which suggests that affective commitment has a positive effect on the CSR dimensions of employee creativity behaviour during a pandemic in an emerging market.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 60 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

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