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The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of three different dimensions of switching costs on customer dissatisfaction response styles as well as on the evaluation of service recovery.

Study 1 is a scenario-based experiment and Study 2 uses a critical incident technique combined with survey-based measures of switching costs, dissatisfaction responses and perceived complaint handling.

The results of these studies highlight the need to consider the different effects of switching costs. Not only do different switching costs lead to varying customer dissatisfaction responses, they also have differential moderator effects on the interrelationships between customer-perceived recovery justice and service recovery satisfaction.

Service failure severity was an influential control variable. Future studies should investigate how the type, context and severity of service failure influence customers’ complaint behavior. Furthermore, participants had trouble differentiating between their relations toward their service provider in general and one particular employee. Hence, further research should explore the relationship between customers and frontline employees.

The authors encourage managers to take a closer look at the switching cost dimensions of their service industry. This may lead practitioners to promote differentiated strategies for complaint stimulation and complaint handling.

This is the first study to simultaneously explore all three dimensions of switching costs when examining their impact on customers’ dissatisfaction response styles as well as the moderating effects in the recovery process. In doing so, this study reveals some hitherto uncovered effects.

This study aims to investigate the influence of customer satisfaction on four facets of customer engagement: customer influencer behavior, knowledge behavior, referral behavior and purchase behavior. Furthermore, its (in)direct influence on affective attitude, price perception and loyalty is investigated.

Two studies were conducted. First, an experimental scenario design was set up to investigate the hypothesized relations between customer engagement; customers’ affective attitude and their loyalty; and their price perceptions. Second, a survey at a national forest park center helped to secure external validity.

The results indicate that engaged customers develop a more positive affective attitude, which leads to increased future loyalty and positive price perceptions. In addition, the results suggest that assessing cognitive approaches exclusively is not sufficient for understanding customers’ price perceptions.

Future research should investigate antecedents of customer engagement behaviors (CEBs) other than satisfaction, and extend this research by taking into account further mediators that might be cognitive rather than affective.

The results are of superior importance for services or tourism destinations. Fostering CEB can help in improving a destinations’ performance.

This research expands the current state of literature by investigating several dimensions of CEB at one time, as well as by examining customers’ affective attitude toward the organization as a potential mediator, extending previous research approaches.

This study aims to develop a comprehensive adoption model that combines constructs from various theories and tests these theories against each other. The study combines a technology acceptance model, innovation diffusion theory and risk theory. It develops this model in a smart home applications context.

The study is based on an online survey consisting of 409 participants, and the data are analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Each theory provides unique insights into technology acceptance and numerous constructs are interrelated. Predictors from innovation diffusion and risk theory often display indirect effects through technology acceptance variables. The study identifies risk perception as a major inhibitor of use intention, mediated through perceived usefulness. Results reveal that the most important determinants of use intention are compatibility and usefulness of the application.

Studies which do not examine different theories together may not be able to detect the indirect effects of some predictors and could falsely conclude that these predictors do no matter. The findings emphasize the crucial role of compatibility, perceived usefulness and various risk facets associated with smart homes.

This study broadens the understanding about the necessity of combining acceptance and adoption drivers from several theories to better understand the usage of complex technological systems such as smart home applications.

Marketing channels are changing dramatically as the world economy becomes networked. Buyers who are likely to only have limited insight into a wholesaler's sourcing decisions may be uncertain about product and/or service quality. This paper aims to show that a credible quality signal provided by the wholesaler, the wholesale brand, can effectively reduce buyer uncertainty.

Using structural equation modelling methodology in the context of 569 buyers across 52 locations of a home improvement wholesaler the authors investigate the key mediating role of transaction costs for the effect of wholesale brand knowledge on buyer loyalty.

The results suggest that wholesaler brand knowledge effectively reduces ex‐post transaction costs incurred by the buyer. These lower quality control costs and price verification efforts increase buyer loyalty. Interestingly, however, the data show that this bonding effect of the wholesale brand may not affect buyer search costs.

The research on the role of supplier brands for supply network management is an early effort. Clearly more research is needed to fully explore the role of wholesale brand knowledge for wholesaler selection.

The findings are important to marketing channel managers because they provide a viable alternative to ever‐increasing relationship marketing costs. They suggest that a close wholesaler‐retailer relationship may not be necessary to realize the benefits of a trusting exchange environment. In fact, they show that high wholesale brand knowledge may act as a substitute and reduce uncertainty effectively.

This paper is the first to introduce a transaction cost perspective on the relationship between wholesale brand knowledge and wholesale loyalty. It demonstrates how wholesale brand knowledge can reduce uncertainty in the wholesaler‐retailer dyad and substitute for more costly relationship building efforts.

Purpose – Uses Kenneth Boulding's concept of “serial reciprocity” in conjunction with information about the evolution of emotions and social exchange processes to identify possible mechanisms that can help explain the rise of early Christianity.

Design/methodology/approach – Using the concept of serial reciprocity as a central organizing principle, a theoretical account is developed that integrates ideas from evolutionary sociology, the sociology of emotions, and exchange theory in order to extend Rodney Stark's analysis of social forces responsible for the success of early Christianity as a social movement.

Findings – Patterns of serial reciprocity may develop when evolved emotions such as gratitude, sympathy, and empathy are activated by recipients of altruism who, in turn, become motivated to repay their benefactor by transmitting a benefit to a third-party recipient. Historical evidence reviewed by Stark is consistent with the claim that serial reciprocity may have conferred benefits to victims suffering from plagues that swept the Roman Empire during the early history of Christianity. Similar processes may be operating today in regions of the world in which aid workers provide assistance to victims of natural and man-made disasters.

Originality/value – This analysis demonstrates the value of integrating conventional sociological analysis and evolutionary theory to gain new explanatory insights about social processes such as serial reciprocity that have received relatively little prior attention by sociological researchers.

President Bill Clinton has had many opponents and enemies, most of whom come from the political right wing. Clinton supporters contend that these opponents, throughout the Clinton presidency, systematically have sought to undermine this president with the goal of bringing down his presidency and running him out of office; and that they have sought non‐electoral means to remove him from office, including Travelgate, the death of Deputy White House Counsel Vincent Foster, the Filegate controversy, and the Monica Lewinsky matter. This bibliography identifies these and other means by presenting citations about these individuals and organizations that have opposed Clinton. The bibliography is divided into five sections: General; “The conspiracy stream of conspiracy commerce”, a White House‐produced “report” presenting its view of a right‐wing conspiracy against the Clinton presidency; Funding; Conservative organizations; and Publishing/media. Many of the annotations note the links among these key players.

Service robots are now an integral part of people's living and working environment, making service robots one of the hot topics for service researchers today. Against that background, the paper reviews the recent service robot literature following a Theory-Context-Characteristics-Methodology (TCCM) approach to capture the state of art of the field. In addition, building on qualitative input from researchers who are active in this field, the authors highlight where opportunities for further development and growth lie.

The paper identifies and analyzes 88 manuscripts (featuring 173 individual studies) published in academic journals featured on the SERVSIG literature alert. In addition, qualitative input gathered from 79 researchers who are active in the service field and doing research on service robots is infused throughout the manuscript.

The key research foci of the service robot literature to date include comparing service robots with humans, the role of service robots' look and feel, consumer attitudes toward service robots and the role of service robot conversational skills and behaviors. From a TCCM view, the authors discern dominant theories (anthropomorphism theory), contexts (retail/healthcare, USA samples, Business-to-Consumer (B2C) settings and customer focused), study characteristics (robot types: chatbots, not embodied and text/voice-based; outcome focus: customer intentions) and methodologies (experimental, picture-based scenarios).

The current paper is the first to analyze the service robot literature from a TCCM perspective. Doing so, the study gives (1) a comprehensive picture of the field to date and (2) highlights key pathways to inspire future work.

La presente investigación examina la existencia de memoria de largo plazo por medio del cálculo del coeficiente de Hurst y Hurst ajustado, y del análisis de características de estructuras caóticas en la serie del mercado bursátil de Chile, específicamente a través del Índice de Precios Selectivo de Acciones.

Se desarrolló un breve análisis del mercado, según la metodología de Box y Jenkings. La validez de los resultados se realizó por medio de la prueba propuesta por Brock, Dechert y Scheinkman. En segundo lugar, se procedió a analizar la dinámica y patrones del índice y de su rendimiento, para observar si existía evidencia de memoria de largo plazo.

Los resultados demuestran la presencia de esta memoria en el mercado bursátil chileno, determinado a través del índice accionario en dos escalas, diaria y trimestral, lo que además corrobora resultados obtenidos por otros autores, confirmando el uso de la metodología de Rango Re-escaldo para la identificación y determinación de memoria de largo plazo en una serie temporal.

Este estudio permitirá a futuros investigadores realizar análisis similares en otros mercados, aportando un nuevo enfoque al analizar la memoria de la largo plazo y los factores que inciden en ella.

Exponente de Hurst, Índice bursátil, Mercados eficientes, Mercados fractales

Artículo de investigación

This research examined the existence of long-term memory by calculating the coefficient of Hurst and Hurst set, and the analysis of characteristics of chaotic structures in the series of stock market of Chile, specifically through the Selective Price Index Shares.

A brief analysis of the market was developed, according to Box and Jenkins methodology. The validity of the results was performed by means of the test proposed by Brock, Dechert and Scheinkman. Secondly, we proceeded to analyze the dynamics and patterns of the index and its performance, to see if there was evidence of long-term memory.

The results demonstrate the presence of long-term memory in the Chilean stock market, determined by stock index in two scales, daily and quarterly, which also corroborates results obtained by other authors, confirming the use of the methodology Range Re-scalded for the identification and determination of long-term memory in a time series.

This study will allow future researchers to perform similar analyzes in other markets, providing a new approach when analyzing the long-term memory and the factors that affect it.