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1 – 10 of over 3000
Article
Publication date: 8 June 2012

Jürgen Kai‐Uwe Brock and Josephine Yu Zhou

The term customer intimacy has been used both in academia and business, albeit lacking clear definition and empirical validation. The authors in this paper aim to develop a…

5096

Abstract

Purpose

The term customer intimacy has been used both in academia and business, albeit lacking clear definition and empirical validation. The authors in this paper aim to develop a measure of customer intimacy in business‐to‐business contexts and to assess its reliability and validity, as well as its relevance, within a nomological relationship marketing network.

Design/methodology/approach

A multi‐method (qualitative/exploratory and quantitative/confirmatory structural modelling), multi‐staged (test, re‐test) research approach is used and applied in the UK and Germany.

Findings

The results show that customer intimacy is a second order construct reflected by the three formative dimensions of mutual understanding, closeness, and value perception. The results also show that customer intimacy is a relevant relationship indicator, distinct from the central relationship indicators of trust and commitment. It impacts relationship commitment levels, customer induced word‐of‐mouth, repurchase intentions, information disclosure, customer availability, and leads to an advisor status with the customer. Moreover, customer intimacy mediates relationship marketing's central trust commitment link.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitations that should be addressed by future studies are: reliance on the key informant technique on one side of the supplier‐buyer dyad; cross‐sectional design.

Practical implications

This study shows that achieving and managing customer intimacy is a relevant managerial goal and task for firms and shows managers how it can be measured and managed.

Originality/value.

This study, for the first time, presents a measure for customer intimacy and assesses its quality and impact empirically. The measure will be of significant value in making customer‐centric, relationship management approaches more accountable.

Details

Journal of Business & Industrial Marketing, vol. 27 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0885-8624

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 November 2019

Liza Nora

The purpose of this paper is testing customer’s knowledge on customer intimacy and its impact on repurchase intention, specifically to Bank Muamalat’s customers in Jakarta…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is testing customer’s knowledge on customer intimacy and its impact on repurchase intention, specifically to Bank Muamalat’s customers in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Design/methodology/approach

This research was conducted at sharia bank with research subject that is a customer of Bank Muamalat reasons to choose Bank Muamalat as a representative of other sharia banks as a place of research because it is the first sharia bank in Indonesia and more experienced in implementing sharia practices. The branch offices approved as research sites are only seven branch offices (Panglima Polim, Slipi, Tanah Abang, Kemayoran, Mangga Dua, Buaran and Kalimalang) in five areas of DKI Jakarta (Central Jakarta, West Jakarta, South Jakarta, East Jakarta and North Jakarta). Respondents at the seven branch offices are considered to represent customers of Bank Muamalat in the area of Jakarta. Data were collected from August to December 2017.

Findings

High customer knowledge is able to encourage customer intimacy, and high customer intimacy is also able to encourage repurchase intention. On the other hand, it was found that customer knowledge was not directly able to increase the intention of repeat purchase. However, from the mediation test (indirect effect) is seen with high customer knowledge, supported by the high customer intimacy, it can indirectly increase the high repurchasing intention.

Originality/value

Originality is seen from testing the mediation effect of customer intimacy on the influence of customer knowledge on purchase intentions. Furthermore, inconsistencies put the customer’s familiarity with familiarity, and familiarity with the intention of repeat purchase, are re-examined in the context of sharia banks. It is assumed the test results will be different if done in different countries and institutions.

Details

VINE Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems, vol. 49 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2059-5891

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 June 2018

Mirza Tabrani, Muslim Amin and Ahmad Nizam

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of trust in enhancing customer loyalty, and to test the mediation role of commitment and customer intimacy in the relationship…

4647

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of trust in enhancing customer loyalty, and to test the mediation role of commitment and customer intimacy in the relationship between trust and customer loyalty.

Design/methodology/approach

A total of 500 questionnaires were distributed and 200 were returned (40 percent response rate), and a structural equation modeling technique was used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The results of this study show that trust has a significant relationship with commitment and customer intimacy but no significant relationship was found with customer loyalty. Commitment and customer intimacy have a significant relationship with customer loyalty. The mediation analysis reveals that commitment and customer intimacy play a mediation role in the relationship between trust and customer loyalty.

Practical implications

This study indicates that commitment and customer intimacy affect customer loyalty. The role of commitment and customer intimacy as a mediator between trust and customer loyalty indicates that customers are committed to continuing and maintaining the relationships with Islamic banks.

Originality/value

This study provides empirical evidence on interrelationships between trust, commitment, customer intimacy and customer loyalty in banking relationships.

Details

International Journal of Bank Marketing, vol. 36 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-2323

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 February 2019

Liza Nora

The purpose of this paper is to determine the influence of customer trust, religious commitment, customer’s knowledge on customer intimacy and its impact on relational commitment…

2899

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to determine the influence of customer trust, religious commitment, customer’s knowledge on customer intimacy and its impact on relational commitment and repurchase intention, especially in Sharia banks in Indonesia.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was conducted in Sharia Banks in Jakarta Bogor, Tangerang Bekasi (Jabotabek) area. The population of this study covered all bank customers. Because of the large population, the researchers took samples of the population. The partial least square (PLS) analysis tool was also appropriate to be used to analyze data from smaller samples. In total, 100 respondents were selected using a snow bowling sampling technique in August–September 2017.

Findings

Higher customer trust enhances the customer intimacy. Stronger religious commitment also strengthens the customer intimacy. It has been confirmed that customer intimacy enhanced the relational commitment among clients in Sharia banks in Indonesia. The results show that high customer knowledge is able to encourage customer intimacy, and high customer intimacy is also able to encourage repurchase intention. On the other hand, it was found that customer knowledge was not directly able to increase the intention of repeat purchase. However, from the mediation test (indirect effect) is seen with high customer knowledge, supported by the high customer intimacy, it can indirectly increase the high repurchasing intention.

Originality/value

There are some research gaps that were considered as the theoretical foundation and research framework in this study. The focus of this study was on the role of customer intimacy in mediating the influence of trust and religious commitment on relational commitment. Based on the empirical review, this study attempted to develop customer intimacy antecedents by testing religious commitment, which becomes the originality of this study. This study was done based on some empirical results indicating that the antecedent of customer intimacy still varied while it needed to be immediately developed. Furthermore, the inconsistencies in the correlation between customer intimacy and relational commitment were later re-examined in the context of Islamic banks. It was assumed that the test would result in different findings as the test was done in a different countries and institutions.

Details

Management Decision, vol. 57 no. 11
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0025-1747

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 January 2008

Suresh Cuganesan

The purpose of this research is to examine the role of accounting numbers in one organisation's attempts to enact and calculate customer intimacy, given renewed interest in…

4386

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to examine the role of accounting numbers in one organisation's attempts to enact and calculate customer intimacy, given renewed interest in organisation‐customer relationships.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper utilises actor‐network theory in conducting an ethnography at a wholesale financial services firm pursuing a strategy of customer intimacy. The main empirical site was the sales and marketing department, where actors were attempting to further their knowledge of customer needs in the present and anticipate them into the future.

Findings

The paper finds heterogeneous enactments of “customer intimacy” through a “numeric calculation network” and a “sales calculation network”. The former sought to use accounting numbers to calculate how customer intimacy was enacted and impose upon a sales‐force periphery a regime of performance measurement. The latter eventually destabilised the proposed performance measures by promoting their own basis for calculating customers. These were more diverse and “implicit”, comprising talk and communication through co‐location and proximity with customers.

Originality/value

The paper provides a number of insights into the role of accounting as a calculative practice. The observed emergence of novel means of producing accounting numbers outside the domain of the accounting function and within the sales and marketing department has important implications for the practice and study of accounting. In addition, potential limits to the use of accounting in enabling “action at a distance” are identified through the observed contest between “hard” accounting' numbers and softer modes of calculation.

Details

Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, vol. 21 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-3574

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 May 2020

Dipa Mulia, Hardius Usman and Novia Budi Parwanto

The purposes of this study are to develop an extended technology acceptance model (TAM) model by adding customer intimacy, perceived risk, trust and Sharia compliance as external…

2220

Abstract

Purpose

The purposes of this study are to develop an extended technology acceptance model (TAM) model by adding customer intimacy, perceived risk, trust and Sharia compliance as external variables, in which TAM is used as the evaluation method for the use of e-banking and m-banking by customers of Islamic bank; and to study the role of customer intimacy in increasing satisfaction and encouraging loyalty of Islamic bank customers in using e-banking and m-banking.

Design/methodology/approach

Data collection is carried out by the self-administered survey method with Islamic bank customers as target population. Multivariate analysis of variance and multiple linear regression are applied for data analysis.

Findings

Customer intimacy not only encourages the emergence of customer loyalty directly, but also affects the factors that determine customer loyalty itself, such as perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, perceived risk, trust, sharia compliance and satisfaction. In other words, customer intimacy has a direct and indirect influence on loyalty.

Originality/value

This paper offers an extended TAM constructs to study the role of customer intimacy in increasing loyalty by considering various variables, namely, perceived risk, trust, Sharia compliance and satisfaction. Similar research is still very limited in the banking marketing literature, especially in Islamic banks context.

Details

Journal of Islamic Marketing, vol. 12 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1759-0833

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 19 December 2023

Revanth Kumar Guttena, Cedric Hsi-Jui Wu and Ferry Tema Atmaja

This study aims to investigate how the gratifications obtained through brand-related social media content affect brand intimacy and thereby influence customer extra-role behavior.

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to investigate how the gratifications obtained through brand-related social media content affect brand intimacy and thereby influence customer extra-role behavior.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the uses and gratification theory, this study proposes information, entertainment and remuneration content that motivates customers to develop brand intimacy and thereby perform customer extra-role behavior. The study also tests the moderated moderation effect of self-congruence and customer experience using 704 observations from South India in the food industry context.

Findings

The study’s results reveal the influence of entertainment and remuneration content on brand intimacy, which further influences customer extra-role behavior (civic virtue, cocreation, sportsmanship and helping behaviors). The study confirms a moderated moderation effect in the relationship between brand intimacy and civic virtue and brand intimacy and sportsmanship behaviors.

Practical implications

The study suggests that brands may include entertainment and remuneration elements in their social media content to build intimate customer relationships, further influencing customers’ extra-role behaviors. Besides, brands should focus on customers’ self-concepts and experiences to encourage them to act voluntarily.

Originality/value

This study makes a unique contribution by investigating the influence of brand-related social media content on customer extra-role behavior through brand intimacy. It uses self-congruence and customer experience to test their moderated moderation effect in the relationship between brand intimacy and customer extra-role behavior.

Details

Journal of Product & Brand Management, vol. 33 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1061-0421

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 February 2019

Hayford Amegbe, Charles Hanu and Farouq Mensah

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of employees’ behavioural factors in increasing students’ loyalty. It specifically examines the direct and indirect mediations…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of employees’ behavioural factors in increasing students’ loyalty. It specifically examines the direct and indirect mediations between employees’ service quality, trust and intimacy. The focus is on the effects of constructs of service quality (SQLTY), trust (TRUS) and intimacy (INTIMACY) on student loyalty (STLOY).

Design/methodology/approach

This study depended on a positivist research paradigm. A total of 800 structured questionnaires were administered. However, 743 were retrieved and coded for the final analysis. The analytical tool used in this study is the ADANCO 2.0.1 software and in terms of statistical processing, the PLS–SEM technique was utilised.

Findings

The findings on direct relationships reveal that INTIMACY is a strong predictor of STLOY, whereas service quality (SQLTY) is a predictor of trust (TRUS). The effect of indirect mediation between service quality (SQLTY), trust (TRUS) and intimacy (INTIMACY) on STLOY was not confirmed.

Research limitations/implications

The study like any academic work has limitations. Despite these limitations, this study offers theoretical as well as practical value for the research community and administrators of universities and higher educational administrators as a whole.

Practical implications

The study emphasises the critical need for administrators of higher educational institutions to understand that the behaviours of their employees during the service encounter significantly affect intimacy and student loyalty.

Originality/value

The present study is unique because it quantitatively examined how the above-mentioned behavioural factors of employees lead to INTIMACY and STLOY. The use of a university for the research helped to develop a much better explanation of some of the salient considerations for STLOY. The value of this work rests in the complex quantitative relationships studied.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 33 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 April 2021

Chunhui Huo, Javaria Hameed, Muhammad Waqas Sadiq, Gadah Albasher and Wedad Alqahtani

This paper aims to provide a valid insight into consumers' minds while considering word of mouth (WOM), brand image and uniqueness as independent variables while considering the…

1538

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to provide a valid insight into consumers' minds while considering word of mouth (WOM), brand image and uniqueness as independent variables while considering the tourism industry as the primary stakeholder.

Design/methodology/approach

The study adopts qualitative research methods and data collected from 1,033 respondents using convenience sampling methodology. The data are collected from different tourists spots in China and Pakistan. The PROCESS macro was utilized in this study using SPSS version 25.0 to inspect the impacts by using Model 4 and the conditional effects indirectly by utilizing Model 14.

Findings

Customer's intimacy, search for novel and unexplored destinations highlight WOM interactions and perceived service value. Service value, interactional justice and professional attitude of hotel management mediated all the given relationships significantly. The brand image does not mediate any significant associations. Perceived service value and brand image predict customer's loyalty, and WOM is the direct measure of their intentions, and these variables are market trend indicators. A tourist's response toward different destinations is described in this study with comparative analysis of Chinese and Pakistani tourists. The study results showed a significantly positive relationship between hotel management professional behavior, customer's loyalty, customer's intimacy and WOM.

Research limitations/implications

The recruited population might not be represented as the broader and larger visitor population, resulting in restricting establishing tactics. Moreover, this study's results provide significant insight into a tourism industry, hence providing a chance to manage customer loyalty better.

Social, managerial and theoretical implications

This study contributes significantly to the body of knowledge and provides remarkable insight from the managerial perspective. Interactional justice results in significant value for hotel management directors and top management, front desk staff and operatives and front level employees and managers. Consumer sensitivity of fairness in interpersonal dealings calls for behavioral changes in frontline employees, especially those directly dealing with hotel visitors. Hotel staff and management should formulate a system to deal with the demands and needs of visitors. It should describe the rights and obligations of visitors and ensure that each customer is treated equally and with respect. Customers should be motivated to read the survey questionnaires kept in their rooms and offer their views on the services provided. This strategy might increase the customers' sense of empowerment and leading to notions of fairness in individual encounters.

Originality/value

This study provides an insight into the customer's minds while considering essential variables that include WOM, brand image, perceived service value and uniqueness.

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. 27 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 17 November 2023

Halimin Herjanto, Muslim Amin and Cut Erika Fatimah

This study investigates the role of knowledge collecting and donating in enhancing relationship proneness and intimacy and improving a bank's salesperson satisfaction and…

Abstract

Purpose

This study investigates the role of knowledge collecting and donating in enhancing relationship proneness and intimacy and improving a bank's salesperson satisfaction and performance.

Design/methodology/approach

Using the snowball technique, 315 online questionnaires were collected from commercial banks. A total of 300 useable questionnaires were included for further analysis.

Findings

The findings demonstrated that knowledge collecting affects relationship proneness and salesperson performance, while knowledge donating affects relationship proneness but not satisfaction. The results also suggested that relationship proneness is responsible for salesperson intimacy. Furthermore, intimacy was found to affect salesperson performance and satisfaction. Finally, salesperson satisfaction was found to affect salesperson performance positively.

Practical implications

The findings help bankers understand and utilize the power of their knowledge management in improving their sales performance and developing suitable training and strategies to strengthen salesperson intimacy.

Originality/value

This study incorporated knowledge management, relationship proneness and intimacy to enhance a better understanding of how these indicators will affect the salesperson's satisfaction and performance.

Details

Business Process Management Journal, vol. 30 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1463-7154

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 3000