Search results

11 – 20 of over 52000
Article
Publication date: 13 February 2017

Marco Ieva and Cristina Ziliani

The purpose of this paper is to identify patterns of medium preference for loyalty programs (LPs) among members to support the case for segmenting customers based on their medium…

3117

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to identify patterns of medium preference for loyalty programs (LPs) among members to support the case for segmenting customers based on their medium preference.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey of nearly 2,000 customers who are enrolled in at least one supermarket LP was employed. LP members are segmented based on a latent class clustering model and then profiled in terms of socio-demographic variables by means of a multinomial logit regression model.

Findings

Medium preference is heterogeneous and differs at the customer segment and at the LP touchpoint level. Five segments emerge which display different medium preference patterns. LP medium preference is associated with age, gender, affluency and number of different LPs the customer is enrolled in.

Practical implications

Retailers, e-tailers and brands can benefit from this customer segmentation when faced with the challenges of adding online features or migrating their LPs online. Marketers should differentiate their investment in online and offline LP touchpoints according to the medium preference for each LP touchpoint of the customer segments of interest.

Originality/value

Retailers, e-tailers and brands are today introducing online marketing strategies and tactics, such as LPs, that have been traditionally used offline. So far, however, they have failed to answer the question whether online and offline LPs and related touchpoints have the same preference among consumers. Literature on LPs has not explored customer preference for the LP medium or the consumer characteristics related to medium preference. This work is unique in providing an overview of medium preference for LPs and their touchpoints.

Details

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. 45 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-0552

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 27 September 2022

Shi-Woei Lin and Januardi Januardi

This study proposes and demonstrates a novel approach to analyzing customer channel preferences and willingness-to-pay (WTP) in the dual sales channel (DSC) system involving…

Abstract

Purpose

This study proposes and demonstrates a novel approach to analyzing customer channel preferences and willingness-to-pay (WTP) in the dual sales channel (DSC) system involving direct online channels and conventional offline retailers, and to how the pricing decisions are made under specific game competition.

Design/methodology/approach

Questionnaire survey based on central composite experiment design was utilized to obtain primary data. The model for customer channel preferences and WTP was then built by using multinomial logistic regression. The propensity of a customer to make purchases in either channel estimated by using the logit model was inserted in the bilevel programming model to formulate and solve for the Stackelberg competition where the conventional retailer acted as a leader.

Findings

The study found that channel prices have nonlinear impacts on WTP and channel preference. The empirical results complement the mathematical formulation well where high-order own-price and cross-price effects on channel selection are generally not analytical tractable. Under the Stackelberg competition, the traditional retailer (as the leader) still achieves higher profits than the online facility.

Practical implications

The proposed framework provides an empirical approach that can easily address the competition model in the sales channel when complicated own-price or cross-price effects are present.

Originality/value

The present work provides a novel approach to analyze customer preference and WTP of the DSC systems. This alternative method simplifies the procedure for investigating and estimating price sensitivity, especially when the online and offline prices affect customer WTP and channel preferences nonlinearly. This model is also utilized in the game competition to facilitate data-driven price decision making to better formulate and understand real-world DSC problems.

Details

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. 51 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-0552

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 30 March 2020

Ching-Chan Cheng, Hung-Che Wu, Ming-Chun Tsai, Yu-Yuan Chang and Cheng-Ta Chen

This study aims to extract determinants of customers' choice of dining-related services (CDS) to understand their attitudes and habits for dining-related services. Moreover, it…

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to extract determinants of customers' choice of dining-related services (CDS) to understand their attitudes and habits for dining-related services. Moreover, it classifies restaurant customers into several clusters based on their CDS factors and further analyzes the differences in the preferences and habits for dining-related services among various clusters.

Design/methodology/approach

This study extracts the CDS factors using principal component analysis and identifies construct validity of the CDS factors through the results of confirmatory factor analysis. Then, it divides the restaurant customers in Taipei City into different clusters through cluster analysis to explore the habits and preferences for dining-related services in each cluster.

Findings

The study results show that the extracted six CDS factors, including service commitment, dietary preferences, design styles, additional value, delicate information collection, and dining environments. Dietary preferences, service commitment and additional value factor are the most important CDS factors for restaurant customers in Taipei City. This study divides 1,029 restaurant customers in Taipei City into three clusters based on the CDS factors through cluster analysis. The differences in the preferences and habits for dining services among three clusters have been discussed in the context in detail. Finally, this study develops eight service strategies and determines the order of execution of the eight service strategies for each cluster of customers.

Originality/value

The findings will help restaurant operators segment the market, target market customers, carry out service positioning and develop marketing strategies to respond to the highly competitive restaurant market and achieve sustainable restaurant operations.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 122 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 22 November 2017

Yong-Hai Li, Zhi-Ping Fan and Guang-Hui Qiao

The purpose of this paper is to present a novel framework for recommending desirable products to active customers with the consideration of not only their preferences but also the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to present a novel framework for recommending desirable products to active customers with the consideration of not only their preferences but also the products’ quality performances and their e-retailers’ service performances under e-commerce.

Design/methodology/approach

A framework in support of the product recommendation is presented. Three modules are involved in the framework, i.e. data collection and preference analysis module, hybrid recommendation module and recommendation generation module. First, preferences of different types of customers are inferred through analysis of their behavioral data and then a paradigm is adopted based on cased-based reasoning to generate candidate recommendation products. Further, recommendation lists for different types of customers are obtained through measurement of the quality and service performances concerning each candidate recommendation product.

Findings

To illustrate the performance of the presented framework, a simulation study comparing the approach developed based on the framework and the traditional approach is conducted. The experiment results show that the developed approach outperformed the traditional approach in term of average rank score. This means that incorporating the consideration of product performance and customer service factors can play an important role in product recommendations.

Originality/value

The presented framework can overcome the defect that low conversion rate of recommended products to actually purchased ones suffered by the traditional approach. In addition, the use of the presented framework can not only help customers to obtain desirable products and save searching time but also supervise and urge e-retailers to pay more attention to the quality and service performances.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 46 no. 10
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 August 2018

Mohammadali Zolfagharian, Fuad Hasan and Pramod Iyer

Focused on multicultural service encounters, this paper aims to argue that the interplay between customer language preference, employee choice and use of language affects…

1302

Abstract

Purpose

Focused on multicultural service encounters, this paper aims to argue that the interplay between customer language preference, employee choice and use of language affects perceived interaction quality, which in turn influences loyalty, customer brand identification and positive word-of-mouth.

Design/methodology/approach

Using Mexican Americans (Spanish) as the focal ethnic group (language), a 3 (contexts: Fast food-English; Post office-English; Post office-Spanish) × 4 (scenarios: customer language preference adhered to; adapted to; mixed; ignored) between-subject scenario-based experiment was conducted.

Findings

Customers perceive a higher, or at least equal, level of interaction quality when the employee choice of language adheres to their preference than when the employee switches to their preferred language after missing it initially. Both of these scenarios lead to significantly higher interaction quality compared to when the employee ignores customer language preference or combines elements from two languages throughout the interaction. The adverse effects of ignoring customer preferred language or mixing it with another language are accentuated among customers with low ethnic identification and those with low level of bilingualism. Prior findings regard the interplay among interaction quality, and the remainder of outcomes variables were also corroborated.

Research limitations/implications

The findings add to the literature that examines the dynamics of intercultural service encounters and draws attention to employee choice and use of language and its impact on a host of service outcomes, with interaction quality serving as a key mediator.

Practical implications

This study highlights the need for service firms to consider customer language preferences and train and empower employees to meet customer expectations. To the extent that the increasingly viable segments of minority customers remain underserved in most developed markets, this study provides insights into cultivating a profitable customer segment.

Originality/value

This study demonstrates the role of employee choice and use of language and its consequences.

Details

Journal of Services Marketing, vol. 32 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0887-6045

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 May 2007

Tommi Laukkanen

The purpose of the study is to increase the understanding of the diverse retail channel preferences of online bank customers by examining their channel attribute preferences in…

4999

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of the study is to increase the understanding of the diverse retail channel preferences of online bank customers by examining their channel attribute preferences in electronic bill paying. Two different groups of online customers were examined: those who pay their bills over the internet and those who, in addition, have experience of using a mobile phone for this service.

Design/methodology/approach

A large internet survey was implemented and conjoint analysis was used in order to identify the utilities of the attribute levels and relative importance of the different attributes. Moreover, cluster analysis was used to group the individuals into homogenous attribute preference segments.

Findings

The empirical findings indicate that internet users and mobile users differ in their channel attribute preferences. The results suggest coherent customer preference segments in both groups. In addition, the study identifies a group of potential mobile banking users among those who have never used a mobile phone for banking actions.

Research limitations/implications

An internet survey design exposes the study to some limitations. All the respondents were online users of one bank, which implies problems with generalising the results to the whole population. Moreover, the questionnaire was open only for a limited time period, exposing the study to a potential bias.

Originality/value

The study provides new insights for decision makers in the electronic retail sector and especially in banking. The results contribute information for banks' marketing actions and provide indications to device producers of the need for a more diversified supply of devices for diverse consumer groups.

Details

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. 35 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-0552

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 April 2014

Inga-Lill Söderberg, James E Sallis and Kent Eriksson

The purpose of this paper is to use psychological theory to improve our understanding of financial advice-taking. The paper studies how a working alliance between financial…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to use psychological theory to improve our understanding of financial advice-taking. The paper studies how a working alliance between financial service customers and advisors affects the advisor's assessment of the financial service buyer's perceived risk preferences, and what role trust plays as a mediating variable.

Design/methodology/approach

The paper obtained data by means of a questionnaire that was answered by 375 matched pairs of bank advisors and customers.

Findings

This paper explains how the working alliance method – a concept from psychotherapeutic theory – between financial service customers and advisors affects the advisor's understanding of the financial service buyer's perceived risk preferences. The paper also finds that the role of trust is perceived differently by the advisor and the customer. Advisors see that as their clients learn to trust them they lose touch with the customer's perceived risk preferences, whereas customers do not perceive that their trust in the advisor has any relationship to their risk preferences.

Practical implications

This results suggest that advisors lose touch with the risk preferences of trusting customers, and that psychological methods are needed if the advisor should actually understand customer perceived risk preferences.

Originality/value

The paper advances psychological methods in marketing, and provides a partial answer to the difficulties of financial advice giving.

Details

International Journal of Bank Marketing, vol. 32 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-2323

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 May 2024

Mohammad Akbari, Shadi Nazarzad and Mohamad Ghasemi Namaghi

In this paper, the relationship of brand logo and purchase intention is investigated along with the mediating role of customer satisfaction, brand preference and brand attitude…

Abstract

Purpose

In this paper, the relationship of brand logo and purchase intention is investigated along with the mediating role of customer satisfaction, brand preference and brand attitude. The research is conducted on an online passenger transport company called Tapsi.

Design/methodology/approach

In this study, we examine the positive effect of brand logo on brand attitude, consumer satisfaction and strengthening the intention to buy and brand preference by customer satisfaction. The statistical population was randomly selected. We design a conceptual model and then prepare a standard online questionnaire and send it to the target groups. Among this, the participants, 59% are women and 41% are men. After collecting the data through the software Smart-PLS3, we start the analysis. According to Cronbach's alpha and AVE, the validity and reliability of the model are confirmed.

Findings

The study shows that the brand logo has a positive and direct influence on customer attitude and satisfaction, and customer satisfaction mediates the purchase intention and brand preference. Given that the brand logo describes the company, managers must be very sensitive to design of a proper logo and spend enough time and money on it.

Originality/value

Few studies have examined the effectiveness of the brand logo the present study and the results show that the brand logo and its structures are directly related to brand attitude as a result of consumer satisfaction in all services even transportation services. The first thing consumers see when they first use a company’s services is the company logo. The brand and its logo can change the attitude and decision of the customer. Past studies have also shown that the brand logo can have a direct impact on customer satisfaction and customer preference for the brand. Therefore a model was prepared and the mentioned variables were selected. Brand preference as a mediating variable has a positive role on buying intention. However all relationships and their predictive power have been confirmed.

Details

Journal of Contemporary Marketing Science, vol. 7 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2516-7480

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 May 2024

Barış Armutcu, Ahmet Tan, Shirie Pui Shan Ho, Matthew Yau Choi Chow and Kimberly C. Gleason

Artificial intelligence (AI) is shaping the future of the marketing world. This study is the first to examine the effect of AI marketing efforts, brand experience (BE) and brand…

Abstract

Purpose

Artificial intelligence (AI) is shaping the future of the marketing world. This study is the first to examine the effect of AI marketing efforts, brand experience (BE) and brand preference (BP) in light of the stimulus-organism-response (SOR) model.

Design/methodology/approach

The data collected from 398 participants by the questionnaire method were analyzed by SEM (structural equation modeling) using Smart PLS 4.0 and IBM SPSS 26 programs.

Findings

We find that four SOR elements of AI marketing efforts (information, interactivity, accessibility and personalization) positively impact bank customer BE, BP and repurchase intention (RPI). Further, we find that BE plays a mediator role in the relationship between AI marketing efforts, RPI and BP.

Originality/value

The findings of the study have significant implications for the bank marketing literature and the banking industry, given the limited evidence to date regarding AI marketing efforts and bank–customer relationships. Moreover, the study makes important contributions to the AI marketing and brand literature and helps banks increase customer experience with artificial intelligence activities and create long-term relationships with customers.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 October 2018

Seonjeong Ally Lee

This paper aims to explore how customer engagement behaviors and brand loyalty are enhanced through customerspreferences of m-servicescape, based on the S-O-R model as a…

1850

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore how customer engagement behaviors and brand loyalty are enhanced through customerspreferences of m-servicescape, based on the S-O-R model as a theoretical background.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional, online, self-administered survey method was conducted to examine proposed relationships by recruiting previous users of hotel mobile apps in the USA.

Findings

Results identified aesthetics, functionality and symbolism preferences of the m-servicescape fulfilled customers’ evaluations on autonomy and relatedness needs fulfillment, which positively influenced their engagement behaviors and brand loyalty.

Research/limitations/implications

This study contributed to mobile marketing research by investigating customerspreferences of m-servicescapes that enhanced customers’ positive responses in the hotel industry.

Practical implications

Practical implications are as follows: using a holistic approach to explore mobile service environments in fulfilling customers’ needs, enhanced customers’ engagement behaviors and brand loyalty.

Originality/value

This study proposed and empirically investigated the role of m-servicescapes in customers’ evaluations on needs fulfillment and their positive responses in the hotel industry.

研究目的

本论文以 S-O-R 模型为理论基础, 旨在探索m-服务场景如何促进客户参与行为和品牌忠诚度。

研究设计/方法/途径

本论文采用横向研究、在线问卷采样形式, 美国酒店移动 app 用户为问卷样本, 来对假设关系进行验证。

研究结果

m-服务场景的美观、功能性、和象征意义对顾客自治、相关需求满足有促进作用, 从而积极提高他们的参与行为和品牌忠诚度。

研究理论限制/意义

本论文通过探索酒店顾客m-服务场景偏好与顾客积极反馈的关系, 对移动营销研究做出贡献。

研究实践意义

本论文建议企业使用整体策略来加强移动服务场景对于顾客需求的满足, 从而提高了顾客参与行为和品牌忠诚度。

研究原创性/价值

本论文提出并且验证m-服务场景对于酒店顾客需求满足和积极反馈的作用。

关键词: 服务场景, 酒店移动 app, 顾客参与行为, 品牌忠诚度, S-O-R 模型

Details

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Technology, vol. 9 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-9880

Keywords

11 – 20 of over 52000