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The growing frequency of cybersecurity incidents commonly requires organizations to notify customers of ongoing events. However, the content contained within these notifications varies widely, including differences in the level of detail, apportioning of blame, compensation and corrective action. This study seeks to identify patterns contained within cybersecurity incident notifications by constructing a typology of organizational responses.

Based on a detailed review of 1,073 global cybersecurity incidents occurring during 2020, the authors obtained and qualitatively analyzed 451 customer notifications.

The results reveal three distinct organizational response types associated with the level of detail contained within the notification (full transparency, guarded and opacity), as well as three response types associated with the benefitting party (customer interest, balanced interest and company interest).

This work extends past classifications of cybersecurity incident notifications and provides a template of possible notification approaches that could be adopted by organizations.

Companies are adopting a more active role in managing their online reputations by using electronic word of mouth (eWOM) and often responding directly to customer reviews. Therefore, companies need to understand the effects of management responses to customer reviews. This study aims to explore whether it is worth responding to reviews and whether expressing gratitude enhances the effects of review responses.

This study uses customer reviews and management response data from a sample of 766 Spanish rural lodging establishments listed on Toprural (www.toprural.com). Analyses are undertaken with NVivo and SmartPLS.

Responding to negative reviews improves lodging establishments’ average ratings, but responding to positive reviews has no significant direct effect. Expressing gratitude in responses positively moderates the effects of review responses; this moderating effect is more significant for responses to negative than to positive reviews.

Previous research provides contradictory evidence about the positive outcomes of a company’s responses; it also does not address expressions of gratitude. This research provides evidence of the direct effects of management response quantity on ratings. It also expands current research on the content characteristics of these responses. The contextual setting for this research, rural tourism, is a key driver of sustainable rural development and a sector in which eWOM is especially relevant; thus, correctly managing the eWOM phenomenon becomes crucial.

Al objeto de mejorar su reputación online, las empresas progresivamente están adoptando un papel más activo ante las reseñas online de los clientes, ofreciendo respuestas online a dichas reseñas. Por tanto, es necesario que las empresas conozcan mejor los efectos de responder online. Este estudio examina si resulta beneficioso responder a las reseñas y si expresar agradecimiento potencia el efecto de responder.

A partir de datos sobre reseñas online de clientes y respuestas de la empresa, correspondientes a una muestra de 766 alojamientos de turismo rural de Toprural (www.toprural.com), se realizan análisis con NVivo y SmartPLS.

Responder a reseñas negativas mejora las puntuaciones medias del establecimiento en Toprural. Sin embargo, responder a reseñas positivas no tiene un efecto directo significativo. Además, expresar agradecimiento en las respuestas modera positivamente el efecto de responder. No obstante, esta moderación es más intensa en el caso de respuestas a reseñas negativas frente a las reseñas positivas.

La investigación previa aporta evidencia contradictoria sobre los efectos de la intensidad de respuesta empresarial a las reseñas online; además, no se ocupa de la expresión de gratitud en particular. Este estudio aporta luz respecto al efecto directo de la intensidad de respuesta sobre las puntuaciones online y amplía la investigación actual sobre las características de contenido de las respuestas. El marco de estudio, el turismo rural, se considera clave para un desarrollo rural sostenible y constituye un escenario donde el boca-oído electrónico es especialmente importante; en consecuencia, gestionar correctamente el fenómeno es crucial.

Palabras clave Boca-oído electrónico, Respuesta empresarial, Reputación online, Turismo rural

Tipo de artículo Trabajo de investigación

This research has three objectives: one is to develop measuring criteria for ascertaining performance of customs clearance firms, another is to test reliability and validity of the factors, and the third is to analyze the relationship between customer service and firm performance. This research gathered the data from customs clearance firms. Reliability and validity concerned with the collected data are tested by exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis and the relationship between variables is tested by analyzing structural equation modeling. The results are as follows. There are no problems in reliability and validity. According to the result of the analysis, customer service is divided into customer focus, customer needs, customer response and flexibility and performance is classified into customer performance and financial performance. The result of empirical tests is as follows. Customer focus has a positive effect on customer performance and financial performance. Flexibility has a positive effect on both types of performance. This means that firms which have discriminative services and a high level of flexibility through collaboration with customers can achieve high levels of customer performance and financial performance.

The purpose of this research is to investigate the effects of service recovery experiences on customer engagement in negative word-of-mouth (WOM) in the hotel industry and explore the psychological motives and mediating mechanisms driving consumer behavior.

A scenario-based experimental design on Qualtrics was used, with a pre-test (N = 200). The main study data were collected using Amazon's Mechanical Turk platform.

Findings reveal that negative service experiences lead to higher engagement in negative WOM compared to positive and satisfactory recovery service experiences. Even well-executed recovery efforts may not completely eliminate negative WOM. The mediating role of emotional responses is substantiated, as heightened negative service experiences result in more intense negative emotional responses, leading to increased engagement in negative WOM.

The study emphasizes the importance of service recovery strategies and the need for businesses to consistently strive for exceptional service quality. It also highlights the complexity of customer reactions to service experiences, suggesting that further research is needed to explore the factors that minimize negative WOM across various service contexts.

This study investigates the role of social media brand posts on customer response and whether said impacts foster engagement in brand co-creation behaviors, especially in the higher education sector. The study further explores the moderating role of a university's reputation in strengthening the effects on student response and co-creation behaviors.

The authors conducted this research by using the dual processes of the heuristic–systematic model to understand the effects of brand post‐characteristics on student’s responses and behaviors. A dataset obtained from a survey of 755 students was employed to estimate the proposed research model.

The results illustrated two key characteristics of brand posts, namely argument quality (systematic processing) and quantity of posts (heuristic processing), positively affect cognitive and affective responses, thus encouraging students to co-create value for a university brand. Moreover, our study also found that university reputation plays a significant moderating role in strengthening the relationship between recipients’ responses and co-creation behavior.

Online brand posts not only enable institutions to exchange brand information but also allow students to contribute their own resources to co-create brand value. Thus, the study findings can help brand managers successfully implement co-branding efforts and foster students in the co-creation process.

The article investigates different types of strategies for managing user-generated content (UGC) and provides some insights into their implications.

A unique sample of Italian hotels with current and prospective customers in the digital environment is investigated. A taxonomy of user-provider interactions mediated by UGC is developed. A mixed approach was designed to meet the study aims. Firstly, an exploratory factor analysis was performed in order to illuminate different strategies of UGC and electronic word-of-mouth (E-WOM) management. Secondly, a cluster analysis was implemented in order to explain hoteliers' behavior toward users' contents.

The study results suggested the existence of three clusters, which reflected three different types of interactions between hotels and customers in the digital domain. Interestingly, most of Italian hotels were found to adopt a reductionist approach to UGC and E-WOM management, turning out to be ineffective to exploit them for the purpose of quality improvement and hospitality service excellence.

Hotels were found to be largely unaware of the importance of UGC and web-based communication with customers to improve their digital business strategy. Tailored management approaches are needed to realize the full potential of hotels' online content responsiveness for the purpose of value co-creation and service co-production.

This is one of the first studies investigating the strategic and management perspectives embraced by hotels to handle their interactions with customers in the digital arena.

Service research offering a view of both the dark and bright sides of smart technology remains scarce. This paper embraces a critical perspective and examines the conflicting outcomes of smart services on the customer experience (CX), with a specific focus on chatbots.

This study uses empirical research methods to examine a single case study where an online retail service provider implemented a chatbot for customer service. Using discourse analysis, we analysed 7,167 conversations between customers and the chatbot over a two-year period.

The analysis identifies seven general themes related to the effects of the chatbot on CX: interaction quality, information gathering, procedure literacy, task achievement, digital trust, shopping stress and shopping journey. We illuminate both positive (i.e. having a pleasant interaction, providing information, knowing procedures, improving tasks, increasing trust, reducing stress and completing the journey) and negative outcomes (i.e. having an unpleasant interaction, increasing confusion, ignoring procedures, worsening tasks, reducing trust, increasing stress and abandoning the journey).

The paper develops a comprehensive framework to offer a clearer view of chatbots as smart services in customer care. It delves into the conflicting effects of chatbots on CX by examining them through relational, cognitive, affective and behavioural dimensions.

This study, grounded in the SOR theory, aims to enrich the understanding of customer citizenship behaviour in omnichannel fashion retail by examining how different customer experiences enhance customer engagement and how that engagement leads to customer citizenship behaviour. The influence of return policies on the relationship between customer engagement and customer citizenship behaviour was also examined.

Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) is used to examine the framework of the proposed study with data collected through a survey (n = 251) to examine the opinions of the respondents about the variables mentioned. The authors also assessed the proposed framework using predictive power assessment using PLS predict.

The study results reveal that customers’ experiences of integration and flexibility in omnichannel retail are positively associated with their engagement. However, customer experiences of connectivity, consistency and personalization do not appear to affect customer engagement significantly in omnichannel retail. The return policy positively moderates the relationship between customer engagement and customer citizenship behaviour in the omnichannel fashion retail context. Predictive power assessment shows that the proposed model has high prediction accuracy.

This study contributes to the marketing literature by investigating different dimensions of consumer experience collectively and its impact on customer engagement and citizenship behaviour. Furthermore, the study contributes to omnichannel retail in fashion industry by testing the return policy as a moderator variable on the relationship between customer engagement and citizenship behaviour.

Este estudio, basado en la teoría SOR, enriquece la comprensión del comportamiento cívico del cliente en el comercio minorista de moda omnicanal examinando cómo las diferentes experiencias del cliente mejoran el compromiso de éste y cómo dicho compromiso conduce al comportamiento cívico del cliente. También se examina la influencia de las políticas de devolución en la relación entre el compromiso del cliente y el comportamiento ciudadano del cliente.

Se utilizó la modelización PLS-SEM para examinar el marco del estudio propuesto con datos recogidos mediante una encuesta (n = 251) para examinar las opiniones de los encuestados sobre las variables mencionadas. Los autores también evaluaron el marco propuesto mediante una evaluación del poder predictivo utilizando la predicción PLS.

Los resultados revelan que las experiencias de integración y flexibilidad de los clientes en el comercio minorista omnicanal se asocian positivamente con su compromiso. Sin embargo, las experiencias de los clientes de conectividad, coherencia y personalización no parecen afectar significativamente al compromiso del cliente en el comercio minorista omnicanal. La política de devoluciones modera positivamente la relación entre el compromiso del cliente y el comportamiento ciudadano en el contexto del comercio minorista de moda omnicanal. La evaluación del poder predictivo mostró que el modelo propuesto tenía una alta precisión de predicción.

El estudio contribuye a la literatura de marketing investigando colectivamente diferentes dimensiones de la experiencia del consumidor y su impacto en el compromiso del cliente y el comportamiento ciudadano. Además, este estudio contribuye a la venta minorista omnicanal en la industria de la moda al probar la política de devoluciones como variable moderadora de la relación entre el compromiso del cliente y el comportamiento ciudadano.

本研究以 SOR 理论为基础, 通过研究不同的顾客体验如何提高顾客参与度, 以及顾客参与度如何推动顾客公民行为, 丰富了对全渠道时尚零售中顾客公民行为的理解。研究还探讨了退货政策对顾客参与和顾客公民行为之间关系的影响。

本文采用 PLS-SEM 模型来检验拟议的研究框架, 并通过调查（n = 251）收集数据, 以检验受访者对上述变量的看法。作者还通过使用 PLS 预测评估预测能力, 对提出的框架进行了评估。

通过调查（n = 251）收集的数据, 使用 PLS-SEM 模型来研究拟议的研究框架, 以考察受访者对上述变量的看法。作者还通过使用 PLS 预测评估预测能力, 对提出的框架进行了评估。

研究结果表明, 顾客在全渠道零售中对整合性和灵活性的体验与他们的参与度呈正相关。然而, 顾客在连通性、一致性和个性化方面的体验似乎并未对顾客参与全渠道零售产生显著影响。退货政策对全渠道时尚零售中顾客参与和公民行为之间的关系起到了积极的调节作用。 预测能力评估表明, 所提出的模型具有较高的预测准确性。

本研究通过对消费者体验的不同维度及其对顾客参与和公民行为的影响进行综合研究, 为营销文献做出了贡献。此外, 本研究通过检验退货政策作为顾客参与和公民行为之间关系的调节变量, 为时尚行业的全渠道零售做出了贡献。

The research paper examines the impact of perceived social media marketing activities (SMMAs) (interaction, entertainment, customization, trendiness and word of mouth (WOM)) on customer loyalty (CL) toward e-commerce providers. The study also explores the mediating role of customer relationship quality (CRQ) (commitment, trust and satisfaction) on the relationship between perceived SMMAs and CL.

The study is based on the S-O-R model, which states that characteristics of the environment (stimulus) arouse a cognitive state (organism) that results in positive or negative behavior (response). The present study proposes the characteristics of the e-commerce environment as stimuli (S), the inner state of customers as an organism (O) and consumer behavior as the response (R). This study investigated the responses of 487 social media users through structural equation modeling (SEM).

The results offer three crucial findings. First, the study validated that perceived SMMA comprises five dimensions (interaction, entertainment, customization, trendiness and WOM) in the Indian e-commerce context. Second, perceived SMMA significantly influences CRQ (commitment, trust and satisfaction). Third, CRQ significantly mediates the relationship between perceived SMMA and CL.

The study attempts to understand the effect of perceived SMMA on CL via CRQ in an e-commerce context, especially in an emerging economy like India. The present study argues that the SMMA of e-commerce is likely to be reflected in CL when the consumers experience CRQ through commitment, trust and satisfaction. Thus exploring the mediating role of CRQ is the authors' contribution.

Engaging in webcare, i.e. responding to online reviews, can positively affect consumer attitudes, intentions and behavior. Research is often scarce or inconsistent regarding the effects of specific webcare strategies on business performance. Therefore, this study tests whether and how several webcare strategies affect hotel bookings.

We apply machine learning classifiers to secondary data (webcare messages) to classify webcare variables to be included in a regression analysis looking at the effect of these strategies on hotel bookings while controlling for possible confounds such as seasonality and hotel-specific effects.

The strategies that have a positive effect on bookings are directing reviewers to a private channel, being defensive, offering compensation and having managers sign the response. Webcare strategies to be avoided are apologies, merely asking for more information, inviting customers for another visit and adding informal non-verbal cues. Strategies that do not appear to affect future bookings are expressing gratitude, personalizing and having staff members (rather than managers) sign webcare.

These findings help managers optimize their webcare strategy for better business results and develop automated webcare.

We look into several commonly used and studied webcare strategies that affect actual business outcomes, being that most previous research studies are experimental or look into a very limited set of strategies.