Search results

1 – 10 of over 15000
Article
Publication date: 17 December 2018

Arash Ahmadi

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and analyze the influence of service convenience, service quality and customer satisfaction on the formation of word of mouth in airline…

2255

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate and analyze the influence of service convenience, service quality and customer satisfaction on the formation of word of mouth in airline industry.

Design/methodology/approach

The sample included 400 passengers who had experienced THAI’S international flights. To test the study hypotheses, a research model was examined applying structural equation modeling.

Findings

The findings submit that, in addition to effects of service convenience, service quality and customer satisfaction on word of mouth, decision convenience has the most positive significant influence on word of mouth compared to service quality dimensions and customer satisfaction.

Research limitations/implications

The present research focuses on assessing the word of mouth level only for THAI; therefore, its findings may not be generalized for the other airlines. In addition, the target market of this study is the customers of THAI. Future researchers can select the markets of other airlines customers.

Practical implications

In airline companies, service convenience plays a central role on customer word of mouth. Therefore, airlines should concentrate on travelers’ convenience in the service procedure. They should plan the service to support the best convenience for travelers.

Originality/value

This investigation would help airlines to understand what makes customers more satisfied before, during and after using an airline service and to understand how this is related to the word of mouth.

Details

International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, vol. 36 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-671X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 18 April 2016

Lloyd C. Harris, Raymond P. Fisk and Hana Sysalova

While the links between customer word-of-mouth and desirable organizational outcomes have been widely studied, the possibility that customers might routinely exaggerate their…

1129

Abstract

Purpose

While the links between customer word-of-mouth and desirable organizational outcomes have been widely studied, the possibility that customers might routinely exaggerate their consumption experience stories has been neglected. The paper aims to discuss this issue.

Design/methodology/approach

The first exploratory study examined exaggerated and unexaggerated word-of-mouth and the targets of such activities. The second exploratory study focussed on customer-exaggerated negative word-of-mouth and its drivers. The two experimental studies generated deeper insights into attributions of service failure and exaggerated negative word-of-mouth.

Findings

This research explicitly addresses customer exaggeration regarding service consumption and the reasons customers engaged in such behaviors. Study 1 focussed on the scope and targets of exaggerated word-of-mouth, and Study 2 concentrated on identifying the drivers of exaggerated negative word-of-mouth. Studies 3 and 4 experimentally elucidated the cognitive mechanisms leading to exaggeration.

Research limitations/implications

Contributions include deeper understanding of the phenomenon of exaggerated negative word-of-mouth and developing and testing a model of the factors associated with consumers’ exaggerated negative word-of-mouth.

Practical implications

Implications include possible organizational and public policy actions to prevent Pinocchio customers from exaggerated negative word-of-mouth.

Originality/value

This paper explores the nature and scope of exaggerated customer word-of-mouth and contributes insights in four ways. First, this research explores the scope of consumer exaggeration during word-of-mouth storytelling and the intended targets of such communications. Second, this research focusses on exaggerated negative word-of-mouth and develops a conceptual model of the drivers of such activity. Third, the theory is tested and contributes empirical insights into exaggerated negative word-of-mouth. Fourth, through experiments, insights are gained into the cognitive mechanisms leading to exaggeration and the effects of attribution differences in personal vs service provider blame.

Details

Journal of Service Management, vol. 27 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1757-5818

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 April 2020

Kaushik Mukerjee

The purpose of this research is to study the influence of self-service technologies (SST) on cross-buying and word-of-mouth. This study tests the direct impact of perceived…

2274

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this research is to study the influence of self-service technologies (SST) on cross-buying and word-of-mouth. This study tests the direct impact of perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use on cross-buying and word-of-mouth. Further, this study also tests the mediating role of e-service quality for the aforementioned relationships. The study has been undertaken in the context of retail banking in an emerging market, India.

Design/methodology/approach

A cross-sectional survey research design was used to collect data from 235 customers of retail banks in India. The data were analysed using IBM AMOS 23.0 taking structural equation modelling (SEM) approach to test the hypothesised relationships.

Findings

The findings of the study suggest that both perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use influence cross-buying and word-of-mouth. E-service quality partially mediates the relationship between perceived usefulness on cross-buying and word-of-mouth. E-service quality partially mediates the relationship between perceived ease of use and cross-buying but does not mediate the relationship between perceived ease of use and word-of-mouth.

Practical implications

This study shows that managers need to focus on perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use in order to ensure cross-buying and promote word-of-mouth recommendations by customers. Also, managers will be able to enhance cross-buying and promote word-of-mouth recommendations if e-service quality delivered by the bank is perceived to be good by customers.

Originality/value

This study contributes to the literature on SST and offers empirical evidence to show that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use can influence cross-buying as well as word-of-mouth. Previous studies have shown that SST usage can foster loyalty, and the present study offers new evidence on the outcomes of behavioural loyalty. The study has been undertaken through responses taken from retail bank customers in an emerging market. This study also contributes to the literature on SST by testing the mediating effect of e-service quality for the above-mentioned relationships.

Details

International Journal of Retail & Distribution Management, vol. 48 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-0552

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 4 February 2014

Beomjoon Choi and Beom-Jin Choi

– This research aims to examine the consequences of customer justice perception and the role of customer affection in the context of service failure and recovery.

8463

Abstract

Purpose

This research aims to examine the consequences of customer justice perception and the role of customer affection in the context of service failure and recovery.

Design/methodology/approach

Survey data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling.

Findings

The authors' findings indicate that procedural and interactional justice perceptions significantly influence customer affection, with distributive justice perception being significant only if the failure severity is high. The present research also provides evidence for the links between customer affection and loyalty, and customer affection and word-of-mouth respectively, indicating that strengthening the emotional tie between customers and companies is crucial after service failure and recovery.

Research limitations/implications

The present research makes a significant contribution by demonstrating the relationship between customer affection and other key constructs such as justice perception, customer loyalty, and word-of-mouth intention.

Practical implications

Customers' distributive justice perception has a significant impact on customer affection especially in a severe service failure situation. Therefore, managers may need to provide monetary compensation for service recovery in a timely manner along with apologies to enhance customer affection when customers experience a high-magnitude service failure. On the other hand, in the case of a low-magnitude service recovery, providing apologies and prompt response to service failures may be enough to win customers back.

Originality/value

The current findings highlight the importance of customer affection in service recovery. The effect of customers' distributive justice perception on customer affection, which is moderated by service failure severity, is also highlighted.

Details

European Journal of Marketing, vol. 48 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0309-0566

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 September 2018

Estelle van Tonder, Daniël J. Petzer, Naomi van Vuuren and Leon T. De Beer

The purpose of this paper is to explore the proposed relationships between perceived usefulness (a dimension of perceived value), the relationship quality factors (competence…

2409

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore the proposed relationships between perceived usefulness (a dimension of perceived value), the relationship quality factors (competence trust and continuous commitment) and positive word-of-mouth intentions in an electronic banking setting.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey was conducted among 511 electronic banking customers.

Findings

Continuous commitment was found to mediate the relationships between perceived usefulness and competence trust with positive word-of-mouth intention, respectively.

Research limitations/implications

The results indicate the role of perceived value and relationship quality in contributing to positive word-of-mouth intention.

Practical implications

The findings could also guide banking institutions in managing their existing electronic banking customers more appropriately and to encourage them to engage in word-of-mouth behaviour that will convince other potential users of the benefits of the service.

Originality/value

Little is known on a mediated model noting the connection between perceived value, the relationship quality factors competence trust and continuous commitment and positive word-of-mouth intention. The findings provide more insight into the matter and accordingly contribute to the developing body of knowledge on perceived value, relationship quality and behavioural intention and their importance to the stream of research on positive word of mouth.

Details

International Journal of Bank Marketing, vol. 36 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0265-2323

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 January 2006

Magnus Söderlund

The contemporary interest in customer loyalty has resulted in a proliferation of multi‐item scales containing an aggregated mix of items that appears to reflect different aspects…

12934

Abstract

Purpose

The contemporary interest in customer loyalty has resulted in a proliferation of multi‐item scales containing an aggregated mix of items that appears to reflect different aspects of loyalty. The most common application of this aggregation approach is to include two specific loyalty facets, repatronage intentions and word‐of‐mouth intentions, in the same loyalty measure and to proceed as if they reflect the same underlying construct. The purpose of this paper is to examine – and question – this practice in conceptual, methodological, and empirical terms.

Design/methodology/approach

Two empirical studies in service settings were conducted and multi‐item measures were used to collect data on repatronage intentions, word‐of‐mouth intentions, and satisfaction. A structural equation model approach was used to compare an aggregated measurement approach with an approach which models the two loyalty constructs as two separate factors.

Findings

The results indicate that repatronage intentions and word‐of‐mouth intentions can indeed be seen as two discrete constructs.

Practical implications

The results indicate that caution is called for when the investigator is measuring customer loyalty with multi‐item measures. Indeed, the lumping together of such facets as repatronage intentions and word‐of‐mouth intentions is likely to conceal significant aspects of loyalty per se and its relation to other variables in the nomological net.

Originality/value

Only a very limited number of existing studies measure customer loyalty with multi‐item scales and with an explicit assumption that several discrete facets of loyalty exist.

Details

International Journal of Service Industry Management, vol. 17 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0956-4233

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 21 September 2010

Long‐Yi Lin and Ching‐Yuh Lu

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of corporate image and relationship marketing on trust, the impact of trust on consumer purchase intention, and the…

21129

Abstract

Purpose

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of corporate image and relationship marketing on trust, the impact of trust on consumer purchase intention, and the moderating effects of word‐of‐mouth between the influence of trust on consumer purchase intention.

Design/methodology/approach

Consumers of an online travel agency in Taiwan aged over 18 were taken as the research sample. Primary data were collected through convenience sampling. Regression analysis was used to test the hypotheses.

Findings

The main findings are: corporate image has a significantly positive influence on trust, and commodity image has the most significant influence on trust, followed by functional image and institution image; structural and financial relationship marketing has significantly positive influence on trust, and structural relationship marketing has greater influence on trust compared with financial relationship marketing; trust has a significantly positive influence on consumer purchase intention; and positive word‐of‐mouth has a moderating effect between the influences of trust on consumer purchase intention.

Research limitations/implications

Limitations of this study include: the data obtained in this study only reflected the correlations and cause and effect among the variables studied during a specific period of time; this paper only focused on tour agencies; consumers who used only the most popular online tour agencies were selected. Therefore, the samples might involve some bias. The implications of this study include: different types of corporate image will have different levels of influence on consumer trust. There is a need to support the previous study that relationship marketing has a significantly positive influence on consumer trust. The moderating effects of positive word‐of‐mouth between the influences of trust on consumer purchase intention must be examined. The influence of trust on purchase intention must be considered.

Practical implications

The study findings reveal the need and importance for a company to improve corporate image continuously. The study indicates the need to emphasize the use of critical relationship marketing and to realize the nature and importance of the moderating effect of word‐of‐mouth.

Originality/value

The value of this study is combined theory and practical and finding four management implications and three practical implications.

Details

Tourism Review, vol. 65 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1660-5373

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 14 September 2015

Beatriz Moliner-Velázquez, María-Eugenia Ruiz-Molina and Teresa Fayos-Gardó

The purpose of this paper is, first, to analyze the direct effects of the relationship chain “causal attributions and recovery efforts → satisfaction with service recovery …

4991

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is, first, to analyze the direct effects of the relationship chain “causal attributions and recovery efforts → satisfaction with service recovery → conventional and online word-of-mouth intentions” and, second, to study the moderating role of age in the relationship between satisfaction and subsequent word-of-mouth. Consumer assessment and behavior associated with service recovery is a topic of considerable interest for both academics and practitioners.

Design/methodology/approach

From an empirical perspective, this paper uses a sample of 336 individuals who experienced service failure at a retail store to estimate a structural equation model. Additionally, a multigroup analysis allows testing the existence of a moderating effect of age on the hypothesized relations.

Findings

Results allow to confirm the direct effects of causal attributions and recovery efforts on satisfaction with service recovery, and the impact of the latter, in turn, on conventional and online word-of-mouth intentions. Furthermore, the multigroup analysis reveals that age moderates the relationship between satisfaction and online word-of-mouth.

Practical implications

In service recovery situations, retailers should concentrate their efforts at providing evidence of the failure as temporary and inevitable as well as offering material or economic compensation.

Originality/value

This paper contributes to the identification of the most relevant variables influencing customer satisfaction with service recovery in a retail context. In addition to this, these results provide support to the importance of age on online word-of-mouth behavior.

Details

Journal of Consumer Marketing, vol. 32 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0736-3761

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 December 2017

Nikunj Kumar Jain, Shampy Kamboj, Vinod Kumar and Zillur Rahman

The purpose of this paper is to examine how consumer-brand relationships affect brand loyalty and word of mouth when mediated by brand trust considering online brand communities…

7191

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine how consumer-brand relationships affect brand loyalty and word of mouth when mediated by brand trust considering online brand communities on social media platforms.

Design/methodology/approach

A conceptual model is developed, depicting the impact of customer-brand relationships on brand loyalty and word of mouth via brand trust. The conceptual model is validated using partial least squares structural equation modeling and data for which are collected online through a structured questionnaire from a sample of 131 brand community members in North Capital Region of India.

Findings

Findings of the present study revealed that brand trust partially mediated between the involvement and commitment variables of customer-brand relationships, and brand loyalty and word of mouth. However, the link between satisfaction variable of customer-brand relationships, and brand loyalty and word of mouth via brand trust was found insignificant.

Originality/value

The present study provides novel insight to understand consumer-brand relationships on social media platforms.

Details

Marketing Intelligence & Planning, vol. 36 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0263-4503

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 8 December 2020

Kim Leng Khoo

This paper aims to understand the impact of service quality on corporate image and customer satisfaction. Furthermore, this study also examined the influence of corporate image…

45554

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to understand the impact of service quality on corporate image and customer satisfaction. Furthermore, this study also examined the influence of corporate image and customer satisfaction on revisit intention and word of mouth. The mediation effect of corporate image and customer satisfaction on the relationships between service quality–revisit intention and service quality–word of mouth was also examined.

Design/methodology/approach

This study used the survey questionnaire method and collected data from 253 respondents comprising of customers who had karaoke singing experience in the Karaoke television (KTV). The partial least squares structural equation modeling was used in this study.

Findings

This study found that service quality has a significant positive influence on corporate image and customer satisfaction. Corporate image does not have a significant influence on revisit intention but has a significant positive influence on word of mouth. Furthermore, customer satisfaction has a significant positive influence on revisit intention and word of mouth. The mediation effect of corporate image and customer satisfaction is also found to be significant for most of the relationships.

Originality/value

This study showed the importance of service on customers’ reactions and behaviors in the KTV context, which have not been previously investigated. Businesses should always provide superior service quality to their customers because it impacts their subsequent behaviors such as revisit intention and word of mouth.

Details

PSU Research Review, vol. 6 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2399-1747

Keywords

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