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The purpose of this study is to investigate the aesthetic blackening coating formed by a hydrothermal process, focusing on the formation of magnetite and the oxide adhesion for improving the corrosion resistance of the steel.

The aesthetic black coating was applied on AISI 4140 steel using a hydrothermal process with a non-toxic solution consisted of ferrous sulphate hydrate (FeSO4·7H₂O), sodium hydroxide (NaOH) and hydrazine hydrate (N2H4·H₂O). Upon process parameters temperature and time, the morphology of the coatings and oxidation kinetics were investigated by using scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis. Furthermore, the samples with coatings were subjected to the adhesion test using a tensile testing machine equipped with a charge-coupled device (CCD) camera.

From the formation parameters due to temperature and time for the conversion coatings, it was found that the oxidation kinetics had special characteristics which were in accordance with a linear rate law and Arrhenius relation. For the samples blackened, the XRD analysis results revealed that the magnetite was successfully formed on the surface of the steel. On the other hand, increasing the blackening temperature worsened the scale adhesion as observed by the lower strain provoking the first spallation and the higher sensitivity of the oxide to spall out with the imposed strain.

The effects of parameters of the formation of conversion coatings were investigated to understand the kinetics of the coatings. Furthermore, a tensile adhesion test using a CCD camera was applied to evaluate the adhesion between the native oxide formed by conversion coating.

The purpose of this paper is to extend the well-established nomological network of service quality-relationship quality-customer loyalty by introducing service fairness – a distinct service evaluation concept. Specifically, the study aims to investigate the impact of service fairness on relationship quality as a complementary to service quality driver, and the direct and indirect effect of service fairness on customer loyalty in the presence of service quality and relationship quality in a no failure/recovery effort service context.

A telephone survey of a random sample of 408 customers of auto repair and maintenance services was implemented using a structured questionnaire with established scales. Data were analyzed with partial least squares path methodology, a structural equation modeling methodology.

Interactional fairness is the most important formative determinant of customers’ overall fairness perception, followed by procedural and distributive fairness. Relationship quality measured as a higher order construct, made of satisfaction; trust; affective and calculative commitment, is the main determinant of customer loyalty. Also, it partially mediates, along with service quality, the relationship between service fairness and customer loyalty and fully mediates the effect of service quality on customer loyalty. Finally, service fairness has the highest overall effect on customer loyalty.

The sample is industry-specific and this may affect generalizability of findings. Also, the cross-sectional design adopted does not reflect temporal changes.

Interactional fairness is of utmost importance to customers of the investigated industry. So, customers should be fairly treated at every point of contact. Also, service quality is heavily affected by service fairness. Thus, fair service leads to high-perceived service quality. Third, service quality affects customer loyalty only through relationship quality. Only when service quality is coupled by long-term quality relationships, signs of customer loyalty appear. Finally, service fairness influences customer loyalty mainly through service and relationship quality and has the highest overall effect on customer loyalty. So, fairly treating customers is crucial for developing long-term relationships that lead to customer loyalty.

The role of service fairness in the service quality-relationship quality-customer loyalty chain is investigated and using a higher order construct for relationship quality.

After almost a decade of relationship quality studies in the retail industry, high consensus exists regarding the dimensions that define the construct. Disregarding epistemological depth of the concept of commitment, however, has led only to its unidimensional operationalization. To improve the retail relationship quality operationalization, this paper seeks to provide theoretical and empirical support that calculative and emotional commitment should be included as dimensions of relationship quality in addition to trust and satisfaction in the retail environment.

Cross‐sectional telephone interviews with members of a retail loyalty club were conducted in two waves. The first wave included 116 respondents to purify the measurement instrument. The second wave included 416 respondents to estimate the parameters in SEM.

Empirical findings suggest that in the retail environment, relationship quality as a second‐order factor influences emotional commitment, calculative commitment, and a combined construct of trust and satisfaction.

The research is limited to members of a single do‐it‐yourself (DIY) retailer's loyalty club. Cross‐retail industry and cross‐country testing could potentially improve the proposed scale for measuring relationship quality in the retail sector.

Although relatively abstract in its higher‐order factor formation for daily managerial purposes, the paper attempts to discuss managerial implications from the retail point of view in a comprehensive and readable manner. By narrowing the focus to a particular sector and selected dimensions of the construct, the paper helps increase understanding of the central construct of relationship marketing to the managerial sphere.

An important contribution of this paper lies in the selection of dimensions that reflect the relationship quality construct in the retail environment; more specifically, the selection of calculative and emotional commitment. An historical overview of relationship quality studies in consumer markets also provides an opportunity to improve comprehension of the phenomena.

This research aims to empirically develop a reliable and valid scale for measuring the service quality of retail loyalty programmes (loyalty programme service quality (LPSQual)) in the context of department stores and superstores in Malaysia.

By adapting the process proposed by Churchill for developing measures of marketing constructs, an instrument to assess LPSQual in Malaysia is formulated. The methodology consists of developing the scale based on a literature review and qualitative method. The proposed scale is then purified and validated through exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis.

The proposed instrument (LPSQual) contains 26 attributes in seven dimensions: reward, tangibility, policy, information usefulness, courteousness/helpfulness, personalization and communication.

Further testing of the scales across multiple contexts is necessary for validity enhancement.

Retail managers must give serious thought to the non‐material or “soft‐benefits” component in a loyalty programme which emphasizes courteous/helpful and personalized services. Thus, managers need to focus on service personnel by providing training to upgrade employees' skills in creating and delivering pleasant experience/service encounters to cardholders.

The main contribution of this paper is the development and validation of a new scale called LPSQual, which focuses on service quality in a loyalty programme. On the one hand, it is a pioneer in the study of service quality in loyalty programmes and, on the other hand, it confirms results from other researches on non‐material strategies that can be used in loyalty programmes.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the multidimensional concept of mobile banking service quality (security/privacy, practicity, design/aesthetics, enjoyment and sociality) and the impact of the latter on the quality of the relationship (commitment, trust and satisfaction) between consumers and their primary financial institution.

An online survey was conducted using a sample of 375 respondents, all owners of a mobile device and all accustomed to conducting banking activities on mobile platforms. Results were analyzed using structural modeling techniques (EQS 6.1).

Findings confirm that trust significantly and positively impacts commitment/satisfaction. Mobile banking service quality dimensions also influence trust and commitment/satisfaction. Trust is associated with security/privacy and practicity (regarded as utilitarian factors), while commitment/satisfaction is driven by enjoyment and sociality (dimensions more hedonic by nature). No link is found between interface design and either trust or commitment/satisfaction.

This study contributes to bank marketing theory since it is the first to demonstrate how key mobile banking service quality dimensions drive customer perceptions of relationship quality. In doing so, this research extends beyond mobile adoption (short term) by addressing customer engagement with financial institutions and issues relating to relationship quality (long term). Regarding managerial implications, findings signal to marketers in the financial services industry the importance of not underestimating the power of hedonic factors (sociality and enjoyment) when developing mobile platforms. These dimensions are often overlooked in the banking industry, a sector in which consumers are believed to be mostly driven by utilitarian motives.

The purpose of this paper is to propose a reliable and valid integrative scale for online relationship quality based on both the relationship marketing and electronic commerce literature.

The scale was developed using the approach put forward by Churchill (1979). The scale development and validation process includes a qualitative exploratory phase, three pre-tests and a final study using an online questionnaire (476 members of a consumer panel).

The findings support a third-order integrative model of online relationship quality composed of three dimensions (trust, commitment and satisfaction). The final scale is composed of 21 items.

The study shows a lack of discrimination between satisfaction and trust, which other studies have also found. As the scale is validated in only one sector, online banking, it should be tested and replicated in other contexts (e.g. insurance).

An instrument for assessing the quality of online relationships between banks and consumers is important for marketing professionals who want to determine their relational positioning and focus on those dimensions that promote long-term online relationships. The scale developed here can be used to assess customers’ perceptions of the quality of the relationship with an online financial institution, to segment those customers more effectively, and to improve targeting of marketing strategies and activities.

This study contributes to the enrichment of the body of theory and provides researchers with a tool for the further investigation of the quality of online relationships.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role played by corporate social responsibility (CSR) in building relationship quality (RQ) in the context of sports organisations. In turn, the link between RQ and customer loyalty is examined. Acknowledging that customers develop a psychological connection with the sports organisation over time, the study also examines whether the link between CSR and RQ is moderated by the psychological continuum model (PCM) stages (awareness, attraction, attachment and allegiance).

The survey data were drawn from almost 6,000 season ticket holders of a professional sports club. Structural equation modelling and the non-parametric bootstrapping regression technique were used to test the hypotheses.

The results support the direct impact of CSR activities on RQ. RQ, in turn, drives customer loyalty. Importantly, RQ is found to fully mediate the relationship between CSR and customer loyalty. However, as customers move through the psychological connection stages, the effect of CSR on customer loyalty via RQ tends to diminish.

This study provides evidence of a direct impact of CSR activities on RQ, and also attests the role of psychological connection in sports organisations.

The incorporation of a multidimensional RQ construct and the PCM stages allows a deeper understanding of how CSR might be employed to achieve organisational goals.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effect of service quality and relationship quality on customer loyalty in different stages of the relationship life cycle in online banking services.

A total of 651 Iranian online banking customers participated in the research by completing questionnaires. The research hypotheses were tested using structural modeling technique.

The results showed that the relationship quality on customer loyalty in online banking services is affected by the relationship life cycle. The results also showed that online service quality, in the form of Utilitarian quality and Hedonic quality, has a positive effect both directly and indirectly on customer loyalty through online relationship quality.

In this paper, the relationship dynamics was achieved through adding the relationship life cycle variable to the model. However, the study was a cross-sectional research and different results might be obtained if data was collected longitudinally.

In an online banking service, the role of relationship quality in the prediction of customer loyalty is reduced as the relationship ages. Therefore, marketers need to consider other marketing actions to continue their relationship with the customer in the long run.

This paper examines customer loyalty to online banking services from dynamic perspective by introducing relationship life cycle as a moderating variable for the first time. Therefore, the main contribution of this paper is to develop the relationship marketing literature in the field of relationship dynamics and to challenge the effectiveness of relationship marketing in the long run.

Retaining and cultivating customer loyalty has become increasingly important for loyalty programme providers and retailers due to the highly competitive environment. The purpose of this paper is to develop and test a model investigating how loyalty programme service quality (LPSQual) enhances programme perceived value and programme satisfaction to win loyalty among cardholders.

Quota sampling technique, using a self‐administered questionnaire survey, was used with a total of 400 respondents who are card holders of loyalty programmes from departments and superstores in the capital of Malaysia.

It is found that all the loyalty programme service attributes (policy, reward, tangibility, information usefulness, courteousness/helpfulness and communication quality), with the exception of personalization, have a significant positive influence on perceived value. The positive relationship between perceived value‐programme loyalty and programme satisfaction‐programme loyalty was also significant. The result also suggests that programme satisfaction affects store loyalty only through programme loyalty.

The results highlight the crucial role of loyalty programme service attributes in influencing value, satisfaction and loyalty among card holders of a loyalty programme.

This paper seems to be the first in investigating the impacts of LPSQual on value, satisfaction and loyalty in departments and superstores, particularly in the Malaysia context.

The present paper is an attempt to provide a holistic approach of the Greek banking sector and how it operates.

A survey was carried out in the banking sector of Greece in order to gather information regarding customer satisfaction and loyalty, while the financial data of the banks were attained from their annual financial statements. Structural equation modelling was used to test the hypotheses.

It has been found that neither customer satisfaction nor loyalty has a significant impact on the financial performance of banks, while the remaining factors have indicated unprecedented results.

The main limitation of the study is the economic environment of Greece and the general crisis of the banking sector.

The study provides an insight into the Greek banking sector and the interrelationships among the investigated factors, and how customer satisfaction and loyalty could be enhanced through the remaining factors.

A new factor, the economics factor, was created and included in the study. Moreover, the tangibles factor was tested as an individual and not as part of service quality. Additionally, the present study is among the few that have incorporated customer satisfaction, loyalty and the financial performance of banks. To take it one step further, some more factors were included to present a more holistic approach of how customer satisfaction and loyalty are enhanced.