Search results

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the direct and indirect effects of social visibility (private vs public), purchase motivation (intrinsic vs extrinsic vs altruistic) and external reference price (ERP) (absent vs present) on consumers’ pricing decisions in pay-what-you-want (PWYW) context.

Two empirical studies with a fitness gym as the research setting were used to test all the hypotheses; first, a lab experiment with undergraduate student participants and, the second, an online experiment with a consumer panel.

Both studies show that consumers allocate a higher share (RATIO) of their internal reference prices (IRPs) to the prices to be paid (PTP) in PWYW context, in private under intrinsic purchase motivation and in public under extrinsic or altruistic motivation and this effect is more pronounced in the absence of ERP.

Future research may validate and extend the findings of this paper with other product or service categories, different manipulations for the key variables, other research methods such as field experiments and expand our model by including other relevant variables.

The findings of this paper will help managers understand how individual customers’ purchase motivation and the social visibility in the PWYW setting affect their pricing decisions and how providing external pricing cues may moderate these effects.

Prior research on PWYW shows mixed findings about the direct effects of many variables on consumers’ pricing decisions, but it ignores the differences in consumers’ purchase motivations and offers mixed evidence about the influence of social visibility and ERPs on payment decisions. The authors address all these gaps in this paper.

Status demotion in hierarchical loyalty programs (HLPs) has received considerable academic attention. However, little is known about whether status demotion engenders two widely recognised behavioural intentions: revenge and avoidance. This study aims to make up this gap by examining the effects of status demotion on customers’ revenge and avoidance intentions. The underlying mechanism and boundary conditions of these effects are also explored.

Two studies were conducted to test the hypotheses. Study 1 was conducted using a structured survey from 347 active HLP members/customers of Chinese airlines. Study 2 used an online experiment amongst 268 active HLP airline customers in Australia. Partial least squares-based structural equation modelling and Hayes’ (2013) PROCESS macro were used for data analysis.

The results of Study 1 show that status demotion increases customers’ revenge and avoidance intentions simultaneously. Meanwhile, these effects are more significant for demoted customers with an external locus of causality than those with an internal locus of causality and demoted customers with higher entitlement tend to possess more revenge intentions than avoidance intentions. Study 2 further identified perceived inequity as a mechanism, which links status demotion to revenge and avoidance intentions of demoted customers.

This study examines demoted customers’ revenge and avoidance intentions amongst Chinese and Australian airline travellers. Future research may focus on actual behaviour and test the current study’s model in cross-cultural and cross-industry settings.

Managers should deal with demotion decisions carefully as the failure to manage outraged customers may weaken customer-company relationships.

This study extends the existing literature on relationship marketing and HLPs by offering a better understanding of how and under what conditions status demotion elicits customers’ intentions for revenge and avoidance.

The purpose of this paper is to offer a better understanding of managing engagement in an emerging economy service. It explores the role of organisational climates for initiative and psychological safety as the key drivers of employee engagement (EE). It also examines the effects of EE on customer engagement (CE) and, in turn, on relationship commitment and switching intention.

Data were collected through a structured survey of service employees and customers of 69 bank branches in Bangladesh using two survey instruments. Responses were collected from 156 employees and 316 customers. A dyadic data set was created by matching customer data with the corresponding employee data collected from each bank branch. Structural equation modelling using AMOS (version 22.0) was employed for data analysis.

Organisational climates for initiative and psychological safety positively influence EE. In turn, EE significantly influences CE which has a significant impact on customer relationship commitment and switching intention.

Future research could consider actual customer behaviour, such as repeat purchase, as the key outcome variable.

The findings emphasise that investment by service managers in organisational resources to facilitate favourable climates for initiative and psychological safety would engage employees at work, which would ultimately help to attain CE and commitment, and reduce switching intention.

This research extends the existing engagement literature with empirical evidence supporting two new EE drivers and two new CE outcomes. It offers a better understanding of managing engagement in the financial services industry of an emerging economy, focussing on the relationship chain from organisational climate to EE, CE and customer-based outcomes.

This paper aims to examine how social comparison (SC) and belief in karma (KA) encourage materialism (MAT) and promote consumers’ life satisfaction (LS).

Two studies were conducted with Indian middle class consumers to test the basic premises of the current research. The first one used a survey (N = 247), while the second one used an experimental design (N = 206).

The survey results showed that SC and belief in KA promoted MAT amongst Indian consumers and further enhanced their LS. Findings from the experiment revealed a novel two-way interaction, in that the KA–MAT relationship was moderated by the underlying motivation for MAT.

Future research may validate and extend our findings using different samples to increase external validity.

By explaining the interactive effects of MAT, its underlying motivation and belief in KA, managers will gain a better understanding of why consumers in an emerging market like India purchase conspicuous products.

This is the first paper to study how the KA–MAT relationship influences LS amongst consumers in the world’s fastest-rising economy. Furthermore, no prior research has reported a boundary condition for the KA–MAT relationship studied here. The findings contribute to an extremely limited body of literature on KA and consumption.

Genetically modified (GM) food has received considerable interest from academics and practitioners. However, research on consumer loyalty towards GM food is relatively sparse. Guided by the theory of planned behaviour, this study aims to explore the factors that influence consumer repurchase intention and behavioural loyalty towards GM food.

Data were collected from 464 Australian consumer panel members surveyed through a nationwide online survey, with data analysed by structural equation modelling using AMOS (v. 22.0).

The findings reveal that consumer loyalty towards GM food is influenced by the interplay between awareness of benefits and risks, situational and social influences and attitude and repurchase intention. Female consumers are found to not only possess a relatively more favourable attitude and repurchase intention, but also are more loyal towards GM food compared to male consumers. Unlike older consumers, younger consumers' loyalty towards GM food is influenced by their attitude and repurchase intention. The relevant policy implications of the findings are discussed.

As consumers have contrasting views about GM food, to influence their loyalty, it is important for GM food industries as well as policy makers to better understand how to address consumers' varying concerns about GM food.

This study offers a parsimonious model for explaining the factors that influence consumer loyalty towards GM food.

This paper aims to examine a chain of relationships running from self-congruity with a brand – that can stem from the actual, ideal or social self – to brand attachment and from there to consumer engagement on social networking sites (SNS), specifically liking, sharing and commenting. It further advances self-extension tendency (SET) as a moderator affecting the self-congruity -> brand attachment link.

Two studies were conducted to test four hypotheses. Study 1 (n = 282) engaged a self-administered survey with students at a large Australian university. Study 2 (n = 342) was conducted amongst the members of an Australian online panel and thus, enhances generalizability.

Activated self-congruity orientations are brand-specific. Both studies reveal that two of the three self-congruity orientations affect brand attachment, which, in turn, influences consumers’ proclivity to like, share and comment on Facebook. Moreover, the self-congruity -> brand attachment relationship is moderated by SET. When SET is high, it strengthens the relationship between a self-congruity orientation and brand attachment.

Accepted methodological approaches were used to improve the veracity of the findings. Nevertheless, further research should consider a wider area of focal brands (e.g. store brands, mundane brands, luxury brands) and other SNS.

SNS are widely acknowledged as a key marketing channel affecting both pre- and post-purchasing behaviours. Discussed here are means to trigger pro-brand advocacy behaviours.

These findings extend existing theory in three ways as follows: they show social self-congruity affects brand attachment in online contexts, brand attachment is a mediating variable affecting pro-brand social networking behaviours and SET moderates the self-congruity -> brand attachment relationship. SNS are widely acknowledged as a key marketing channel affecting both pre- and post-purchase behaviours; hence, these insights have theoretical and practical relevance.

The purpose of this paper is to explore Australasian students’ current perception towards a sales career.

Data were collected through a self-administered survey from 431 students enrolled in a Sales Management unit in a large Australian university and its Asian campuses.

The study reveals a four-factor solution with factors labeled as “exciting,” “deceptive,” “taxing,” and “challenging,” with “exciting” being the only factor to significantly predict likelihood of pursuing a sales career. Although no differences of perception were found between males and females, Asian students were found to perceive sales career as more exciting, innovative and fun than Australian students.

Although significant difference was noted between Australian and Asian students’ perceptions towards sales as an exciting career, it is prudent to interpret and generalize the finding with caution as Asia is the largest continent with different cultures, religions and races.

The four factors that were found to influence students’ perception towards a sales career are novel, psychometrically sound, and are pertinent for businesses conducting graduate recruitment. This study indicates how sales education at university level assist in changing students’ views towards a sales career from negative to positive.

While previous research has reported negative perceptions about sales as a career, this study reveals that students consider sales to be an “exciting” career.

Employees in community pharmacies play a far significant and distinct role compared to the employees in traditional retail stores. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of employee performance (EP) on customer loyalty of pharmacy services.

Data were collected through a self-administered survey filled in by the customers of 25 community pharmacies. A total of 679 completely filled-in questionnaires were analysed. The proposed model was tested through structural equation modelling using AMOS 22.

EP positively affects pharmacy customers’ perceived value (PV), trust and loyalty. PV and trust fully mediates the relationships between EP and customers’ attitudinal and behavioural loyalty. Unlike short-term customers, the long-term relational customers’ PV was found to have significant impact on their trust and behavioural loyalty.

This study is based on the Australian community pharmacy industries; hence, caution must be exercised in the generalization of the results to other countries. The study has considered only PV and trust in examining the link between the EP and customer loyalty. Other variables such as commitment could possibly influence the link, which has not been considered in this study.

The study contributes to the existing literature by focusing on how EP affects both attitudinal and behavioural loyalty of pharmacy customers. It shows empirical evidence that EP influences customers’ PV and trust en-route to influencing their loyalty. The study measures EP based on both empathy and service provider performance covering a broader spectrum of the construct.

This paper aims to investigate the effects of customer equity drivers on customer loyalty via customer trust in a B2B context.

A self‐administered online survey was conducted to collect data from the organizational customers of an on‐hold service company in Australia. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse the data.

The study reveals that in a B2B context, value equity and relationship equity have significant influence on customer loyalty through the mediating effect of customer trust. On the other hand, brand equity is found to have no effect on customer trust and loyalty.

In order to obtain business customers' loyalty, managers should focus more on value and relationship equity than brand equity.

While most of the previous studies on “customer equity” focused on the B2C context, this study focuses on a B2B context. It demonstrates the impact of customer equity drivers on business customers' loyalty.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the mediating role of internal reference price (IRP) in a pay-what-you-want (PWYW) price setting. Specifically, it examines the effects of altruism, social desirability and price consciousness as the antecedents of IRP and consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP), future purchase intention and attitude toward the seller as the outcomes of IRP.

The data for the study were collected from 272 respondents through a structured survey and analyzed through structural equation modeling technique using AMOS 22.0.

Altruism and social desirability positively influence IRP whereas price consciousness influences IRP negatively. IRP mediates the effects of altruism, social desirability and price consciousness on WTP, future purchase intention and attitude toward the seller.

PWYW pricing strategy can help attract consumers with self-less characteristics or a desire to behave in a socially appropriate manner but not those who are highly price conscious as reflected by the differences in the way in which their IRPs influence their WTP, future purchase intention and attitude toward the seller.

This paper introduces a parsimonious framework to explain how three consumer characteristics influence consumers’ pricing decisions in PWYW context. The finding that the effects of antecedent variables on WTP, attitude and future purchase intention are mediated by IRP provides new insights that have not been explored earlier.