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1 – 10 of over 133000Patriya Tansuhaj, John Wong and Jim McCullough
Concepts of internal marketing and external marketing in the context of service firms are here discussed and examined for their effects on consumer satisfaction. These concepts in…
Abstract
Concepts of internal marketing and external marketing in the context of service firms are here discussed and examined for their effects on consumer satisfaction. These concepts in the context of foreign and domestic banks in Thailand are focused upon. The results show differences between banks and a strong relationship between internal marketing and consumer satisfaction. The effective practice of internal marketing appears to influence the effectiveness of external marketing programmes influencing customer satisfaction.
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Patriya Tansuhaj, Donna Randall and Jim McCullough
In services marketing, the employee plays a central role in attracting, building and maintaining relationships with customers. The recognition of the central role of employees in…
Abstract
In services marketing, the employee plays a central role in attracting, building and maintaining relationships with customers. The recognition of the central role of employees in service marketing has given rise to “internal marketing” programs strongly oriented to employee development. This paper explores the linkage between internal marketing activities (directed at employee recruitment, training, motivation, communication, and retention) and the more traditional external marketing activities (e.g., pricing, advertising, and personal selling). An examination of the relationship between the key elements of the services marketing management model (internal and external marketing, employee attitudes and behavior, and customer attitudes and behavior) demonstrates how service managers can enhance customer loyalty, satisfaction and perception of quality.
Ioanna Papasolomou‐Doukakis and Philip J. Kitchen
This paper discusses findings from an exploratory study concerning internal marketing in the UK retail bank industry. In order to enhance efficiency and provide motivation to…
Abstract
This paper discusses findings from an exploratory study concerning internal marketing in the UK retail bank industry. In order to enhance efficiency and provide motivation to employees many UK banks have adopted internal marketing. The paper adopts the approach of first defining the generic research area, and then describing the research approach. It is concerned with first identifying the rhetoric of internal marketing as employed in UK banks, and second with exploring the practice of reality of internal marketing as practiced within UK banks. The paper is grounded in Mason's view that theoretical positions or data explanations move from the particular context of internal marketing views and expand within banks to the general theoretical contribution to be made. Findings are explored via two extant relationships and three anomalies based on the data analysis. Evidence from the study suggests that internal marketing is being taken seriously but in such a way as to be managerially, not employee, oriented. At best, internal marketing within this industry is regarded as a form of window dressing or part of the trappings of marketing, rather than having any substantive base or rationale insofar as employees are concerned.
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Hyun-Woo Joung, Ben K. Goh, Lynn Huffman, Jingxue Jessica Yuan and James Surles
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between internal marketing practices, employee job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intention in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationships between internal marketing practices, employee job satisfaction, organizational commitment and turnover intention in the foodservice industry.
Design/methodology/approach
The target population was employees who were currently working at a restaurant in the USA. All respondents were recruited from different states for the generalization of the study results. A confirmatory factor analysis validated the measurement model, and subsequently, structural equation modeling tested the proposed model.
Findings
Three internal marketing practices – vision, development and rewards – were good indicators for predicting employee job satisfaction, and two internal marketing practices – development and rewards – in addition to job satisfaction were significant predictors for employee organizational commitment. Finally, the findings indicated that job satisfaction and affective commitment had a significant impact on lowering employee turnover intention.
Research limitations/implications
In further research, more internal marketing practices – such as employee motivation, customer orientation, sharing information, employee empowerment – can be added to the model to increase employee job satisfaction and organizational commitment.
Practical implications
Foodservice operators should focus on internal marketing practices to have satisfied employees who, in turn, are more likely to deliver high service quality to customers.
Originality/value
This study has not only extended the influential scope of the internal marketing theory to organizational commitment, but has also proposed the antecedents of organizational commitment (i.e. internal marketing practices and employee job satisfaction) and clarified the relationships among them.
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Ainsworth Anthony Bailey, Faisal Albassami and Soad Al-Meshal
The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of a global measure of internal marketing on bank employee job satisfaction and employee commitment to the bank. In addition, the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of a global measure of internal marketing on bank employee job satisfaction and employee commitment to the bank. In addition, the authors assessed the subsequent impact of job satisfaction and employee commitment on employee-bank identification. The dual mediating role of job satisfaction and employee commitment in the internal marketing-employee bank identification relationship was also explored.
Design/methodology/approach
Using self-administered questionnaires, the authors collected data from a convenience sample of Saudi Arabian bank employees attending training at the Institute of Banking, Saudi Arabia. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the predicted structural relationships.
Findings
Internal marketing has highly significant positive effects on job satisfaction and employee commitment to the bank. These in turn influence employee bank identification. Internal marketing also impacts employee bank identification indirectly through its impact on both job satisfaction and employee commitment.
Practical implications
Bank management needs to take a holistic approach to internal marketing and ensure that they create an environment where employers will be satisfied and committed to the point that they will feel proud to be associated with the organization.
Originality/value
The study uses a global measure and provides evidence of the dual mediating effects of job satisfaction and employee commitment to the bank in the internal marketing-employee bank identification relationship. This evidence is unearthed in the Saudi Arabian banking sector, characterized by conventional and Islamic banks.
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George J. Avlonitis and Antonios A. Giannopoulos
The paper focuses on services marketing implementation synthesizing previous knowledge from the fields of internal and external marketing. Although academic debate over the…
Abstract
Purpose
The paper focuses on services marketing implementation synthesizing previous knowledge from the fields of internal and external marketing. Although academic debate over the modeling of internal and external market orientation has lately emerged, services marketing literature lacks a relevant theoretical foundation.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a qualitative research design applied to the tourism sector, in‐depth interviews were conducted at three different levels (managers, employees and customers). In total, 37 hotel managers, 46 employees and 42 guests participated in the process of capturing the essence of the fragile equilibrium between internal and external marketing adoption.
Findings
Findings from the content analysis were consistent with the literature, unveiling an important number of elements, which formulate the components of the balanced market orientation, namely: market orientation adoption, internal marketing implementation and systematic monitoring of the service delivery process.
Research limitations/implications
Highlighting the importance of interrelations and modeling the underlying constructs, the study merges together different research streams from the extant literature. Nevertheless, the relations between the components of balanced market orientation have yet to be examined and validated.
Originality/value
In light of the qualitative findings, the study delves into the main pillars of integrated marketing philosophy, where the external focus on the customer is a sine qua non. Services marketing implementation is delineated into: applying internal marketing practices; periodically assessing employees’ perceptions; adopting market‐oriented behaviour; and measuring its impact on customers.
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Leigh De Bruin, Mornay Roberts-Lombard and Christine De Meyer-Heydenrych
This study aims to explore the extent to which internal marketing influences employees’ perceived ability to deliver service quality in the Islamic banking industry in Oman…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the extent to which internal marketing influences employees’ perceived ability to deliver service quality in the Islamic banking industry in Oman. Additionally, the influence of perceived service quality on perceived customer satisfaction is established.
Design/methodology/approach
Data was obtained from retail banking branch employees at the customer front line of Islamic banks in Oman using electronic and person-administered surveys, and 272 responses were deemed suitable for data analysis. The measurement and structural models were measured through structural equation modelling.
Findings
The findings show that internal promotion, internal process and internal purpose are enablers of employees’ perceived ability to deliver service quality in the Islamic banking industry of Oman. In addition, service quality was found to have a strong positive influence on perceived customer satisfaction in Islamic banks.
Research limitations/implications
This study demonstrates that internal product, internal price, internal promotion, internal process and internal purpose are influencers of service quality, and the latter has a direct relationship with perceived customer satisfaction in Islamic banking.
Practical implications
The findings can guide the Islamic banking sector in Oman on how internal marketing can foster service quality, ultimately leading to positive perceived customer satisfaction experiences.
Originality/value
The internal marketing mix model is predominately a Western model, which has been tested primarily in mature Western markets. This study reflects on ten internal marketing mix elements, which have been tested for the enablement of service quality and perceived customer satisfaction in Oman.
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Mostaque Zebal, Ahmed Ferdous and Colin Chambers
The purpose of this paper is to develop and propose an integrated model of marketing knowledge from a tacit knowledge management perspective. This paper further aims at developing…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop and propose an integrated model of marketing knowledge from a tacit knowledge management perspective. This paper further aims at developing a linkage between explicit knowledge perspective (internal and external marketing) and tacit knowledge orientation of an organization, leading to improved business success.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper develops a conceptual model showing the integration of the internal, tacit and explicit knowledge perspectives that results in improved business success. The proposed model and associated propositions are drawn from the synthesis of relevant knowledge and marketing literature.
Findings
Five major associated propositions are offered in the paper, which inform both scholars and practitioners about what constitutes a holistic market orientation and how organizations can achieve business success by adopting both an internal and external orientation to tacit and explicit knowledge management.
Originality/value
The model makes an original contribution to theoretical and organizational marketing management knowledge. It does this by extending the conceptual and operational boundaries of existing models of internal and external marketing, aimed at helping organizations achieve competitive advantage and business success.
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Aloisio Henrique Mazzarolo, Emerson Wagner Mainardes and Danilo Soares Montemor
The purpose of this study was to assess whether internal marketing tends to influence the perception of bank employees regarding the strategic orientations of banks toward the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to assess whether internal marketing tends to influence the perception of bank employees regarding the strategic orientations of banks toward the market, brand and value. The authors also aimed to determine whether employees' organizational commitment mediates the relationship between internal marketing and the three strategic orientations and whether they influence bank employees' perception of obtaining a competitive advantage.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors conducted a survey with 832 bank employees using an online questionnaire. The authors performed data analysis by modeling structural equations with data estimation using the PLS-SEM.
Findings
The results showed that internal marketing positively influences bank employees' perception of banks' strategic marketing orientations and through that their perception of a competitive advantage. The authors also note that organizational commitment can partially mediate the relationship between internal marketing and the strategic orientations tested in this study.
Research limitations/implications
The findings indicate that banks' investment in employee valuation tends to generate positive results in relation to their adherence to marketing strategies, with the potential to result in a competitive advantage.
Originality/value
The results demonstrate the strength of internal marketing in the strategic orientations of banks, indicating that having employees who are committed to their bank contributes to the delivery of a high-quality service focused on the external customers, generating a competitive advantage.
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Richard J. Varey and Barbara R. Lewis
Internal marketing has been of interest to practitioners and academics, in marketing and other disciplines of management, for some years, and published papers focus on…
Abstract
Internal marketing has been of interest to practitioners and academics, in marketing and other disciplines of management, for some years, and published papers focus on definitions, the role of internal marketing in organisations, and various empirical investigations. Discusses the elements of a broadened concept on internal marketing, which emerges from: a systematic review and examination of the existing literature; case study material; “expert” opinion from leading academics; and interviews with managers.
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