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Relationship marketing is not effective in every situation or context. This study investigates the impact of three categories of potential contingency factors on the effectiveness of relationship marketing efforts in a retail services context: demographic characteristics of the consumer (age and gender), personal values of the consumer (social affiliation), and shopping-related consumer characteristics (product category involvement, consumer relationship proneness, and shopping enjoyment). The data relate to more than 1,700 mall intercept personal interviews conducted in the United States, and in two western European countries (the Netherlands and Belgium), covering a wide variety of food and apparel retailers. The found moderating influences were inconsistent across samples, stressing the need for an adapted relationship marketing strategy per country and industry. The results do provide a first indication that relationship marketing efforts are relatively more effective if they are directed at consumers who are young and female, have a high need for social affiliation, and show high levels of product category involvement, consumer relationship proneness, and shopping enjoyment. The results provide a preliminary framework for retailers to optimize the allocation of their relationship marketing budgets.

The objective of this study is threefold. First, the authors want to use taste tests to assess how four store brands that are differently positioned compare to one national brand in terms of perceived brand equity. Second, the authors want to investigate whether brand equity of store versus national brands is determined by current brand loyalty towards these brands. Third, they want to find out whether store patronage has an influence on perceived brand equity of store versus national brands.

A total of 225 consumers were involved in a repeated measures design involving two within‐subject factors: a blind and non‐blind taste test of five orange juice brands. Across our three objectives, we describe the impact of the retailers' positioning strategies on the results generated.

The results confirm the common belief that private label products can offer the same or even better quality than national brands, but at a lower price.

Until now, hardly any study incorporates the differences in positioning objectives of retailers and national brand manufacturers. Nevertheless, as is true for any brand, positioning of a store brand can exert an important influence on its performance.

The objective of this study is to test whether gender stereotyping in printed advertising is more prevalent in masculine as opposed to feminine countries. We consider this to be important, as advertising is generally more influential than literature in spreading stereotypical ideas, given its high accessibility. Moreover, the way in which sexes are portrayed in advertising affects people’s perceptions of gender roles in real life. Using content analysis, we collected empirical data on gender stereotyping of women depicted in 946 printed advertisements from two European countries widely differing in their level of masculinity – the UK and The Netherlands. The results indicate that a country’s masculinity index is hardly related to the use of gender stereotyping in printed advertising, potentially implying that other factors underlie the use of gender stereotyping.

Today, services officially represent more than 22% (or about USD 3 trillion) of world trade and are the fastest growing sector of world trade for the last two decades (OECD, 2004; WTO, 2001). Optimist analysts believe that services will reach 50% of world trade by 2020 (Hibbert, 2003). Nearly half of the 100 biggest multinationals are service firms with an average revenue of over USD 50 million in 1997 (Hibbert, 2003; Keillor, Hult & Kandemir, 2004). The American McKinsey and Company in management consulting, the Danish ISS in facility management and the Dutch VNU in business information illustrate how service firms may succeed in gaining and holding a global dominant position. On top of the official service economy, the (hidden) service component of product markets is responsible for a major and increasing part of the total value of the world merchandise trade (Brown et al., 2001; Grönroos, 1990). Illustrative in this respect is the critical role of the global service systems of the Swedish/Swiss ABB in automation technology and of the American Caterpillar in construction and mining equipment.

This paper compares the shopping behavior of Chilean consumers with those in China. Both Chinese and Chilean mall visits are driven, first and foremost, by purchase; however, consumers in Chile tend to be less single minded than their Chinese counterparts. Differences also exist between the two populations in their way of selecting the mall, shopping characteristics, and purchase patterns. Most importantly, Chinese shoppers relied more on their mall visits than Chileans in searching for information and finalizing their purchase decisions; at the same time, they were much more cautious in committing themselves to a purchase.

This chapter provides further evidence on the role of uncertainty and job complexity in pay-for-performance and autonomy decisions. It proposes an encompassing econometric approach in order to explain the differences in previous outcomes that may be due to differing methodological approaches. The main stylized fact is that autonomy and pay-for-performance are positively associated. Additionally, autonomy is positively related to job complexity and uncertainty suggesting that the relationship between these latter variables and pay-for-performance could be through autonomy. After controlling for autonomy, the positive relationship between pay-for-performance and job complexity disappears, while that between pay-for-performance and uncertainty becomes more negative.

The objective of this study is to identify, at a macro level, the drivers of store choice in various product categories, in the context of the evolving retail industry in India. The paper attempts to correlate the distinct store features as perceived by respondents with the true motivations of various consumers in patronising various stores. In the process it provides insight as to whether the average Indian consumer values the new store dimensions offered by retailers as a part of the new formats emerging in the market place. The framework evolved for evaluating effectiveness of newer store formats is necessary since it has a major impact on the overall profitability of the retailing business. Suggests that customers in a developing market such as India do not require the service paraphernalia offered by many of the new store formats emerging in the market and notes that this may cast a serious doubt over the retail revolution, which has taken shape in the Indian markets lately. Some hypotheses about the evolution of the retailing business in India, which requires further investigation, are suggested.

The purpose of this paper is to establish a model that identifies the causal relationship among relationship marketing types, service quality and relationship quality on customer loyalty.

Data for this study were collected using in‐depth interviews and surveys from the clients of policyholder service centres of life insurers in Taiwan. A structural equation modelling approach is employed to examine the relationship posited in this study.

The findings are generally consistent with the literature. This study supports all hypotheses. Finally, the article concludes with theoretical and managerial implications of the research findings.

This study attempts to focus on policyholder service centres in the life insurance industry, which have been increasingly emphasized in Taiwan, to examine the impacts that different relationship marketing methods have on service quality, relationship quality and customer loyalty. Based on the results of in‐depth interviews and surveys, this study also attempts to propose a set of references to aid the development and implementation of relationship marketing campaigns and to make further contributions to both the academic and empirical literature.