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The purpose of this paper is to assess differences in banking service quality (BSQ) perceptions across demographic subgroups of Islamic and conventional Jordanian banking consumers.

Data are collected using surveys. The survey contains items for three different measures of overall BSQ perceptions. The researchers mailed surveys to a random sample of 2,000 banking customers in Jordan. Responses to questionnaire items measuring respondents’ BSQ perceptions were analysed using one-way analysis of variance with Tukey’s honest significant difference post hoc tests to assess subgroup differences in six demographic variables: gender, age, occupation, income, education, and religion.

BSQ perceptions are significantly different in four of the six demographic variables. Age and education do not impact on BSQ perceptions.

The findings indicate demographic effects on Jordanian banking consumers’ perceived BSQ. Study limitations include demographic subgroup underrepresentation and survey structure. Future research should obtain a more representative sample for better generalisability.

The findings suggest that Jordanian banks should structure their services to best accommodate their customers’ demographics. In addition, banks can use the findings to guide the development of demographic-driven marketing to target and attract customers efficiently.

This study is the first to investigate demographic differences in the perceived service quality of Jordan’s Islamic and conventional banking customers. The findings can contribute to future research on BSQ, and guide Jordan’s banking management towards more effective marketing and service provision.

The research outlined in this paper seeks to establish whether or not there are discernible differences in the positioning attributes of Aldi and Sainsbury's. Particular emphasis is given to price positioning and to what extent this can be explained by product quality differences.

Price differences are assessed using the shopping basket technique and product quality differences are evaluated using perceptual discrimination tests conducted blind of brand. Where differences between products are discernible, product preference is identified.

The study identified discernible differences in the pricing strategies of Sainsbury's and Aldi particularly amongst the higher added value products. Although differences in product quality were evident in some product categories, there was no statistically significant preference for one brand over the other.

Owing to the resource intensive nature of perceptual discrimination tests, this research was conducted on a relatively small number of products and cannot be extrapolated to the full range of products available from either retailer, though it may indicate comparable quality.

This paper evaluates the brand description of two UK‐based retailers, Sainsbury's and Aldi. In market positioning, they are at different ends of the retailing spectrum, with Sainsbury's a high added value retailer with an ABC₁ consumer profile, and Aldi a hard discounter with a largely C₂D consumer base. However, this study is based on a retail site that has the two brands located directly opposite each other in a conspicuously AB suburb of a major UK city. This location deviates from the holistic profile of the Aldi brand and as such provides a special research site.

This article concerns a study with the purpose of identifying differences in the management of quality between manufacturing, private service and public service organisations. A questionnaire was sent to members of the Swedish Association for Quality. Some interesting differences were identified. Customer orientation is highest in the private service sector and lowest in the public service sector. The manufacturing companies’ usage of ISO 9000 is extremely high and their usage of the Swedish Quality Award is fairly low whereas the public service organisations use both these two models equally. This corresponds with the finding that ISO 9000 produces better results in the manufacturing sector whereas The Swedish Quality Award produces better results in the service sector. Generally, the indication is that quality management is most successful in the manufacturing sector and least successful in the public service sector. There is also a difference in that improvements in the manufacturing sector are more often about the processes whereas the organisations within the public service sector more often report improvements regarding personnel.

This study aims to investigate the influence of the Confucius Institute (CI) on outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) by China and its potential interaction with cultural difference and institutional quality in host countries.

In the empirical study, the gravity model is adopted as the benchmark to investigate the effects of CI on China's OFDI using the ordinary least squares or Poisson Pseudo Maximum Likelihood estimators. Panel data on China's OFDI from 2004 to 2015 are used. Cultural difference and institutional quality are included explicitly as control variables to examine the effects of CI on China's OFDI.

CI has a significant positive effect on China’s OFDI, and this effect depends on the cultural difference and institutional quality of the host country. The impact of CI on China’s OFDI is more prominent in host countries with a smaller cultural difference or lower institutional quality.

CI is a comprehensive platform for foreign cultural exchange and signifies the rebirth of Confucianism in China. The present study shows that CI can stimulate the growth of China’s OFDI, with implications for other Asian countries influenced by Confucianism. Based on the results of the study, strategies for “Going Global” and encouraging economic growth based on cultural exchange and the recognition of host country heterogeneities are proposed.

The purpose of this paper is to develop and to empirically test a model that explains how managing differences between an information technology (IT) provider and an overseas client influences partnership quality and ultimately affects the continuity of the relationship.

A field survey by distributing questionnaires to Indonesian IT providers was conducted over four months, yielding 78 completed responses. These empirical data were analyzed by the partial least squares–structural equation modeling technique to examine the measurement and structural models.

Managing differences, i.e. cultural, temporal and standards differences, has a positive impact on partnership quality through inter-firm interaction, i.e. information exchange, coordination and participation. Partnership quality, consisting of the dimensions of commitment, trust and integration, has a substantial positive impact on the continuity of the relationship.

This study was limited by the use of a limited number of samples, reducing the precision of the results.

This study suggests that if the IT provider is able to manage the cultural, temporal and standards differences with the overseas client, it increases information exchange, coordination and participation between both parties, which are necessary for establishing a high-quality partnership.

This study is the first empirical examination of how the management of differences between an IT provider and an overseas client influences the continuity of their relationship through interaction and partnership quality.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between book‐tax differences and earnings quality for commercial banks in Taiwan. The paper focuses on the banking industry because industry‐specific accrual models of accounting discretion in the loan loss provisions are available to develop powerful tests of earnings management related to book‐tax differences. In addition, the paper replicates the analysis of book‐tax differences that previous studies conducted on a heterogeneous sample of nonfinancial firms, to ascertain whether prior inferences also hold in the study's sample of banks in an emerging economy.

This paper estimates the magnitude of discretionary loan loss provisions as a proxy for earnings quality (positively correlated with earnings management; therefore, inversely correlated with earnings quality). Then, the study partitions the sample into three subsamples (large positive book‐tax differences, large negative book‐tax differences, and small book‐tax differences) to set the regression models.

This paper finds that bank‐years with large positive or negative temporary book‐tax differences have discretionary loan loss provisions that are greater than bank‐years with small temporary book‐tax differences. The paper also finds that bank‐years with large temporary book‐tax differences have one‐year‐ahead persistence of current earnings and accruals that are less than those with small temporary book‐tax differences. Additionally, the study does not find a significant relation between permanent book‐tax differences and earnings quality. Overall, the evidence is consistent with the supposition that large temporary book‐tax differences are associated with lower earnings quality.

The study contributes to the literature on book‐tax differences and earnings quality in two ways. First, the paper provides evidence to ascertain prior inferences that the association between book‐tax differences and earnings quality also hold in the banking industry, it may generalize to the banking sector in other emerging countries. Second, the study utilizes a banking‐specific accrual model to construct more powerful tests of information in book‐tax differences for earnings quality. The study has an inherent limitation arising from small sample size of the banking industry in an emerging economy. Future tax accounting researchers should develop appropriate country‐specific measures of book‐tax differences.

The study focuses on the banking industry because industry‐specific accrual models of accounting discretion in the loan loss provisions are available to develop powerful tests of earnings management related to book‐tax differences. In addition, the study replicates the analysis of book‐tax differences that previous studies conducted on a heterogeneous sample of nonfinancial firms, to ascertain whether prior inferences also hold in the sample of banks in an emerging economy.

The purpose of this study is to examine the association between auditor industry specialization and accounting quality in the European Union (EU).

This study employs a difference-in-differences design and explores audit quality from different industry specialist perspectives and different accounting standard regimes. Specifically, this study examines accounting quality among audits performed by non-industry specialists, EU member country-level industry specialists (EUM-level), EU community-level industry specialists (EUC-level), as well as joint industry specialists.

This study finds evidence of an improvement in accounting quality among audits performed by non-industry specialists post-IFRS. There is also evidence of an improvement in accounting quality among audits performed by EUC-level industry specialists post-IFRS. In addition, accounting quality among audits performed by EUM-level industry specialists seems to be greater than that of audits performed by non-industry specialists in either the pre-IFRS period or the post-IFRS period. Overall, the mandatory adoption of IFRS in the EU appears to be associated with an improvement in accounting quality among some auditor groups.

Industry specialization and accounting quality are not directly observable constructs; this study inevitably employs proxy measures for both. The findings of this study are location-specific and apply to mandatory IFRS adopters only.

This study informs regulators with respect to the importance of industry specialist auditors and financial reporting quality, particularly within the context of the EU. The findings suggest that industry specialists were a significant accounting quality determinant during the mandatory adoption of IFRS. The findings have implications for regulators in the EU and beyond.

This study is among the first to investigate the impact of auditor specialization on accounting quality in the EU, particularly in connection with the adoption of IFRS.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate user versus provider perceptions of management accounting system (MAS) services using the DeLone and McLean information system success model and the theoretical lens of social perception theory.

Quantitative survey data were collected and analyzed using ordinal regression. Qualitative interview data concerning user‐provider perceptions of MAS service information quality, importance, use, and satisfaction were utilized to corroborate and explain the data analysis.

The results suggest that there are significant perceptual differences about MAS service quality by users versus providers. For this organization, the paper identifies what these differences are, why they exist, and how organizations may identify and narrow identified gaps.

The paper is based on a case study that may not be generalizable to broader populations. It uses a cross‐sectional, correlational, self‐report survey, therefore is unable to make causal or directional inferences. Future research should assess MAS services in different organizations, industries, and cultures.

The paper is among the first to provide quantitative and qualitative evidence of perceived differences in accounting service quality, approaches to uncovering sources of differences, and steps that organizations may take to improve service quality.

This paper is the first to apply the DeLone and McLean information system success model in the context of MAS service quality. The paper examines perceptions of MAS providers and users to evaluate services and investigates perceptual differences across functions and at different organizational levels.

This study aims to describe the general picture of the competition in multichannel expert services in duopoly market and discuss how the quality difference may affects the competition between service providers with different quality levels, where both providers offer face-to-face channel and one of providers offers online channel additionally and service quality that consumers have heterogeneous preferences for is vertically differentiated. These results can be used to determine which service providers should offer online expert services and understand the competition in multichannel expert services in duopoly.

This paper uses the stylized vertical differentiation model to investigate the role of quality in expert services market, assuming that two services providers offer the same services with different quality levels and one of them having additional online services. Taking into account the differences of services from products and the particularity of online service, this paper extends the vertical differentiation model to expert services market.

The quality difference is the key factor in the competition of expert services. Service prices and the profits of providers, independent of the quality levels, are positively related to the quality difference, whereas the demand of online services is in the opposite direction regardless of which provider offers online channel. It demonstrates that provider with low-quality level should open online channel from the point of view of social welfare if it is closely related to the expert services, even though any provider can make more profits by opening online channel.

This extended vertical differentiation model, taking into account the importance of vertical differentiation in expert service, ignores the horizontal differentiation. More accurate strategies for multichannel expert services providers with what level of the quality a provider should offer is needed in future work. Moreover, this paper does not consider the different waiting costs of consumers in face-to-face channel and assumes that their problem will be solved eventually.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, no study has focused on the quality difference in multichannel expert services market or discussed how to offer online expert services in the duopoly market. This study extends the vertical differentiation model to the multichannel expert service market. Therefore, it fills this research gap and extends research to expert services market in the new network environment, aiming to help understand the competition in multichannel expert services.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the effect of the difference between the consumer's expectation and perception of service quality on post‐purchase behavior intentions, and the effect of the consumer's personality traits and the enterprise's service recovery strategy as intervening variables on post‐purchase behavior intentions of consumers.

A sampling survey is carried out among customers of the top ten banking industries in Taiwan. A convenient sampling survey is carried out among customers of the top ten banks. A total of 243 effective samples are returned.

The result shows that the smaller the difference between expectation and perception of service quality is, the more the consumers will show their loyalty in post‐purchase behavior; the bigger the difference between expectation and perception of service quality is, the more the customers will make complaints and convert to other brands. When the difference is bigger between customer expectation and perception of service quality, the personality trait of external control orientation may prevail over the personality trait of internal control orientation.

Intangible service is the core product of banks, but it is easily copied by competitors. Therefore, creation of brand image and improvement of goodwill are important for the establishment of uniqueness and distinguishability of a bank.

Service recovery is one of the major factors that influence the sequential actions of consumers. Service quality does not directly influence the sequential attitude and behavior of consumers; other intervening variables that exert direct influence exist.

This paper fulfils an identified information need and offers practical help to the service industry.