Search results

The purpose of this article is to study the construct of reputation in retail services, its dimensions and attributes from the store management perspective.

The article adapts the conceptual model developed by Vidaver‐Cohen who suggests that reputation predictors are formed by eight quality dimensions. In the first stage of the study 18 interviews were carried out. In the second stage a survey containing 170 statements was conducted.

The main contribution lies on the identification of the context specific attributes of the quality dimensions of reputation and their content in retailing.

The study focuses on identifying reputation dimensions and their attributes and contents in the retail context. The empirical data were gathered from stores located in shopping centres.

The study suggests that reputation management in the service sector might be easier if managers were better able to recognise the industry‐related quality dimensions of reputation. In addition, stores should be more prepared for unforeseen, even disastrous events and publicity that may ruin their reputation in one way or another.

Numerous researchers have recognised the critical role of reputation in marketing, but as yet empirical reputation studies are scarce, at least in retailing services.

Service‐marketing literature has traditionally built upon the combination of low technology and high interaction between service providers and customers in service delivery. However, many service organisations have started to utilise high‐tech in their operations. More specifically, they are considering how to make their services available to a wide range of customers with the aid of technology. So far, only few empirically oriented studies on this trend can be found in service literature. In this article the topic is approached on the basis of both services marketing literature and an in‐depth analysis of two case studies. The empirical evidence was gathered from two Finnish financial organisations, an insurance company and a bank, both having utilised technology in their service production and delivery. The consequences of these choices are evaluated and compared with each other. We conclude with a framework for strategic decision making, which ties together the dimensions of service type, technology and encounter. On the basis of our empirical cases, we suggest that there are numerous strategic options between the ends of each continuum of the framework, and in addition to advanced technology, service providers need to pay explicit attention to social aspects. The lesson we learned calls for more customer orientation when planning high‐tech solutions in service operations, and taking a new attitude to segmentation.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the content of consumer trust in the banking sector on the basis of the earlier literature and to compare consumer trust in banking and distinct banking services in 29 European countries in order to find out if there are deviations in consumer trust in banks at the organisational level, and at a service level, and between distinct services and between various countries.

The study employs a survey gathered in 2012 in 29 European countries containing 41,308 consumer assessments concerning banking services. The data are analysed by using SPSS-statistical software.

The study reveals deviations between various banking services and company-level results regarding consumers’ trust in their banking relationships. Consumer trust is the highest in banking accounts and the lowest in investments and pensions. The study also highlights deviations in consumer trust between European countries, and identifies countries with low, medium and high trust in banking and in distinct banking services.

The culture and well-being of a nation may affect in consumer trust in general. The data are bound to certain limitations, its formula is decided at European Commission level.

Low trust may indicate serious problems in the markets and it should be a signal to bank managers to take actions, e.g. by reducing the levels of perceived risk in high-complexity banking services, launching simpler products, present service offerings in a more customer-oriented way, applying behavioural perspectives in relationships with consumers, encourage on-going behavioural loyalty, and maintaining customer service at high priority. Low-trust consumers have to be approached with a different strategy than those with high trust.

The paper contributes to the literature on trust by defining the content of consumer trust in the banking context. The empirical results of consumer trust in banking in 29 European markets at country level and at banking service level increase knowledge of trust as experienced by consumers. They reveal that trust is a service-specific phenomenon showing that the degree of consumer trust varies depending on the service in question, and there is vast deviation between the European countries. The highest trust in all the three banking services is experienced in Malta, Finland and Luxembourg, and the lowest in Spain. Otherwise the countries show variation across the banking services. The results indicate also demographic deviations in trust.

The purpose of this article is to elucidate the concept and measurement of productivity in the service sector. The concept of service productivity is divided into quantity and quality dimensions, and further into output and input elements. Moreover, the issue of measurement is analysed to show the problems related to the elaborated concept of productivity. The content and measurement of the dimensions of service productivity are illustrated through a case study focusing on the second largest insurance group in Finland. The various elements of quantity and quality dimensions were distinguished in the target firm, but especially the quality elements seem to require more serious attention in the future. The article ends with a plea for more interdisciplinary research between scholars on service productivity.