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This study aims to evaluate the influence of factors attributed to relationship attractiveness between supplier and customer, from the supplier’s perspective.

The empirical exercise was based on the use of multivariate data analysis with confirmatory factor analysis and a partial least squares approach to structural equation modeling.

The study resulted in a robust model, with a high explanatory factor for the latent variable relational attractiveness and commitment was the most influential factor, followed by expected value and interorganizational trust.

Some limitations of the study can be highlighted: conducting research in a single cooperative and with a single audience; choosing a short-cycle supply chain, which may make it difficult to generalize to other industries; the cross-section nature of data also hinders the analysis to understand how the association between variables of interest may vary over time.

The negative influence of interpersonal trust reinforces the importance of developing collaborative attitudes between parties, whereas the non-significant value for dependence (financial and volume dependence) shows this is not a risk factor for relational attractiveness in a supply chain. Such results provide evidence on how to develop relationship management between suppliers and customers that are part of the same supply chain.

It offers a new perspective for research in cooperatives, which still have no consensus on the motivating factors for members’ participation, including as evidence the results of the largest flower producing center in Latin America. The more a cooperative succeeds in increasing relational attractiveness, the greater the cooperative power and the ability to adapt to shocks and changes, which are fundamental factors for the success and longevity of the cooperative.

The research presents a model that is comprehensive enough to fit in different contexts and consider its specific characteristics. Additionally, this paper has added in-depth information on the relational attractiveness relationships in the context of a developing country.

Managing attractiveness is a constant challenge to mobilize relationship-specific investments, especially in a business environment increasingly enhanced by social media (SM) activities. There is limited knowledge on how SM activities contribute to supplier attractiveness, so decisions about strategizing with SM and consequent resource allocations become highly uncertain. The purpose of this paper is to examine how suppliers’ SM activities influence supplier attractiveness.

Altogether, 57 senior managers were interviewed: 32 semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with senior managers in strategic decision-making roles regarding SM on the supplier side, along with 20 senior managers responsible for purchasing or looking after supplier development; one-to-one interviews were complemented by a focus group with 5 senior managers on the buyer side.

The study reveals an inverse U-shaped relationship between the intensity of the supplier’s SM activity and its attractiveness and offers a set of propositions about the influence of SM on supplier attractiveness, with special regard to the perceived risks of increased transparency and becoming “too social” on SM.

The study highlights SM management results for supplier attractiveness and their impact areas on business growth and supply chain development.

This paper provides in-depth insights into the role of SM in managing supplier attractiveness. Various effects of SM activities are identified that aim to contribute to the body of literature on supplier attractiveness as well as SM management in buyer–supplier relationships.

The purpose of this paper is to examine whether switching barriers in the retail banking industry affect different age groups differently.

Questionnaires were administered to 188 bank customers of different age groups, measuring their perception of variables related to relational benefits, switching costs, availability and attractiveness of alternatives, service recovery and retention.

Results from independent two‐sample t‐tests and logistic regression support all five hypotheses, confirming that young and older bank customers differ significantly in their perception of switching barriers: relational benefits, switching costs, availability and attractiveness of alternatives, service recovery and the duration of time they intend to end their relationship with their banks.

This study was conducted among employees of two higher education institutions. Thus, further research needs to test the research results in a diverse population.

Since younger customers are more likely to change their banks easily, if retail banks want to retain younger customers they need to offer more meaningful incentives to younger customers than they offer to older customers. In terms of practice the findings in this research highlight the need for managers to design different switching barrier packages for each customer age group.

Researchers in the past have found a close association between customer age and bank product usage and have shown that switching barriers play an important role in binding the customer to the service organization. However this research not only validates the switching barrier variables that affect different age groups differently but also elevates the role of age in banks switching barrier design.

In industrial procurement, the concept of supplier satisfaction has gained increasing attention. Satisfied suppliers have been found to provide better prices, more innovations and priority in bottleneck situations. This paper aims to analyses in how far the concept of supplier satisfaction can be transferred to the public procurement domain.

Two large quantitative data sets are compared, one from a sample of suppliers evaluating their industrial clients, the other from a public customer being evaluated by its suppliers.

The same criteria which explain supplier satisfaction with its customer, which are relevant in the private and industrial case also hold true for the public case, namely, growth opportunity, profitability, relational behaviour and operative excellence are important criteria for distinction. Only relational behaviour by the customer scored significantly higher in the public sample, indicating that this is more an influencing factor for public organisations.

Showing the relevance of supplier satisfaction also for the public domain paves the way to further research better understanding how to measure satisfaction and how to increase suppliers’ satisfaction.

Buying organisations are asked to apply a form of “upstream marketing”, in which they actively try to promote their organisation with their suppliers and increase its attractiveness. This is a new way to get access to better services from suppliers.

Analysing supplier satisfaction, on the one hand, allows to improve public purchasing acts, which generate social benefits in better using public money. On the other hand, caring for the well-being of suppliers is per se contributing to a socially more desirable world.

Supplier satisfaction is a new concept in the public procurement domain. This is the first paper to introduce this approach.

This study aims to provide empirical evidence on the link between intellectual capital and a firm's ability to attract funding and financing in Italian companies.

Data from 125 Italian companies was collected through an online survey and analysed using structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

Results show that structural capital has a positive, direct impact on both human and relational capital. At the same time, relational capital is the only intellectual capital component that has a positive, direct impact on a firm's ability to attract funding and financing. Finally, we found that a firm's ability to attract funding and financing impacts both innovation and financial performance.

This novel study is among the first to provide empirical evidence of how human, relational and structural capital interact with each other and enhance a firm's ability to attract funding and financing.

The existing literature dealing with attractiveness during a service encounter focuses on employee attractiveness and its consequences. This paper aims to consider the other side of the coin by focusing on customers’ attractiveness.

On the basis of two studies, this paper presents and tests a model explaining the specific role that employee social attraction plays in customer service perception and satisfaction judgment.

It suggests that the appraisal of customers’ physical attractiveness and homophily may lead to situations in which employees are socially attracted to customers, thus influencing customer service perception.

Consequently, this research provides insights into the role of attraction determinants in a service context. In addition, it demonstrates how employees’ social attraction is triggered in a service context. The findings contribute to satisfaction research by extending prior research perceptions on dyadic service encounters and examining both employee attitude and customer perceptions in service interactions.

To the extent that customer relationships with service providers provide value to service firms suggests that these relationships can be viewed as social capital. This paper seeks to use social capital as a theoretical framework to examine the effect of these relationships on customer loyalty.

Data were collected using an online survey of 342 adult consumers of services.

Results of structural equation modeling analyses indicate that social capital variables explain unique variance in customer responses. The effect of each of the three forms of social capital – structural, cognitive, and relational – are contingent on whether the service is personal (e.g. hairstylist, medical services) or non‐personal (e.g. mechanic, banker).

This research suggests that customer relationships can be viewed as social capital and that the form and content of such relationships are important in terms of influencing customer loyalty.

Managers can build “social capital” by focusing on its three forms – structural, cognitive, and relational social capital. The paper provides prescriptions for such relationship building activities. Such social capital translates into firm value/profits through customer loyalty.

This study uses a theoretical framework from research in social capital to help explain the value of customer relationships with individual service providers to the firm. The idea of social capital is compelling to service managers since it implies that investments in relationship building tactics have real results for firm profitability.

Many organizations have moved to adopt high performance work designs in an effort to enhance organizational flexibility while increasing efficiency, output, and product quality. As a result, the use of voluntary organization-sponsored teams such as task forces, project teams and quality improvement teams has become increasingly common. Relatively little research, however, has examined the process through which the membership of such groups is assembled. Even less is understood about the factors that encourage greater employee participation in these types of teams. Relying on social exchange theory, social identity theory, and the diversity literature, we explore the group creation process from the individual as perspective. Specifically, we explore the factors that motivate an individual to join a particular team. Propositions relating the influence of group and relational attributes to member-initiated team selection are then developed that further expand our understanding of the effects of group attractiveness, social categorization, relational demography and network processes on group creation. In closing, we discuss the implications of our model for managers and suggest some directions for future research.

Although various booking platforms have been contributing to the dramatic growth of hotel industry, little research has been conducted to understand consumer psychological processes and behaviors in online hotel booking. To fill this gap, the current study examines the effect of switching barriers (switching cost and alternative attractiveness) on consumers' decision postponement and repurchase intention. Additionally, the moderating effect of time pressure in different phases of booking decision is investigated.

A total of 352 samples was collected through an online platform. Data analysis was conducted via Amos 23 (structural equation modeling) and SPSS 24 (descriptive analysis and PROCESS macro).

Results show that switching cost and alternative attractiveness are two significant drivers of decision postponement and repurchase intention. Meanwhile, time pressure only has a significant moderating effect on the relationship between switching cost and decision postponement.

The findings of this research reveal that hotel operations need to implement strategies to prevent customers' delayed booking decisions and overcome the influence of time pressure on customer decision-making.

These findings stress the importance of consumer perceptions of switching barriers and time span when making hotel reservations online. Hotel practitioners are encouraged to provide multiple human–computer interaction applications to attract novice consumers and increase their familiarity with booking process.

The purpose of this paper is to report on a study which aims to identify the characteristics and determinants of client sophistication within the UK corporate legal services market and to investigate its effect in determining the nature and essence of client‐solicitor relationships.

The paper uses in‐depth interviews of a range of individuals involved in the selection and evaluation of legal services used by their organisations and practice lawyers working for a variety of regional and national law firms involved in the delivery of legal advice related to corporate and commercial issues.

Findings suggest the level of client sophistication has a moderating influence in a number of key areas. These are identified as: service evaluation criteria; interdependency and power; the atmosphere in which solicitor‐client interactions take place and relationships develop; the nature of joint personal relational goals and the role of trust and extent of commitment.

The paper enriches the limited literature on business‐to‐business credence services and develops a deeper understanding of the nature of relationships within such contexts.