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A key question is whether the instruments developed for consumer services can accurately gauge the service quality perceptions of organisational customers. Reports psychometric testing of the SERVQUAL as a measure of service quality in ocean freight services. Based on a survey of a cross‐sectional sample of 114 business organisations in Singapore, which regularly utilise ocean freight services for their export needs, this study found that the psychometric properties of the SERVQUAL scale are at variance with those found in consumer services settings. Further, the SERVQUAL perceptions scores were found to be a better predictor than the SERVQUAL gap scores. In sum, the service quality measures developed for consumer services can only be applied with caution in business‐to‐business marketing. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.

India has undergone dramatic change in its retail markets since economic liberalization in 1992. The authors aim to use the framework of consumer decision making styles to investigate longitudinally how these styles have changed from 1994 to 2009. They also conducted a cross-sectional analysis of the 2009 data to determine whether decision making styles are shaped by psychological variables: perceived time pressure, shopping opinion leadership, shopping self-confidence, consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence, and materialism.

The eight different consumer decision making styles were measured with instrument by Sproles and Kendall. The psychological variables were measured with established instruments with adequate reliabilities. The survey was administered to young adults. The Indian samples from 1994 and 2009 were matched allowing for comparisons.

The longitudinal analysis showed that four of the eight decision making styles changed statistically between 1994 and 2009; there were increases for brand consciousness, novelty-fashion consciousness, and impulsive-careless shopping while perfectionist-quality consciousness decreased. The cross sectional analysis of the psychological variables showed that perceived time pressure had minimal impact while shopping opinion leadership and shopping self confidence had a major impact. Materialism and consumer susceptibility to interpersonal influence had a moderate impact.

The authors used an urban sample; a rural sample would also be useful. Future research could examine other emerging markets such as Brazil and Vietnam to identify the impact of the psychological variables on decision making styles in those countries.

The study shows that decision making styles do change as an emerging economy becomes more developed. The study also shows that psychological variables can explain some of the differences in decision making styles among consumers. Retailers and marketers can use this information to be more strategic in the way they develop their planning.

Changes in decision making styles show that consumers are now more brand and fashion conscious while being more impulsive and careless in their shopping. These changes may signal that Indians are becoming more materialistic and more focused on brands and fashion which can lead to excessive buying and debt.

The paper offers a longitudinal view of changes in decision making and a cross sectional analysis of how psychological variables affect decision making styles. This study focuses on issues not presently discussed in the literature.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which young urban Nigerians in Lagos have become acculturated to global consumer culture and the impact of acculturation on consumer ethnocentrism and materialism.

A total of 165 young Nigerians living in Lagos completed a survey. The survey scales consisted of seven different dimensions of global consumer acculturation, ethnocentrism, materialism and demographics. All scales had strong reliabilities.

Nigerians were acculturated to a large degree in terms of cosmopolitan tendency, exposure to marketing activities of multinationals, English language usage, social interactions, and global mass media exposure. However, openness to emulate global consumer culture was moderate and identification with global consumer culture was very low. Acculturation affected consumer ethnocentrism and materialism to some extent.

Only one segment of consumers in Nigeria was examined. Because the original scale for global consumer acculturation lacked psychometric rigor, we revised it using psychometric purification.

Nigerians may be in a state of transition as they adapt to global consumer culture. Nigerians may have some resistance in adapting to global consumer culture given ideological, nationalistic, and socio-economic conditions. International marketers must realize that a level of “glocalization” is required attuned to the identify and national character of Nigerians. The authors discuss the paradox that Nigerians have low identification with global consumer culture despite their exposure to global forces.

No other research has used the authors’ approach. The paper provides a fresh way of looking at Nigeria as it transitions into a global market and advances our understanding the connection of global consumer culture with ethnocentrism and materialism. The research can serve as a catalyst in looking at global consumer culture in Africa and in BRIC countries.

Based on their size, disposable income, and purchasing power, generation Y (Gen Y) consumers are viewed as the Holy Grail for marketers. Conversely, some of this group's behavior disturbs public policy officials, particularly when dealing with issues such as poor financial planning, bulimia and anorexia nervosa. The key question for both marketers and policy makers is what is the best way to understand the Gen Y segment? The vanity concept is used in this study as a way to understand the Gen Y consumer segment. The purpose of this paper is to examine vanity perceptions (cross‐nationally and by gender) as well as social and business implications with vanity.

Key research expectations are proposed that are related to cross‐cultural and gender differences on vanity perceptions. A sample of approximately 125 Gen Y consumers in two eastern and two western cultures was used to find support for the research expectations. Statistical results are reported.

The results clearly show that both gender and country have an impact on vanity perceptions. Concern for both physical appearance and professional achievement are higher in eastern cultures as compared to western cultures. Both males and females are highly concerned about physical appearance and professional achievements. However, self‐assessment of physical appearance and professional achievement are significantly lower among females as compared to males.

In future studies it would be interesting to study differences among other countries and consumer groups.

The results of this study provide evidence to marketers that vanity appeals can resonate well with Gen Y especially those in China and India. For consumer protection advocates, results offer insights about the extent to which importance of vanity is likely to increase, especially in countries that embrace globalization.

So far, no study has applied the vanity scale to understand the Gen Y segment, despite the financial power of this group in purchasing both desirable and undesirable products; nor has any study examined whether vanity perceptions vary cross‐nationally, especially between economically developed western cultures and developing economies with large populations representing eastern cultures.

China is undergoing a radical change as the forces of industrialization and modernization transform its society. Money is taking on an increasingly important role, particularly among young Chinese, as the Western ideals of individualism and hedonism thrive. The goal of this research is to understand attitudes towards money in China and how these attitudes affect elements of consumer behavior such as materialism and vanity.

The paper uses a well‐accepted scale (with several dimensions) to explore attitudes towards money. Research questions examine how the dimensions of attitudes towards money affect materialism and achievement vanity. The sample comprises 127 young Chinese consumers. Statistical results based on confirmatory factor analysis as well as path analysis are reported.

The findings clearly show that attitudes towards money in China are not monolithic; instead there are variations among young Chinese. Materialism is affected by the power‐prestige and anxiety dimensions, but unaffected by the distrust dimension of money attitudes. Achievement vanity is affected by the power‐prestige dimension of money attitudes.

Future research could examine other developing countries and other generational consumer segments. Another future research topic is to develop a comprehensive model of money attitudes, materialism, vanity, compulsive buying, and their possible antecedents or moderators.

These findings offer insight into the mindset of young Chinese. Beliefs that money permits one to attain not only status and possessions, but also power and control over others are contributing to increased materialism and expressions of vanity among young Chinese. For marketers, the results imply that positioning products based on the possession of money and the use of this money to indulge hedonism may resonate well with young Chinese consumers. However, some of the relationships we found may cause concern to ethicists and consumer watchdogs because of the associated problems of compulsive buying and other problems which are prevalent in consumer societies.

So far, no study has examined whether money attitudes drive materialism and achievement vanity, especially among younger consumers in developing countries such as China.

A growing recognition of the critical differences between industrial and consumer services requires additional research emphasis on marketing of services in business‐to‐business context. Presents an application of SERVQUAL as a measure of service quality in Ocean Freight Services. Based on a cross‐section sample of 114 business organizations in Singapore, which regularly utilize ocean freight services for their export needs, the study asked shipping lines for their heaviest used export routes and provide their overall evaluation of services provided by their preferred suppliers. Respondents also evaluated various interfacing departments in the shipping line and SERVQUAL measures on various service quality dimensions. This study identifies the various strengths and weaknesses of the interfacing departments as well as in‐service quality determinants. Further, the relationships between overall line performance, service quality, as well as specific customer service interfacing departments are examined. The findings have important implications for shipping lines’ marketing strategies. Though conducted in Singapore, the study is equally applicable to other Asian environments and NICs where many of the same lines are offering freight services to the exporting organizations.

Illegal downloading of music has become an inexorable and rampant activity particularly among college students who have been little deterred by industry legal actions. The purpose of this research is to examine the present state of downloading and how ethical orientation and attitudes towards MP3 piracy impact such activities. The paper also aims to use ethical scenarios as a way of understanding the ethical reasoning in illegal downloading.

Key research questions are proposed that are related to illegal downloading. A sample of 364 university students was used to examine each research question. Statistical results are reported.

The results clearly show that downloading continues at a high rate today driven by a strong belief that it is not ethically wrong. Ethical orientation was found to be positively associated with awareness of the social cost of downloading, consequences of downloading, and ethical belief in downloading. Ethical scenarios show that ethical orientation is also associated with downloading activities and with stealing. Other results indicate that respondents believe that their peers are more prone to stealing music and downloading MP3s illegally. Fear of consequences does seem to have an impact on the propensity to download illegally.

The paper contributes to inform industry representatives that appeals to ethics or guilt are not likely to deter illegal downloading measurably. The use of punishment for downloaders may have a short‐term effect but other (more positive) measures are required.

No research has examined downloading of MP3s in the manner developed in this paper. The paper contributes to a better understanding of consumer behavior among those who download. The results provide insight into a serious problem in the recording industry that is likely to persist in the distant future unless sound measures are developed.

The tenets of relationship marketing are useful in understanding the success of a service provider. Based on a sample of 221 firms in Singapore that use ocean freight shipping services, examines service recovery issues related to satisfaction. It was found that service recovery methods such as claims handling, problem handling and complaint handling are associated with the level of satisfaction of customers. In addition, interfacing departments also have varying association with levels of satisfaction of customers. Finds that users of these services can identify problems they experience with ocean freight shipping services, and this may impact their choice of most preferred vs. least preferred shipping line. Concludes by giving recommendations on how service firms can mitigate and be vigilant for service recovery problems.

Service firms constantly look for ways to differentiate their offering. Recently, personal values have emerged as a way to understand how customers fulfill deeper needs when consuming a service. This paper aims to examine how personal values operate in the evaluation of higher education services. Like other services, marketing has become essential to higher education as universities compete aggressively for students and differentiate their service offerings. Although attribute‐based measures such as SERVQUAL provide useful information to service providers, personal values may offer a deeper understanding of how customers judge the quality and desirability of an educational institution's services. This study seeks to determine whether personal values in higher education affect perceptions of overall value, satisfaction, and behavioral outcomes including loyalty and intention to recommend.

A survey measured student personal values, service quality, satisfaction, and behavioral outcomes in the USA – the largest exporter of higher educational service, and India – the largest net importer. Data were analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis, path analysis, and t‐tests.

The results describe the impact of personal values on satisfaction and behavioral outcomes, while showing differences between India and the USA.

The paper provides implications for applying the personal values concept to the marketing of a university. It also serves as a basis for future research on the impact of personal values in other service sectors.

The study fills an important gap in the literature by showing that personal values are an important dimension in services. Service firms need to move beyond attributes and measure personal values, as these values do impact customer satisfaction and loyalty.

India has undergone dramatic changes since the economic liberalization of 1992. This study aims to provide an historical analysis to determine if consumer attitudes towards marketing practices and consumerism in India have changed measurably from 1990 to 2009.

To measure consumer attitudes towards marketing and consumerism, an established research instrument was administered with 39 Likert scaled items measuring seven dimensions. Two samples were compared: 1990 vs 2009.

The paper finds that 22 items exhibited significant differences. The mindset of Indians has evolved over the last two decades. Many of the changes were positive. However, the study does not provide a completely clean “bill of health” to the business community.

This paper used an urban sample; a rural sample would also be useful. Future research could examine other emerging economies such as Brazil, China, and Vietnam.

The Indian marketplace is operating in a much more open and uncontrolled way since liberalization. Businesses must heed some of the results of this study and continue to pursue practices that consumers see as fair and as transparent. The authors encourage the Indian business community to remain vigilant about the issues addressed in this paper.

These consumer perceptions could be used for decision making by consumer welfare advocates and public policy makers. The lack of improvements in deficient areas may represent possible problems for business in the future. Firms must be concerned about their social responsibility regarding consumerism issues.

The paper offers a longitudinal view of India's consumerism movement. No other research has examined one of the BRICs in this context as this paper has done. Since India is now in the limelight, this research has contemporary value. The paper also provides a very good commentary on the changes in India's consumer markets. The paper has value to marketing managers and public policy advocates.