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Rapport between service employees and customers has been suggested to be an important determinant of customer relationship management, yet existing marketing literature still lacks a sufficient understanding of how service employees’ nonverbal communication affects customer-employee rapport development in service encounters. The purpose of this paper is to fill this research gap by proposing and testing a model that explores how service employees’ nonverbal communication (employee affective delivery and behavioral mimicry) influences customer positive emotions and customer-employee rapport. The mediating role of customer positive emotions and the moderating role of store atmosphere in the process of customer-employee rapport development were also assessed.

Using an observational methodology in conjunction with a customer survey, multi-source survey data collected from 303 customer-employee pairs in the apparel retailing industry was examined through structural equation modeling and regression analysis.

Results showed that employee nonverbal communication positively influenced customer positive emotions and customer-employee rapport. The partial mediating role of customer positive emotions and the moderating role of store atmosphere in the process of rapport development were also confirmed.

Service firms should train and motivate employees to use nonverbal communication to develop and strengthen customer-employee rapport. The importance of customer positive emotions in the service process should be addressed in the customer-employee rapport development process. Moreover, service managers should also allocate firm resources to create a well-designed store atmosphere for target customers.

This research represents one of the earliest studies to explore and empirically test the influence of employee nonverbal communication on customer-employee rapport development in service encounters. The partial mediating role of customer positive emotions and the moderating role of store atmosphere on the relationship between employee nonverbal communication and customer-employee rapport were also proposed and confirmed.

Recognising that different property sectors have distinct risk-return characteristics, this paper assesses whether changes in the level and volatility of short- and long-term interest rates differentially affected excess returns of sector-specific Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) in the Pacific Rim region between July 2006 and December 2018. The strategic property risk management implications for sector-specific REITs are also identified.

Daily excess returns between July 2006 and December 2018 are used to analyse the sensitivity in the level and volatility of interest rates for REITs among office, retail, industrial, residential and specialty REITs across the USA, Japan, Australia and Singapore. The generalised autoregressive conditionally heteroskedastic in the mean (GARCH-M) methodology is employed to assess the linkage between interest rates and excess returns of sector-specific REITs.

Compared with diversified REITs, sector-specific REITs were less sensitive to short- and long-term interest rate changes across the USA, Japan, Australia and Singapore between July 2006 and December 2018. Of sector-specific REITs, retail and residential REITs were susceptible to interest rate movements over the full study period. On the other hand, office and specialty REITs were generally less sensitive to changes in the level and volatility of short- and long-term interest rate series across all markets in the Pacific Rim region. However, the interest rate sensitivity of industrial REITs was somewhat mixed. This sector was sensitive to interest rate movements, but no comparable evidence was found since the onset of GFC.

The insignificant exposure to interest rate risk of sector-specific REITs may imply that they have a stronger interest rate risk aversion and greater hedging benefits than their diversified counterparts, particularly for office and specialty REITs. The results support the existence of REIT specialisation value in the Pacific Rim region from the interest rate risk management perspective. This is particularly valuable to international property investors constructing and managing portfolios with REITs in the region. Property investors are advised to be aware of the disparities in the magnitude and direction of sensitivity to the interest rate level and volatility of REITs across different property sectors and various markets in the Pacific Rim region. This study is expected to enhance property investors' understanding of interest rate risk management for different property types of REITs in local, regional and international investment portfolios.

The study is the first to assess the interest rate sensitivity of REITs across different property sectors and various markets in the Pacific Rim region. More importantly, this is the first paper to offer empirical evidence on the existence of specialisation value in the Pacific Rim REIT markets from the aspect of interest rate sensitivity. This research may enhance property investors' understanding of the varying interest rate sensitivity of different property types of REITs across the USA, Japan, Australia and Singapore.

As significant listed property investment vehicles, industrial and logistics REITs (I&L REITs) have recently enhanced their property portfolios, often replacing the traditional industrial properties with logistic properties to gain strategic exposure to recent e-commerce trends. This paper aims to assess the investment performance of I&L REITs by assessing the significance, risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification benefits of I&L REITs in the Pacific Rim region from July 2011 to December 2018. The strategic property investment implications for I&L REITs are also identified.

Monthly total returns from July 2011 to December 2018 were used to analyse the risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification benefits for I&L REITs in the United States, Japan, Australia and Singapore. An asset allocation diagram was employed to assess the strategic role of I&L REITs in a mixed-asset portfolio in each case.

I&L REITs generally possessed superior average annual returns compared with the other sub-sector REITs, stocks and bonds in the United States, Japan, Australia and Singapore between July 2011 and December 2018, with desirable portfolio diversification benefits. Importantly, a more significant role for I&L REITs was generally observed in the mixed-asset portfolio compared to the other sub-sector REITs in each of these four markets across the broad portfolio risk spectrum. This reflects I&L REITs delivering enhanced portfolio returns and offering portfolio diversification benefits in a mixed-asset portfolio in the United States, Japan, Australia and Singapore.

Property investors, particularly property securities funds (PSFs) and income-oriented investors, should consider including I&L REITs in their mixed-asset portfolios, as Pacific Rim–based I&L REITs provided an attractive REIT investment sub-sector, co-existing alongside the other sub-sector REITs and major asset classes in a mixed-asset portfolio in a Pacific Rim context, as well as being a portfolio diversifier. These results confirm the added-value and strategic role of I&L REITs in a mixed-asset portfolio, seeing I&L REITs as an effective investment pathway for I&L property exposure in the Pacific Rim region.

This is the first study to assess the investment performance of I&L REITs in the Pacific Rim region, evaluating their significance, risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification benefits, and the role of I&L REITs in a mixed-asset portfolio in the United States, Japan, Australia and Singapore. More importantly, this research is the first paper to provide empirical evidence on I&L REITs, which have often transformed their traditional industrial property portfolios with increased levels of logistics property to gain exposure to recent e-commerce trends. This research enables more informed and practical property investment decision-making regarding I&L REITs and their added-value and strategic role in a mixed-asset portfolio, as well as delivering effective I&L property exposure in the Pacific Rim region, with the added benefits of liquidity, transparency and fiscal efficiency.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the ethical investment willingness decision-making process to understand how investors evaluate corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions.

Data were collected through a survey of 298 individual investors and analyzed using structural equation modeling.

Results reveal that perfectionist decision-making style is positively related to perceived moral intensity, substitutability of financial returns, and ethical investment willingness. In addition, perceived moral intensity and substitutability of financial returns are positively related to ethical investment willingness. Finally, perceived moral intensity is positively related to substitutability of financial returns, and a two-factor causal mediation model is supported.

The limitation of this study was that the pre-tests and sampling methods required all participants to have investing experience; however, procurement of trading information for each investor was impossible; thus, actual investment behaviors were undetermined. This study shed light on the mediating roles of perceived moral intensity and the substitutability of financial returns. Future studies can further investigate the factors influencing perceived moral intensity and the substitutability of financial returns.

Future ethical investment education can focus on cultivate the ability to distinguish ethical investments and change ethical investment willingness into actual investment behavior.

Understanding the relationship between these variables can help understand why ethical investment willingness varies among investors and how the traditional financial theory investment decision model should be revised as, internationally, more people have begun to observe CSR and sustainable development.

Social networking sites (SNSs) have significantly influenced people's lives and changed their behavior. Although previous research has explored self-disclosure in virtual communities, little is known about the impact of other users, particularly their online social support, on self-disclosure. The aim of this study is to explore how online social support dimensions (i.e., emotional, informational, esteem, instrumental and network support) influence people's self-disclosure, which in turn affects their commitment to SNSs.

Based on social exchange theory, this study proposes a research model that explores the role of other users on self-disclosure. This study collects data from a sample of 558 respondents and applies the structural equation modeling technique to test the research model.

The findings show that users are motivated to disclose information and commit to a specific SNS because of the supportive climate. Results also show that self-disclosure mediates the effect of online social support on users' commitment to SNSs.

This study focuses on the influence of other users' roles on self-disclosure on SNSs, extending the application of social exchange theory.

The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive view of the longitudinal status and the knowledge structure of the CSR research by identifying the major study topics, the development of CSR research, the leading authors and countries, as well as the most cited reference.

The authors systematically reviewed 14,490 articles in 15 journals specialized in CSR published between 2000 and 2016 with bibliographic coupling analysis and social network analysis to unveil the recent trend of CSR research.

The results identified 15 research topics in CSR research. This study accordingly suggests that CSR implication is the most popular topic in the CSR research field. Particularly, the publications regarding to “CSR Implication” increased with a dramatic trend. Furthermore, the rest of the 14 topics had a stagnant trend movement. Most of the leading authors of CSR research came from English-speaking countries. CSR investigations with varied topics simultaneously attracted the attentions of researchers from developed counties. On the other hand, researchers from developing countries simply focused limited issue.

This study proposes an automatic content analysis from scientometric perspective to reveal a comprehensive and longitudinal understanding of CSR research. Such examination on CSR studies is critical to afford researchers’ urgent need to grasp current research status and potential research space.

Residential Real Estate Investment Trusts in Japan (residential J-REITs) have become an increasingly significant listed property sector recently. The purpose of this paper is to assess the effectiveness of residential J-REITs in a mixed-asset portfolio context in Japan by assessing the significance, risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification benefits of residential J-REITs over July 2006–August 2018. The ongoing property investment implications for residential J-REITs are also identified.

Using monthly total returns, the risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification benefits for residential J-REITs over July 2006–August 2018 are assessed. An asset allocation diagram is employed to assess the role of residential J-REITs in a mixed-asset portfolio context in Japan.

Residential J-REITs generally delivered superior risk-adjusted returns compared with the other sub-sector J-REITs, stocks and bonds in Japan over July 2006–August 2018, with desirable portfolio diversification benefits in the full mixed-asset portfolio context. Importantly,residential J-REITs are observed as strongly contributing to the mixed-asset portfolio context in Japan across the portfolio risk spectrum, particularly in a post-GFC context. This also reflects that residential J-REITs provide high portfolio returns and strong portfolio diversification benefits in a mixed-asset portfolio context in Japan.

Residential J-REITs are effective and liquid residential property investment exposure in Japan. The results highlight the strong risk-adjusted performance of residential J-REITs in Japan’s mixed-asset portfolio context. This suggests institutional investors, particularly Japan institutional investors, should consider including residential J-REITs in their mixed-asset portfolios, as residential J-REITs are seen as a compelling investment product co-existing alongside the other sub-sector REITs and major asset classes in institutional investor portfolios in the context of Japan. This also confirms the effectiveness of institutionalised residential J-REITs. Given the solid residential property market fundamentals in Japan, an increased level of the institutionalisation of residential J-REITs can be expected.

The study is the first study to assess the effectiveness of residential J-REITs, via assessing the significance, risk-adjusted performance and portfolio diversification benefits of residential J-REITs and their role in a mixed-asset portfolio context in Japan. This research enables more informed and practical property investment decision making regarding the value-added and strategic role of residential J-REITs as effective and liquid residential property investment exposure in Japan, as well as an increasingly institutionalised property sector going forward.

Demand for long-term care services increases with population aging. This study aims to develop a conceptual model of elderly customers’ health-care experiences to explore the antecedents, mechanisms and outcomes of social participation in long-term care service organizations.

Using a two-phase data collection approach, this study collects data from 238 elderly customers in a long-term care service organization. The final data are analyzed through structural equation modeling.

The results show that care management efforts (i.e. customer education, perceived organization support, role modeling, perceived other customer support and diversity of activity) influence elderly customers’ psychological states (i.e. self-efficacy and sense of community), leading to increased social participation. In addition, high levels of social participation evoke positive service satisfaction and quality of life, both of which alleviate switching intention.

This study is one of the first conclusive service studies focused on the role of elderly customers’ social participation in their long-term care experience. The findings contribute to health-care service marketing and transformative service research, and expand understanding of elderly customers’ health-care experience, especially in long-term care service settings.

Despite double deviation being an acknowledged phenomenon in services marketing, less research has been devoted to the evaluation of the underlying relationships between cognitive appraisals, customer forgiveness and postrecovery actions following a double deviation. Therefore, this study aims to develop and empirically test a conceptual model to determine the role of customer forgiveness and its boundary conditions in double-deviation scenarios based on the stress and coping theory.

This study aggregated 290 survey data by adopting the retrospective experience sampling method and examined the proposed model using structural equation modeling and bootstrapping analysis.

The results confirm that customer forgiveness mediates the link between service recovery dissatisfaction and postrecovery customer complaints (i.e. online and third-party complaints). Additionally, attribution-based factors (i.e. stability and controllability attributions) positively moderated the service recovery dissatisfaction–customer forgiveness relationship. Finally, these findings exhibit that relationship-based factors (i.e. relationship duration and affective commitment) had negative moderating effects on the service recovery dissatisfaction–customer forgiveness link.

Without ensuring customer forgiveness, customers who experience failure twice in a row may act more aggressively to damage service firms. Yet, knowledge of customer forgiveness in a double-deviation scenario is still lacking. The results make twofold contributions to the service recovery literature. First, this study emphasizes customer forgiveness as an integral coping response that has a mediating role in the relationship between service recovery dissatisfaction and postrecovery customer complaints. Second, this study shed insights into boundary conditions of customer forgiveness by identifying attribution- and relationship-based factors as moderators.

The definition of cycle time is the time from the wafer start to the wafer output. It usually takes one or two months to get the product since customer decides to produce it. The cycle time is a critical factor for customer satisfaction because it represents the response time to the market. Long cycle time reflects the ineffective investment for the capital. The cycle time is very important for foundry because long cycle time will cause customer unsatisfied and the order loss. Consequently, all of the foundries put lots of human source in the cycle time improvement. Usually, we make decisions based on the experience in the cycle time management. We have no mechanism or theory for cycle time management. We do work‐in‐process (WIP) management based on turn rate and standard WIP (STD WIP) set by experiences. But the experience didn’t mean the optimal solution, when the situation changed, the cycle time or the standard WIP will also be changed. The experience will not always be applicable. If we only have the experience and no mechanism, management will not be work out. After interview several foundry fab managers, all of the fab can’t reflect the situation. That is, all of them will have an impact period after product mix or utilization varied. In this study, we want to develop a formula for standard WIP and use statistical process control (SPC) concept to set WIP upper/lower limit level. When WIP exceed the limit level, it will trigger action plans to compensate WIP Profile. If WIP Profile balances, we don’t need too much WIP. So WIP level could be reduced and cycle time also could be reduced.