Brand equity and customer behavioral intentions: a mediated moderated model

2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 19-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meena Rambocas ◽  
Vishnu M. Kirpalani ◽  
Errol Simms

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between brand equity and customer behavioral intentions to repeat purchases, willingness to pay a price premium, switch and provide positive word of mouth. It further explores the mediating role of customer satisfaction and the moderating impact of customer age, education and gender on these relationships. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from 283 banking customers and analyzed with structural equation modeling. Findings The results supported a strong relationship between brand equity and all four measures of behavioral intent with customer satisfaction partially mediating these relationships. In addition, the results supported the moderating effect of customer age and education on the customer satisfaction-switch relationship. Practical implications The study provides a useful perspective on the impact of brand building investments on consumers’ behavioral intentions, which bank managers can use to monitor and evaluate the outcome of branding initiatives and relationship management strategies. Originality/value The study provides a nuanced understanding of the effect of brand equity on consumer behavioral intentions. It also explains the mediating and moderating effects of customer satisfaction and demographical characteristics.

2021 ◽  
Vol 55 (13) ◽  
pp. 94-121
Author(s):  
Magnus Söderlund ◽  
Eeva-Liisa Oikarinen

Purpose Firms have begun to introduce virtual agents (VAs) in service encounters, both in online and offline environments. Such VAs typically resemble human frontline employees in several ways (e.g. the VAs may have a gender and a name), which indicates the presence of an assumption by VA designers – and by firms that employ them – that VA humanness is a positively charged characteristic. This study aims to address this assumption by examining antecedents to perceived humanness in terms of attribution of agency, emotionality and morality, and the impact of perceived humanness on customer satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach A questionnaire was distributed online to participants who had been interacting with existing VAs, and they were asked to focus on one of them for this study. The questionnaire comprised measures of antecedents to perceived humanness of VAs, perceived humanness per se and customer satisfaction. A structural equation modeling approach was used to assess associations between the variables. Findings Attributions of agency, emotionality and morality to VAs contributed positively to the perceived humanness of the VAs, and perceived humanness was positively associated with customer satisfaction. Research limitations/implications Additional humanness capabilities should be explored in further research. Practical implications Firms using VAs in service encounters should make attempts to maximize perceived VA humanness, and this study shows that it may be beneficial if such attempts comprise signals that VAs have agency, emotionality and morality. Originality/value By examining VAs in terms of a set of fundamental human capabilities, the present study contributes to existing research on human–VA service encounters, which to date has focused on more superficial VA characteristics (such as if the VA has a face and gender).


2019 ◽  
Vol 69 (9) ◽  
pp. 1903-1924
Author(s):  
N. Gökhan Torlak ◽  
Ahmet Demir ◽  
Taylan Budur

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships of capacity/layout (CL), design (D), location, (L), hygiene (H), human resource management (HRM), food quality (FQ) and ambiance (A) in operations management strategies (OMS) and the direct and indirect effects of OMS on customer satisfaction (CS) and customer behavioral intentions (CBIs) that might affect income and, therefore, be influential regarding café-restaurants in Sulaimania in Iraq. Design/methodology/approach Data are collected through a survey questionnaire using a simple random sampling methodology from 254 customers of 46 casual café-restaurants. Methodology includes demographic analysis, factor analysis, structural equation modeling and mediation analysis. Findings Concerning relationships between structural and infrastructural elements of OMS, only CL and H influence HRM, D and H affect A, and H influences FQ. Regarding relationships between OMS and CS and CBIs, only L, HRM, FQ and A affect CS. Concerning the relationship between CS and CBIs, CS influences CBIs. Finally, given indirect effects of OMS on CS and CBIs, HRM mediates relationships between CL-CS and H-CS; FQ and A mediate relationships between H-CS; and CS mediates relationships between L-CBIs, FQ-CBIs and HRM-CBIs. Research limitations/implications The study that treats seven variables in OMS is limited to Sulaimania in Iraq. Thus, the findings cannot be generalized. The study might guide future studies about the way OMS elements forge CS and CBIs in café-restaurants where owners/managers develop credible strategic plans. Originality/value The study provides a unique insight into the hospitality industry in Iraq where studies among elements of OMS are few and far between.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Durgesh Agnihotri ◽  
Kushagra Kulshreshtha ◽  
Vikas Tripathi ◽  
Pallavi Chaturvedi

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to conceptualize and analyze a framework that provides greater understanding toward the impact of service recovery antecedents such as role clarity, customer service orientation, employee empowerment and employee relational behavior on customer satisfaction and customer delight in the context of quick-service restaurants (QSRs).Design/methodology/approachA self-administered questionnaire was distributed to 408 participants who had experienced service recovery efforts by leading QSRs on social media. The current paper draws upon the prevailing literature to test a series of research hypotheses through structural equation modeling.FindingsThe findings of the study have confirmed that antecedents of service recovery are good to describe customer satisfaction and customer delight in the setting of QSRs. Besides, the study provides an understanding on how monetary compensation moderates the relationship between customer delight and customer satisfaction.Practical implicationsThis study carries an understanding on how frontline employees must operate in a non-conventional and innovative way to resolve customers' issues and show commitment with truthfulness to provide excellent services to make customers feel delightful.Originality/valueThis is a unique study to understand the role of service recovery antecedents to describe customer satisfaction and customer delight in the social media environment. In addition, the results support the possibilities of implementing prompt service recovery efforts using social media.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kyuho Lee ◽  
Stella Kladou ◽  
Ahmet Usakli ◽  
Yunxia Shi

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to explore the impact of service quality on the formation of destination brand equity through customer satisfaction at a winery, from the perspective of Chinese wine tourists.Design/methodology/approachThis study utilized a survey research design. A convenience sample of 311 visitors to a major winery located in Yantai, China, was surveyed, and 265 useable questionnaires were analyzed. To analyze the data, the study used partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsThe results of the study reveal that service quality at a winery is a significant determinant of winery satisfaction among Chinese wine tourists, which in turn affects the brand equity of a wine tourism destination.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to the growing body of literature focusing on identity-based branding in the context of wine tourism. As such, this study brings together knowledge of a place branding dimension (i.e. destination brand equity), satisfaction and tourism experience at a winery.Practical implicationsThe results suggest that the road to favorable assessments of a wine destination brand (macro level) go through a satisfying experience at a winery (micro level). Therefore, the need to co-create the wine experience through various stakeholders' involvement is crucial for the success of wine tourism.Originality/valueExtant wine studies often highlight western wine tourists' behavior and examine central behavioral constructs such as winery service quality and satisfaction. This study extends previous research by: (1) investigating the issue from Chinese wine tourists' perspective and (2) integrating the destination brand equity of a wine region to current investigations that commonly focus on the service quality of a winery and wine tourists' satisfaction.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Gustavo Quiroga Souki ◽  
Flavia Braga Chinelato ◽  
Cid Gonçalves Filho

PurposeThe study aims to ascertain the impacts of entertainment, social and functional values on the likelihood of sharing commercial videos online and verify whether consumers' likelihood to share videos impacts brand attachment and brand equity.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted with 368 university students who watched videos of five companies on YouTube Brazil. The electronic form had 24 questions covering the constructs entertainment value, social value, functional value, likelihood to share, brand attachment and brand equity. The structural equation modeling (SEM) tested the survey´s hypothetical model.FindingsThe entertainment value and the social value had positive impacts on the likelihood to share commercial videos online. Moreover, the likelihood to share videos positively impacted brand attachment and brand equity. Finally, brand attachment had a positive effect on brand equity.Practical implicationsEntertainment and social values affect the likelihood to share commercial videos, stimulating consumer engagement with brands through interactive marketing on SNSs. Therefore, companies should produce fun videos that add social value to consumers to go viral, positively influencing brands. Finally, another contribution is the impact of video sharing on brand attachment. Previous studies have contemplated only the opposite relationship between these constructs.Originality/valueThis research adds value to interactive marketing by investigating consumers' behaviors, their interactivity in social networking sites (SNSs) and the impacts on brands. It is the only study that simultaneously contemplates the effects of entertainment, social and functional values on the likelihood to share commercial videos online and demonstrates its impact on brand attachment and brand equity.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-241 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyunjoo Oh ◽  
Paulo Henrique Muller Prado ◽  
Jose Carlos Korelo ◽  
Francielle Frizzo

Purpose This paper aims to explore the impact of brand authenticity on forming self-reinforcing assets (enticing-the-self, enriching-the-self and enabling-the-self), which subsequently influence the brand-self connectedness and consumers’ behavioral intentions. Design/methodology/approach The authors surveyed 347 consumers in the USA and Brazil and used structural equation modeling to test the relationship among brand authenticity, self-reinforcing assets, brand-self connectedness and behavioral intentions. Findings Brand authenticity was found to influence the self-reinforcing assets. In turn, the self-reinforcing assets promoted closeness toward the brand, thereby increasing the behavioral intentions of consumers to buy a product, visit a store/website in the future and recommend the brand to other people. Practical implications Marketing practitioners can use these results to promote better brand positioning by considering brand authenticity as a key factor in how consumers cognitively assess brands. Originality/value This paper shows that brand authenticity is a key antecedent of consumer–brand self-reinforcing assets.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Irfan Hameed ◽  
Hamid Hussain ◽  
Kamran Khan

PurposeConsumer's environmental awareness and friendliness have been growing, and consumers are increasingly concerned about the impact of hotel operations on the environment. This study evaluated the effect of green practices on the customer's green word-of-mouth (GWOM) intention for hotels with environment-friendly operations.Design/methodology/approachThe data have been collected from tourists by using the judgmental sampling technique, and a usable sample size of 257 respondents has been achieved. The data analysis has been performed using partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).FindingsThere is a strong relationship between green practices adopted by hotels and the green image of hotels. This study also found that the green image of a hotel positively impacts consumer green satisfaction and green trust, and these two variables have significant influence over the GWOM.Practical implicationsThe study can be helpful in the promotion of environmentally sustainable consumer behavior in response to a stimulus being generated by the marketers and policymakers.Social implicationsThis study will further help society to share and discuss favorable information about environmental sustainability through GWOM.Originality/valueThe study investigated the effect of green hotels on GWOM approximately after one year of the COVID-19 outbreak. Hence, the results can ascertain to be the basis of the new policies of the hotels in post-COVID world.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matti Haverila ◽  
Kai Christian Haverila

PurposeOn the basis of the justice, attachment, social support, self-determination theories, this research paper examines the impact of the student–instructor relationship construct on the customer-centric measures of overall student satisfaction, and perceived value for money and their impact of the behavioral intentions as an endogenous construct. We considered universities as providers of complex services focusing on students' service quality and students as the customers of the higher education institutions.Design/methodology/approachA survey instrument was used to collect data among undergraduate and graduate business students in a medium-sized Canadian university (N = 178). Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to analyze the strength, significance, and effect sizes of the relationships between the key constructs.FindingsThe results indicate that the student–instructor relationship is significantly related to student satisfaction and value for money perceptions. Also, the student satisfaction and behavioral intentions, value for money and student satisfaction, and value for money and behavioral intentions relationship were significant.Originality/valueThe perceived quality of student–instructor relationship and its relationship to customer-centric measures like satisfaction, value for money and behavioral intentions has received relatively little attention in previous research and was discovered to be an important contributor to the perceived student satisfaction and value for money. The importance of the student–instructor relationship is further emphasized indirectly via the perceived value for money construct to student satisfaction.


2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-195 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marilyn Giroux ◽  
Frank Pons ◽  
Lionel Maltese

Purpose In the highly saturated sports industry where sport teams represent a complex offering loaded with intangible and tangible attributes, it is important to implement appropriate marketing strategies that will ultimately contribute to the development of strong brand equity. In this paper, the authors focused on the relationship between brand variables and marketing activities on the development of brand equity. More specifically, the purpose of this paper is to study the impact of brand personality on the evaluation of marketing promotional activities and the impact on the brand equity. Design/methodology/approach Respondents (2,400) were recruited through an online survey and data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Findings The survey revealed that the congruence between the brand personality and the promotional activities has a positive impact on its evaluation and on brand equity. In addition, the results showed that consumers who consider the financial strength of the team as an important factor evaluate more positively the value of congruent and incongruent promotional activities. Practical implications Brand managers should maintain consistency between their brand personality and their promotional activities in order to maintain and increase their brand equity. Originality/value The results contribute to the literature by investigating the impact of brand personality on the evaluation of promotional activities. Also, it examines an important factor (financial consciousness) that could influence how fans react in front of an incongruent promotional activity. This research brings a better understanding of the impact of brand personality on marketing strategies and brand equity.


2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 277-289 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donald C. Barnes ◽  
Joel E. Collier ◽  
Vince Howe ◽  
K. Douglas Hoffman

Purpose Historically, firms have dedicated an abundance of resources in the pursuit of customer satisfaction and its corresponding favorable consequences. However, research indicates that customer satisfaction may not necessarily result in the outcomes pursued. This paper aims to focus on the concept of customer delight and explore antecedents and consequences of interest to the service firm. More specifically, the proposed model explores the linkages of employee effort, employee expertise and the firm’s tangibles to customer surprise and joy which in turn lead to customer delight and per cent of budget spent. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected from a grocery store. The hypothesized relationships were tested using structural equation modeling. Findings Results from this study yield new insights into the dual pathways leading to customer delight through joy and surprise. That is, joy and tangibles lead to both joy and surprise, whereas expertise leads to joy alone. Both joy and surprise are completely mediated through delight to per cent of budget spent. Interestingly, higher frequency customers experience a stronger relationship from joy to delight. Research limitations/implications The findings have implications for the ongoing debate on the viability of customer delight and extending the theoretical understanding of why customer delight represents such a powerful force in the service environment. Practical implications By providing specific variables that impact both joy and surprise, management can develop tactics to develop delight initiatives. Originality/value This is the first study proposing multiple paths to customer delight. Further, this is the first study to link needs based and disconfirmation into a single model.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document