Relationship versus customer experience quality as determinants of relationship quality and relational outcomes for Kuwaiti retail banks

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (5) ◽  
pp. 1234-1252 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adel A.A. Al-Wugayan

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which customer experience and relationship marketing (RM), as two widely used service management approaches, can effectively determine satisfaction and commitment as two relational quality constructs, and their impact on loyalty and word-of-mouth (WoM) as relational outcomes for retail bank services in Kuwait. This country is chosen as an exemplar of an Arabian Peninsula culture with a predominantly Islamic heritage and a capital-surplus economy. Design/methodology/approach The relational benefits scale and customer experience quality were used as independent measures to collect data using multiple methods (interview, paper and pencil, online) from 1,013 customers of local and international banks. Standard translation procedures, CFA procedures and parallel analysis were employed to examine the dimensionality of all scales. SEM procedures were applied for each approach to assess its impact on the four indigenous dependent constructs using a multitude of fit indices, examination of validity and reliability measures for all constructs as well as structural paths. Findings Results show the factor structure of both scales differed from their original conceptualization, with fewer items forming each latent factor when applied in Kuwait. The explanatory and predictive power of the EXQ model performed slightly better than RBS, although both explained substantial variance on dependent measures, confirming their relevance despite the lack of noticeable correlation between most factors contained in both scales. Research limitations/implications This study underscores the importance of establishing the validity of measures prior to their cross-cultural application, with particular focus on the content validity of scale items to measure the intended construct properly. It also shows how two approaches can complement each other rather than compete to effectively manage bank services. As is the case with all cross-sectional research paradigms, longitudinal analysis linking expressed loyalty/WoM with actual behavior can better assess tested relationships than the current research. Practical implications Retail banks’ marketing strategy should simultaneously address customer relationships and customer experience to reduce attrition and enhance customer life-time value. Originality/value Effects of service experience and RM are examined in a Middle-Eastern market, where internationalization of banks has created strong competition, leading customers to view bank services as less differentiated. Caution and examination of service quality measures are needed before using them as metrics in annual reports and performance reviews.

2006 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 10-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cornel Wisskirchen ◽  
Dirk Vater ◽  
Tim Wright ◽  
Philippe De Backer ◽  
Christine Detrick

PurposeTo show that retail bank executives across the world are awakening to a realization that long‐term growth and profitability hinge on their ability to attract and retain loyal customers.Design/methodology/approachIn Bain's experience, the best tool for gauging the benefit of fostering customer advocacy is the “Net Promoter™ Score” (NPS), a measurement developed by Satmetrix Systems, a Silicon Valley‐based software and services firm that specializes in customer experience management.FindingsUS banks earn an average net promoter score of just 6 percent – far below those of leaders in the personal computer, property and casualty insurance and car rental industries. The NPS of German retail banks is just 13 percent, on average; meanwhile UK banks rate a dismal minus 6 percent.Research limitations/implicationsA recent global benchmarking study by Bain & Company reveals that bankers recognize they have a problem. In the study, bankers rated the building of strong customer relationships as one of their most important keys to success. Yet they acknowledged that they were not doing a good job of rising to that challenge.Practical implicationsThe Bain study found that banks acknowledged six imperatives as crucial to winning over new customers, deepening relationships with existing account holders and reinforcing all customers' perception that they receive superior value:Originality/valueStrategic managers in banking and other industries must manage to six imperatives: design products and services that offer a truly captivating value proposition and generate genuine consumer enthusiasm; understand their target customer segments in detail and communicate with laser like precision; systematic nurture of new‐customer relationships; manage the customer experience, not just the account; dare to be different; and concentrate on measurements that enable anticipation of customer behavior.


2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Andy Wood ◽  
Julie Johnson ◽  
James S. Boles ◽  
Hiram Barksdale

Purpose – The purpose of this research is an examination of three different types of sales approaches (product-, solution- and provocation-based) on relational outcomes. The type of sales approach influences buyer's assessments about the trustworthiness of the salesperson and the conflict with the salesperson. These outcomes of the sales approach affect the customer's economic and non-economic satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach – Using cross-sectional survey data from a sample of 840 organizational buyers, a structural equation model measures the path coefficients of the proposed model and tests the differences in the magnitude based on gender. Findings – The results indicate that sales approaches will differentially influence assessments of trustworthiness and conflict. The magnitude of the influence of the sales approach on outcomes is different between genders. Originality/value – To the best of the authors' knowledge, this is the first empirical study to examine the impact of sales approaches on both genders of organizational buyers.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hemin Ali Hassan ◽  
Xiaodong Zhang ◽  
Ahmad Bayiz Ahmad

PurposeThis paper builds on and extends the theory of planned behavior (TPB) by examining empirically the underlying mechanism through which red tape is associated with employee change-supportive intention (CSI). It investigates red tape as an antecedent of CSI and examines the mediation role of change-related attitude, subjective norm and perceived behavioral control (PBC) in the relationship between red tape and CSI.Design/methodology/approachTo test the study's hypotheses, cross-sectional data were collected from 183 employees working at a public organization in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq that was going through a major change. Regression analyses and the PROCESS macro for SPSS were used.FindingsConsistent with our expectations, the results indicate that red tape negatively predicts CSI. Red tape also predicts change-related attitude, subjective norm and PBC, which consequently predict CSI. The results also reveal that the relationship between red tape and CSI is mediated by change-related attitude and subjective norm.Research limitations/implicationsThe study is limited in using cross-sectional data at a point in time and in investigating intention only, rather than actual behavior.Originality/valueWhile prior work shows that red tape is a relevant factor that may affect employee responses to change in public sector, the psychological processes on which this relationship is based are still not fully explained. Therefore, this is the first study that aims to shed some light on this relationship.


2017 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 483-498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Orpha de Lenne ◽  
Laura Vandenbosch

Purpose Using the theory of planned behavior, the purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between different types of media and the intention to buy sustainable apparel and test whether attitudes, social norms, and self-efficacy beliefs may explain these relationships. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional survey study was conducted among 681 young adults (18-26 years old). Findings Exposure to social media content of sustainable organizations, eco-activists, and sustainable apparel brands, and social media content of fashion bloggers and fast fashion brands predicted respondents’ attitudes, descriptive and subjective norms, and self-efficacy beliefs regarding buying sustainable apparel. In turn, attitudes, descriptive norms, and self-efficacy beliefs predicted the intention to buy sustainable apparel. Fashion magazines predicted the intention through self-efficacy. Specialized magazines did not predict the intention to buy sustainable apparel. Research limitations/implications Results should be generalized with caution as the current study relied on a convenience sample of young adults. The cross-sectional study design limits the ability to draw conclusions regarding causality. Actual behavior was not addressed and needs to be included in further research. Practical implications The present study hints at the importance of social media to affect young consumers’ intentions to buy sustainable apparel. Sustainable apparel brands should consider attracting more young social media users to their social media pages. Originality/value This study is one of the first to examine the potential of different media to promote sustainable apparel buying intention.


2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 133-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Seonjeong Ally Lee ◽  
Minwoo Lee

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate different types of customer relationships on customers’ interaction with the brand, based on prior social media and relationship marketing research. Design/methodology/approach A cross-sectional, self-administered online survey was conducted to investigate the role of different types of relationships on customers’ brand-relevant responses in the context of hotel social media platforms. Findings Results identified customers’ relationships with services and brands, and how other customers influenced their parasocial interactions (PSIs). Customers’ PSIs then positively influenced their self-brand connection and their brand usage intention. Originality/value This study was the first attempt to propose a conceptual framework to explain different types of customer relationships on customers’ interactions with the brand in the context of hotel social media platforms.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sven Tuzovic ◽  
Jochen Wirtz ◽  
Loizos Heracleous

Purpose How can some companies be the innovation leader in their industry over prolonged periods of time, whereas others cannot? The purpose of this study is to understand a firm’s capability to be a successful serial innovator and to generate a constant stream of industry-leading innovations. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a longitudinal case study approach to gain an understanding of what and how Singapore Airlines sustained service innovation for over 30 years. The study uses triangulation, whereby the core data from in-depth interviews with senior and middle management and frontline employees were complemented with academic research, case studies, annual reports, observations and archival documents. In total, 240 single-spaced pages of interview transcripts with over 130,000 words were analyzed and coded using MAXQDA for identifying repeated patterns of meaning. Findings The authors identified three key institutional foundations for service innovation: innovation climate (i.e. leadership and service culture), human capital (i.e. recruitment, training and development and engagement and incentives) and resource configurations (i.e. systems, structure and processes). These foundations enabled the organization to build the following four service innovation-related dynamic capabilities: embrace ambidexterity, institutionalize learning and knowledge integration, orchestrate collaboration and reinvent customer value. Interestingly, these institutional foundations and capabilities remained largely stable across 30 years; what changed were the contexts and specifics, not the foundations and capabilities. Research limitations/implications Data were collected only from one company. Because of the method of thematic analysis, the generalizability of the findings needs further investigation. Originality/value This study is the first to investigate the drivers of industry-leading sustained service innovation over a prolonged period of time. The proposed framework provides a fuller and more integrated picture of sustained service innovation than past cross-sectional studies.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Umesh Shrivastava ◽  
Satya Ranjan Acharya

Purpose Disadvantaged students face social exclusion and undergo a different treatment than mainstream students. This alters their entrepreneurial intention subsequently. This study aims to investigate the factors affecting disadvantaged students’ intention in their willingness to undergo entrepreneurship education as a vocational course. The variables include self-efficacy, need for achievement (nAch) and family background. The paper further examines whether entrepreneurship education intention enhances their entrepreneurial intention. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a deductive quantitative study as the chosen approach as it ensures complete anonymity and hence researcher bias is minimized. The sample consists of the third year, final year and postgraduate first year disadvantaged students from different streams of engineering, economics, arts and commerce. The study was conducted with a total of 319 students completing the questionnaire which used a five-point Likert scale. Findings Using the theory of planned behavior (TPB), the results show that willingness of disadvantaged students to study entrepreneurship as a vocational course is highly driven by their family background followed by self-efficacy and nAch. The results further strengthen the TPB and has implications for educators of entrepreneurship and a possibility of a widening of entrepreneurship education in disadvantaged community. Research limitations/implications The study measured attitudes and willingness with intentions, but not actual behavior as this was a cross-sectional study. Also, repeated observations could not be made and dynamics of change could not be captured. Originality/value This is one of the few studies focused on entrepreneurial intention of students who are socially excluded and therefore it offers a possibility of widening of entrepreneurship education in countries such as India which display a collectivist culture and provides an intention-based linkage to entrepreneurship education among disadvantaged students. This study also puts subjective norm as a strong predictor of intentions which previous studies have refuted. The findings also suggest that there is a strong intent to study entrepreneurship among disadvantaged students in India, which makes entrepreneurship education a seemingly acceptable choice of education and suggests promise for its wider reach and penetration.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ammar Ahmed ◽  
Muhammad Aqeel ◽  
Naeem Aslam Chughtai

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on the indigenous need for public health challenges being faced by the patients in Pakistan because of vertigo symptoms. Vertigo or benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is described as short episodes of dizziness (spinning sensations) that are caused because of movements of head in varying directions. Various published accounts have linked vertigo to psychological and psychiatric symptoms, which include stress, anxiety and depression. The aim of present study is to examine the validity and reliability of Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) Urdu version that is vital in the diagnosis, evaluation and treatment of patients coming in hospitals. Design/methodology/approach This present study included two segments, namely, preliminary and main study. Preliminary study results indicated that the overall scale had high internal consistency of DHI Urdu version α = 0.95. The overall scale retained a high test-retest correlation tested over a period of 15 days (r = 0.93). Main study was performed on 222 vestibulocochlear disorder patients having chief complaints of tinnitus and vertigo, age ranged from 18 to 89 (M = 46.14; SD = 16.64) and recruited from various hospitals of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Purposive sampling technique was applied based on cross-sectional design. Findings Significant correlations were noted between dizziness symptoms rating on the translated scale. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to determine the structure of the scales; an orthogonal rotation (Varimax) was conducted on the data collected from patients. A three-factor solution was obtained for DHI, the factors obtained were associated to the subscales vestibular handicap, vestibular disability and visuo-vestibular disability, demonstrating a strong factorial validity in the Pakistani cultural context. Originality/value Vertigo is a symptom that initiates various psychological issues among vestibulocochlear disorder patients (patients having ear related problems) around the world and therefore the investigated inventory offers an initial assessment for the severity of dizziness. Current research will help in the development of indigenous measures to ascertain the severity of the symptoms triggering various other mental health-related issues.


2014 ◽  
Vol 29 (7) ◽  
pp. 578-595 ◽  
Author(s):  
Basil Al-Najjar ◽  
Suzan Abed

Purpose – This paper aims to witness the importance of corporate governance mechanisms and investigates the relationship between the quality of disclosure of forward-looking information in the narrative sections of annual reports and the governance mechanisms for non-financial UK companies. Design/methodology/approach – Computerized content analysis using QSR NVivo 8 is used to measure the extent of forward-looking information in the narratives of the annual reports for 238 companies listed in the London Stock Exchange. Cross-sectional regression analysis is used to examine the impact of the corporate governance mechanisms on forward-looking information. Findings – The results show that board size and the independence of the audit committee are associated with the level of voluntary disclosure of forward-looking information. Research limitations/implication – One limitation of this study is that in controls for the effect of the financial crisis period, by selecting a representative year for a five-year period, 2006. The authors argument in using this year is based on the fact that the main variables of interest do not vary significantly with time, the cross-sectional analysis of the selected period will provide a fair view of the last five year-period. Practical implications – The authors report the importance of some governance practices in the UK, such as the role of the board members as well as the importance of audit committee independence. Originality/value – This paper contributes to the literature by using computerized content analysis to examine the relation between corporate governance mechanism and disclosure quality of forward-looking information using sample of companies before financial crisis period. The authors also examine governance mechanisms that are under-researched in the field of forward-looking disclosure.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 219-236 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Holmlund ◽  
Tore Strandvik ◽  
Ilkka Lähteenmäki

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the mental models of top executive team members in a selected retail bank. The focus is on how each executive team member makes sense of the market situation and changes with regard to customers and customer-bank interactions in the current situation where earlier bank practices are at risk of becoming obsolete. Design/methodology/approach All members in the executive team were interviewed individually in August 2014 on how they reason about challenges in the service business. The study uses an abductive research approach. Findings The mental models were largely dominated by internal bank issues, and adjusting the services to changing customer preferences was considered a main challenge. The research analysis showed that the executive team members identified the same business challenges, but their interpretations of the meanings and implications of the challenges were different. Mental models tend to be hidden and stable and are seldom explicitly elaborated. There was a distinct spread in mental models in terms of content. Limited focus was on customers as the starting point for business development and renewal. Research limitations/implications The study was conducted in the retail banking setting, which is currently affected by many changes. The study, however, was limited to executive members in one bank. Practical implications The foremost implications of this study relate to sensitising executive members and teams to their mental models and exposing different core challenges related to customers and customer relationships in the retail banking sector. Originality/value The value of the study is it sheds light on top executives’ prospective sensemaking of current business challenges by addressing individual mental models. The study represents a novel approach in the strategic service management literature.


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