Modeling specialty store customers’ buy/no-buy decisions

2017 ◽  
Vol 45 (12) ◽  
pp. 1260-1276 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darrell Goudge ◽  
Megan C. Good ◽  
Michael R. Hyman ◽  
Grant Aguirre
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Customer Orientation ◽  
Stepwise Discriminant Analysis ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Discriminant Model ◽  
Informational Influence ◽  
Specialty Store ◽  
Managerial Training ◽  
Sales Interaction ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop, test, and validate a model in a specialty retail environment to assess the influence of a salesperson’s sales- or customer-orientation and customer characteristics related to buy/no-buy decisions. Design/methodology/approach Backward stepwise discriminant analysis was used to identify variables that most differentiated buyers from non-buyers. The discriminant model was estimated with survey data provided by a judgment sample of consumers asked to recall details about a recent in-store purchase experience (n=240). One significant discriminant function emerged. The model correctly classified 87.5 percent of buy/no-buy decisions by consumers in a separate validation sample (n=40). Findings Customers who believe a salesperson is sales oriented (i.e. only interested in closing) are more likely to make a no-buy decision even when retailer-related attributes – such as positive prior experience with the retailer, susceptibility to normative interpersonal influence, and positive attitude toward retailing – suggest otherwise. Surprisingly, neither customer orientation nor susceptibility to interpersonal informational influence relates significantly to making a buy/no-buy decision. Practical implications Specialty retailers should avoid a sales-outcome-based orientation. To add value in a competitive marketplace where buyers can avoid salespeople, the focus of a sales interaction should be on identifying customer needs and characteristics. Originality/value Adaptations of sales people’s personas and selling efforts – fostered by new managerial training practices – and the need for specialty retailers to adopt behavior-based control systems are suggested. In addition, sales or customer orientation typically is reported by the salesperson. Here, customers’ belief – which is more germane to modeling buy/no-buy decisions – designates the salesperson’s orientation.

Slowing the decline of Japanese apparel

2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (4) ◽  
pp. 7-9
Keyword(s):  
Business Model ◽  
Vertical Integration ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Private Label ◽  
Brand Strategy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Specialty Store ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
Apparel Manufacturers ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings With the Japanese apparel market in decline, there is a pressing need to understand how, if at all, apparel manufacturers can survive. The vertical integration of the SPA business model is providing benefits to apparel manufacturers, with those adopting the model showing resilience to the overall downturn of the market. The author-reviewed article has investigated whether the use of an own brand strategy is influenced by four key concepts, and how they function within apparel manufacturers. Particular attention is paid to the practices used by those that have adopted the specialty store retailer of private label apparel (SPA) business model. Practical implications The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

The student-customer orientation questionnaire (SCOQ)

2015 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-138 ◽  
Author(s):  
Riina Koris ◽  
Petri Nokelainen
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods Research ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Customer Orientation ◽  
Educational Experiences ◽  
Educational Experience ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study Bayesian dependency modelling (BDM) to validate the model of educational experiences and the student-customer orientation questionnaire (SCOQ), and to identify the categories of educatonal experience in which students expect a higher educational institutions (HEI) to be student-customer oriented. Design/methodology/approach – This paper employs a cross-sectional quantitative survey study, mixed methods research, exploratory factor analysis and BDM. Findings – The validated model of educational experiences and the SCOQ; results indicate that students expect to be treated as customers in some, but not all categories of educational experience. Research limitations/implications – The authors contribute to existing literature on two fronts: the validated model of educational experiences and the categories of educational experience in which students expect to be treated as customers. Practical implications – The validated SCOQ presented in the paper may be used by other HEIs to assess the degree to which students expect a particular HEI to be customer oriented. Also, HEIs should assess students’ expectations concerning student-customer orientation before employing such an approach. Originality/value – The paper presents a validated model of educational experiences and a SCOQ. Additionally, the study does not investigate whether students expect a HEI as such to be student-customer oriented (as most studies have done so far); instead, the aim is to find out whether, in which categories of educational experience and to what extent students expect a HEI to be student-customer oriented. Thus, the study explores the phenomenon of student-customer orientation at a deeper level, i.e. separately at the level of educational experiences.

scholarly journals Customer orientation in highly relational services

2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-223
Author(s):  
Javier Morales Mediano ◽  
José L. Ruiz-Alba
Keyword(s):  
Customer Relationship Management ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Customer Orientation ◽  
Customer Relationship ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Employees ◽  
Private Banking ◽  
First Time ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the antecedents, importance, and consequences of the customer orientation of service employees (COSE) in highly relational services (HRS). This study challenges the traditional vision of COSE and its sole focus on transactional services. The paper also examines and confirms new outcomes of COSE. Then, a revised COSE model adapted to HRS is proposed. Design/methodology/approach The private banking (PB) service is chosen to represent a HRS setting. The qualitative study is comprised of 25 semi-structured interviews with PB practitioners. The results are analysed using NVivo 11. Findings This study confirms the validity of the construct. COSE is proven to have notable importance in HRS. Various dimensions of COSE have different grades of importance. New consequences are elicited for HRS, including trust, loyalty and co-creation. Practical implications The results show that most PB firms do not have standardised processes in place to measure COSE. This study proves how COSE can be used for several purposes by practitioners as a means of customer relationship management and in co-creation strategies. Originality/value This study expands on the potential of the COSE construct by the use of HRS for the first time and introduces new consequences from the original COSE model.

scholarly journals Competitive strategies of small independent retailers

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fabien Eymas ◽  
Faouzi Bensebaa
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Customer Orientation ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Cognitive Maps ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Competitive Strategies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Two Stages ◽  
City Centres ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeDespite the critical role given to small independent retailers (SIRs) in the revitalisation of city centres, little knowledge exists about their actual competitive strategies. Existing literature rather is normative, recommending SIRs to focus on customer orientation. Thus, the aim of this study is to identify the types of competitive strategies really adopted by SIRs.Design/methodology/approachThis qualitative study is based on 13 semi-structured interviews of the booksellers, beer and wine merchants we met around Paris (France) in 2018. Data analysis was conducted in two stages: each interview was coded to bring out themes, which were then linked in cognitive maps.FindingsFive types of SIRs' competitive strategies emerged from the study, depending on their main focus of attention. Either SIRs have no weapon to fight against external factors and they suffer competition or they have limited means and focus on their relationship with customers or even they possess a specific resource they can rely on (innovative character, skills, values) to go beyond ordinary customer orientation.Practical implicationsThe typology should be a useful tool for SIRs interested in competitive strategies and for municipalities looking for new insights to succeed in the revitalisation of their city centres.Social implicationsRevitalisation of city centres is a big challenge for many Western cities, especially small- and middle-sized ones.Originality/valueTo the best of our knowledge, the typology that comes from this study is the very first one on SIRs. Theoretically, it may help organise researches on SIRs' competitive strategies. Pragmatically, it provides a better understanding of SIRs' competitive strategies.

Older consumers’ reaction to a patronizing sales interaction

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emmanuel Chéron ◽  
Christian Weins ◽  
Florian Kohlbacher
Keyword(s):  
Older Women ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Older Consumers ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Sales Interaction ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of patronizing by salespeople when interacting with older consumers in a retail situation of shopping for a mobile phone. In addition to patronizing behavior, the impact of the age of the salesperson and gender of the consumer are explored. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on statistical analyzes of a between-participants controlled experiment collected via an online survey of 338 members of the German Senior Citizens League. Findings The study contributes to the field of services marketing by confirming that older consumers reject patronizing sales interactions and by showing that men are more tolerant of condescendence than women, especially when younger salespeople are involved. Research limitations/implications A limitation of this study is the use of fictional situations with a selected number of manipulated variables in a simulated sales interaction. Practical implications Rejection of a patronizing sales interaction was found to be similar by both genders with an older salesperson. Furthermore, retail shops of technical appliances could prevent potential problems by being cautious of having younger male salespeople interacting with older women customers. Originality/value Research on the impact of condescending sales interaction as perceived by older consumers is scarce and has not previously considered the role of customer gender and salesperson age. Beyond investigating the perception of participants to patronizing, the role of the salesperson age and customer gender were investigated.

Consumer value creation through WhatsApp use

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 455-471
Author(s):  
Jorge Cruz-Cárdenas ◽  
Jorge Guadalupe-Lanas ◽  
Ekaterina Zabelina ◽  
Andrés Palacio-Fierro ◽  
Margarita Velín-Fárez ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Latin American ◽  
Value Creation ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Instant Messaging ◽  
Role Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Consumer Value ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to understand in-depth how consumers create value in their lives using WhatsApp, the leading mobile instant messaging (MIM) application. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts the perspective of customer-dominant logic (CDL) and uses a qualitative multimethod design involving 3 focus groups and 25 subsequent in-depth interviews. The research setting was Ecuador, a Latin American country. Findings Analysis and interpretation of the participants’ stories made it possible to identify and understand the creation of four types of value: maintaining and strengthening relationships; improving role performance; emotional support; and entertainment and fun. In addition, the present study proposes a conceptual model of consumer value creation as it applies to MIM. Practical implications Understanding the way consumers create value in their lives using MIM is important not only for organizations that offer MIM applications, but also for those companies that develop other applications for mobile phones or for those who wish to use MIM as an electronic word-of-mouth vehicle. Originality/value The current study is one of the first to address the topic of consumer behavior in the use of technologies from the perspective of CDL; this perspective enables an integrated qualitative vision of value creation in which the consumer is the protagonist.

scholarly journals Advantages and potential challenges of data management in e-maintenance

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 378-396 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arian Razmi-Farooji ◽  
Hanna Kropsu-Vehkaperä ◽  
Janne Härkönen ◽  
Harri Haapasalo
Keyword(s):  
Data Management ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Conceptual Approach ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Maintenance Systems ◽  
Industry Leader ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to understand data management challenges in e-maintenance systems from a holistically viewpoint through summarizing the earlier scattered research in the field, and second, to present a conceptual approach for addressing these challenges in practice. Design/methodology/approach The study is realized as a combination of a literature review and by the means of analyzing the practices on an industry leader in manufacturing and maintenance services. Findings This research provides a general understanding over data management challenges in e-maintenance and summarizes their associated proposed solutions. In addition, this paper lists and exemplifies different types and sources of data which can be collected in e-maintenance, across different organizational levels. Analyzing the data management practices of an e-maintenance industry leader provides a conceptual approach to address identified challenges in practice. Research limitations/implications Since this paper is based on studying the practices of a single company, it might be limited to generalize the results. Future research topics can focus on each of mentioned data management challenges and also validate the applicability of presented model in other companies and industries. Practical implications Understanding the e-maintenance-related challenges helps maintenance managers and other involved stakeholders in e-maintenance systems to better solve the challenges. Originality/value The so-far literature on e-maintenance has been studied with narrow focus to data and data management in e-maintenance appears as one of the less studied topics in the literature. This research paper contributes to e-maintenance by highlighting the deficiencies of the discussion surrounding the perspectives of data management in e-maintenance by studying all common data management challenges and listing different types of data which need to be acquired in e-maintenance systems.

An exploratory empirical study of whistleblowing and whistleblowers

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 755-770
Author(s):  
Maria Krambia-Kapardis
Keyword(s):  
Statistical Analysis ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Research Topic ◽  
Due Date ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Unethical Behaviour ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
European Directive ◽  
Original Survey ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this study is to develop a profile of whistleblowers and to determine whether whistleblowing legislation would encourage those individuals to bring to light some illegal or unethical behaviour that otherwise would remain in the shadows. Design/methodology/approach Having identified whistleblowing correlation, a survey was carried out in Cyprus of actual whistleblowers and could-have-been whistleblowers. Findings Males between 46 and55 years of age, regardless of whether they have dependents or hold senior positions in organizations are significantly more likely to blow the whistle. However, could-have-been whistleblowers did not go ahead because they felt that the authorities would not act on their information. Research limitations/implications Because of the sensitive nature of the research topic and the fact that only whistleblowers or intended whistleblowers could participate in the study, the sample size is limited as a result. This, in turn, limits both the number of respondents in each category (actual and intended) as well as constrains the statistical analysis that could be carried out on the data. Practical implications It remains to be seen whether EU Member States shall implement the European Directive 2019/1937 on the protection of persons who report breaches of Union Law, in its entirety by the due date, namely December 2021. Originality/value This study provides a literature review of whistleblowing and reports an original survey against the backdrop of the European Directive.

How Phillips saw the light

2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (8) ◽  
pp. 29-31
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Reading Time ◽  
Daily Basis ◽  
Business World ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Freak Show ◽  
The World ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
The One ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Reviews the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoints practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings The problem with developing a reputation of being something of an oracle in the business world is that all of a sudden, everyone expects you to pull off the trick of interpreting the future on a daily basis. Like a freak show circus act or one-hit wonder pop singer, people expect you to perform when they see you, and they expect you to perform the thing that made you famous, even if it is the one thing in the world you don’t want to do. And when you fail to deliver on these heightened expectations, you are dismissed as a one trick pony, however good that trick is in the first place. Originality/value The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

scholarly journals Examining the accounts of oil spills crises in Nigeria through sensegiving and defensive behaviours

2020 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 2053-2076 ◽  
Author(s):  
Osamuyimen Egbon ◽  
Chijoke Oscar Mgbame
Keyword(s):  
Policy Implication ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Oil Spills ◽  
Burden Of Proof ◽  
Multinational Companies ◽  
External Factors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Political Dynamics ◽  
Defensive Behaviours ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe paper examines how oil multinational companies (MNCs) in Nigeria framed accounts to dissociate themselves from causing oil spills.Design/methodology/approachThe authors utilised data from relevant corporate reports, external accounts and interviews, and used sensegiving with defensive behaviours theoretical framing to explore corporate narratives aimed at altering stakeholders' perceptions.FindingsThe corporations gave sense to their audience by invoking scapegoating blame avoidance narrative in attributing the cause of most oil spills in Nigeria to outsiders (sabotage), despite potentially misclassifying the sabotage-corrosion dichotomy. Corporate stance was reinforced through justifying narrative, which suggested that multi-stakeholders jointly determined the causes of oil spills, thus portraying corporate accounts as transparent, credible and objective.Research limitations/implicationsThe socio-political dynamics in an empirical setting affect corporate accounts and how those accounts appear persuasive, implying that such contextual factors merit consideration when evaluating corporate accounts. For example, despite contradictions in corporate accounts, corporate attribution of oil spills to external factors appeared persuasive due to the inherently complicated socio-political dynamics.Practical implicationsWith compensation to oil spills' victims only legally permitted for non-sabotage-induced spills alongside the burden of proof on the victims, the MNCs are incentivised to attribute most oil spills to sabotage. On policy implication, accountability would be best served when the MNCs are tasked both with the burden of proof and a responsibility to demonstrate their transparency in preventing oil spills, including those caused by sabotage.Originality/valueCrisis situations generate multiple and competing perspectives, but sensegiving and defensive behaviours lenses enrich our understanding of how crisis-ridden companies frame narratives to alter stakeholders' perceptions. Accounts-giving therefore partly satisfies accountability demands, and acts as sensegiving signals aimed at reframing/redefining existing perceptions.

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