scholarly journals A meaning-based framework for customer loyalty

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (8) ◽  
pp. 825-843 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elina Närvänen ◽  
Hannu Kuusela ◽  
Heli Paavola ◽  
Noora Sirola
Keyword(s):  
Customer Loyalty ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Alternative View ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Group Data ◽  
Focus Group Data ◽  
Retail Setting ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThis paper's purpose is to develop a meaning-based framework for customer loyalty by examining how consumers make sense of customer loyalty through meanings and metaphors.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative study based on in-depth interviews and focus group data in the retail context was conducted with Finnish customers. The data were analysed with qualitative data analysis techniques such as the constant comparative technique.FindingsThe empirical findings comprise eight loyalty meanings characterised by two dimensions. The first dimension is reflexive vs. routinised, and the second dimension is private vs. social. The loyalty types are dimensionalised through four metaphors: loyalty as freedom of choice; as being conventional and binding; and as belongingness.Practical implicationsThe findings improve the way customer loyalty currently is understood in the retail setting. The paper proposes that customer insight that utilises thick data can be used to grasp loyalty meanings. These data are rich in context and detail, and they take into account customers' everyday lives. Utilising thick data in the form of storytelling fuels customers' meaning-making related to customer loyalty, potentially enriching their relationship with the retailer.Originality/valueCustomer loyalty has been driven largely by a transactional and company-centric perspective. This article presents an alternative view of customer loyalty that accounts for the variety of meanings that customers may assign to their loyalty-related thoughts and behaviours.

Burnout in clinicians working with offenders with personality disorder

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert J. Chandler ◽  
Andrew Newman ◽  
Catherine Butler
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Mental Health Clinicians ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Group Data ◽  
Focus Group Data ◽  
Current Sample ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Practical Implications ◽  
Organisational Level

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the levels of clinician burnout in a community forensic personality disorder (PD) service, and explores how burnout may arise and be minimised within a service of this nature. Design/methodology/approach A mixed methods approach was utilised, assessing levels of burnout and making comparisons with a comparable previous study. Focus group data regarding burnout and suggestions for reducing the risk of burnout were analysed using thematic analysis. Findings Levels of burnout were generally found to be higher in the current sample when compared with the generic PD services. Qualitative data suggest that working in a forensic PD setting may pose a range of additional and complex challenges; these are explored in detail. Minimising burnout might be achieved by developing resilience, utilising humour, team coherence and ensuring that breaks are taken, and developing one’s own strategies for “releasing pressure”. Practical implications The risk for burnout in clinicians working with offenders with PD may be higher than other groups of mental health clinicians. Despite this, attempts to minimise burnout can be made through a range of practical strategies at the individual, team and organisational level. Originality/value This is the first project to assess levels of burnout specifically in a team of clinicians working with offenders with PD, and offers an exploration of how burnout may manifest and how it can be managed in this unique area of mental health.

Co-creating luxury brands in an emerging market

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 395-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beate Elizabeth Stiehler
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
Luxury Brands ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Brand Knowledge ◽  
Segmentation Approach ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore consumer meaning-making and brand co-creation and the role of brand value and the consumption context of luxury goods in the emerging South African market. Design/methodology/approach An extant segmentation approach that classifies luxury brand consumers into four different segments was used to guide the identification of a total of 16 luxury consumers with whom in-depth interviews were conducted. Findings The findings identify differences between four consumer segments’ levels of brand knowledge and indicate how these differing levels produce interesting meanings assigned to luxury brands which in turn co-create the brands. A framework is also proposed that maps each of the four luxury segments according to the value they derive from luxury brands and the context in which luxury consumption holds the most meaning for each segment. Practical implications Managerial recommendations concerning the implications of consumers assigning meaning and value to luxury brands and recommendations pertaining to the managing and positioning of luxury brands to each of the four luxury segments in this market are proposed. Originality/value The study provides interesting insights with regards to how consumers assign meaning and value to luxury brands in the emerging South African market. The proposed framework also uniquely demonstrates underlying behaviours within each of the four luxury segments and contributes to a better understanding of how and why these segments consume luxury brands.

Building customer loyalty in digital banking

2017 ◽  
Vol 35 (6) ◽  
pp. 858-877 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anthony Larsson ◽  
Yamit Viitaoja
Keyword(s):  
Customer Loyalty ◽  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Customer Relations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Bank Managers ◽  
Perceived Effects ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Digital Channels ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceptions among representatives from various established major Swedish banks in how they experienced the digitalisation process and its impact on customer relations. Design/methodology/approach Data were gathered through a series of semi-structured in-depth interviews with managers representing different banks with profound insight in the banks’ digitalisation process and its effects on customer relations/satisfaction and digitalisation. Findings The results showed that half of the respondents experienced the same area posing the greatest challenge. This was rooted in the perceived insecurity around what the bank assumed to know about its customers’ proficiency and experiences, and what the customers appeared to actually know. Research limitations/implications This study was conducted as an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) study of various major Swedish banks, which may limit the external validity of its results. Other limitations are also discussed in the paper. Practical implications By identifying the aspects of a digital banking that bank managers perceive to be more advantageous or challenging towards cultivating the relationship with its customers, bank managers should garner an awareness of being able to more effectively develop appropriate strategies in addressing the bank’s customers. Originality/value The area is vastly under-researched. The study contributes to the literature of digital channels and its perceived effects on customer loyalty from a managerial perspective. The results show that some of the present customer loyalty theory needs to be revised in order to accommodate for the era of digitalisation.

Stressful sustainability: a hermeneutic analysis

2018 ◽  
Vol 52 (3/4) ◽  
pp. 550-574 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carmen Valor ◽  
Paolo Antonetti ◽  
Isabel Carrero
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Sustainable Consumption ◽  
Social Constraints ◽  
Structural Constraints ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sustainable Lifestyles ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Research on sustainable consumption (SC) has shown how, faced with barriers that prevent them from embracing a sustainable lifestyle, consumers experience classic symptoms of distress. Although distress emerges as a constitutive dimension of sustainable lifestyles, research has not yet provided a comprehensive account of how consumers cope with it. This paper aims to provide such an account. Design/methodology/approach In-depth interviews were conducted with 25 people who defined themselves as sustainable consumers. A hermeneutic approach was adopted for the analysis. Findings The analysis shows that consumers enact two different coping strategies: adjustment or episodic coping and structural coping or deradicalization. Both sets encompass reappraisals and meaning-making strategies to maintain motivation while simultaneously appeasing tensions. They also comprise the strategic enactment of emotions to energize the self and/or to appease distress. Coping influences how SC is appraised and lived, as these practices are dynamically changed to navigate structural constraints. Practical implications SC campaigns have traditionally focused on cognitive empowerment. However, the evidence suggests that emotional empowerment could be a more effective way to promote the practice. Originality/value This paper provides the first in-depth examination of the strategies adopted to cope with distress. The analysis shows that consumers reconfigure how SC is appraised and implemented, while emphasizing the crucial role of emotion work in the coping repertoire. Although SC is stressful due to structural and social constraints, consumers are able to remain committed to it to varying degrees.

Decent work: stakeholder priorities

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruth Tarrant
Keyword(s):  
Policy Development ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Development Programs ◽  
Decent Work ◽  
Work Skills ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Group Data ◽  
Focus Group Data ◽  
Original Approach ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to consider the usefulness of “decent work” as a construct, whether a collaborative approach helps to highlight problem areas and what lessons can be identified and generalized in respect to impact in context. Design/methodology/approach Data is gathered from stakeholders employed by organizations in Scotland using mixed methodology including survey data, focus group data and a large scale poll for low-paid employees and interviews for employers and advocates of work quality. Findings The results suggest that “decent work” priorities identified by low-paid employees are primarily “hard” variables, employers’ primarily identify “soft” variables and advocates identify a mix of hard and soft variables. Practical implications Therefore to engage all stakeholders a set of “soft” and “hard” priorities should be recognized and implemented in policy development and professional development programs focusing on “decent work” skills and knowledge introduced to support employers who are currently not perceived as providing “decent work”. Originality/value This paper has an original approach in that it identifies what matters and who can make a difference in a collaborative research study in a national context.

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.

Ethical consumers' brand avoidance

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 114-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Rindell ◽  
Tore Strandvik ◽  
Kristoffer Wilén
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Specific Group ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ethical Concerns ◽  
Ethical Consumers ◽  
Consumer Values ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore ethical consumers' brand avoidance. The study contributes to brand-avoidance research by exploring what role consumers' ethical concerns play in their brand avoidance. Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative approach is adopted by interviewing 15 active members of organizations that represent ethical concerns for the well-being of animals, the environment and humans. Findings – The study indicates that consumers with a strong value-based perspective on consumption (such as ethical consumers) may reject brands in two different but interrelated ways. In essence, the study reveals characteristics of brand avoidance that have not been discussed in earlier research, in terms of two dimensions: persistency (persistent vs temporary) and explicitness (explicit vs latent). Practical implications – The study shows the importance of considering the phenomenon of brand avoidance, as it may reveal fundamental challenges in the market. These challenges may relate to consumer values that have not been regarded as important or that have been thought of as relating only to a specific group of consumers. Originality/value – The ethical consumers' views represent new insights into understanding brand avoidance.

An exploratory study into organizational repatriates’ emotional support network

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 645-668 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lore Van Gorp ◽  
Smaranda Boroş ◽  
Piet Bracke ◽  
Peter A.J. Stevens
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Support ◽  
Personal Experience ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Support Network ◽  
Support Providers ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Informative Characteristic ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how repatriates’ emotional support network affects their experience of re-entry. Design/methodology/approach This inductive, qualitative study is based on 27 semi-structured, in-depth interviews with Belgian organizational repatriates. Findings The analyses suggest that expatriation empathy is a key attribute of organizational repatriates’ main emotional support providers. In addition, the results show that although partners are a main source of emotional support on re-entry, they are also important potential causes of distress. Lastly, the results suggest that the cultural diversity of a repatriate’s emotional support network is linked with characteristics of the assignment and that it affects the experience of repatriation. Research limitations/implications The results provide empirical evidence that the expatriation empathy of repatriates’ support providers is a more informative characteristic to consider compared with whether they have personal experience of expatriation. In addition, the results suggest that research should also take into account the negative side of social support, and, for example, consider the influence of crossover distress of partners who experience relocation difficulties themselves. Practical implications This study points to the possible benefits of organizing social activities or training for repatriates and their partner and any children, as well as the advantages of encouraging expatriates to invite home-country friends to visit. Originality/value Although most scholars agree on the importance of support for expatriates’ well-being, the sources of relevant emotional support have received little research attention so far, as has how this influences the repatriation experience.

Ethical listening to employees during a pandemic: new approaches, barriers and lessons

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlene S. Neill ◽  
Shannon A. Bowen
Keyword(s):  
Mobile Applications ◽  
Feedback Loop ◽  
Ethical Considerations ◽  
Communication Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Building Relationships ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
Management Professionals ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThe purpose of this study was to identify new challenges to organizational listening posed by a global pandemic and how organizations are overcoming those barriers.Design/methodology/approachThe researchers conducted 30 in-depth interviews with US communication management professionals.FindingsCommunication management professionals value listening, but do not always make it the priority that it merits. They listed lack of desire of senior management, time, and trust of employees as barriers to effective organizational listening. The global COVID pandemic has made it more challenging to connect to employees working remotely and to observe nonverbal cues that are essential in communication. Organizations are adapting by using more frequent pulse surveys, video conferencing technology and mobile applications. Most importantly, this pandemic has enhanced moral sensitivity and empathy leading organizations to make decisions based on ethical considerations.Research limitations/implicationsThe researchers examined organizational listening applying employee-organization relationships (EOR) theory and found that trust is essential. Trust can be enhanced through building relationships with employees, ethical listening and closing the feedback loop by communicating how employers are using the feedback received by employees to make a positive change.Practical implicationsCommunication managers need to place a higher priority on listening to employees. Their listening efforts need to be authentic, morally autonomous or open-minded, and empathetic to respect the genuine concerns of employees and how organizational decisions will affect them. Listening is essential to serving as an ethical and effective strategic counselor.Originality/valueThe study examines organizational listening in the context of a global pandemic.

Increasing customer loyalty to the firm

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Customer Loyalty ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Reading Time ◽  
Effective Communication ◽  
Cutting Edge ◽  
Loyalty Programs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Pertinent Information ◽  
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 Businesses have scope to increase customer loyalty to the firm through the introduction of loyalty programs. Relevance of such programs to target consumers is critical and their overall impact can be enhanced through the use of effective communication. 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.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document