Exploring the role of service touchpoints on the path to financial, behavioral and relational customer outcomes: insights from a B2B service context

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lily (Xuehui) Gao ◽  
Iguácel Melero-Polo ◽  
Miguel Á. Ruz-Mendoza ◽  
Andreea Trifu

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine how and to what extent customer-provider service touchpoints impact business customer perceptions and outcomes in the context of long-term business-to-business (B2B) service relationships. To this end, the authors will assess the chain of effect path for different service touchpoints between business customers and service providers – and the long-term impact both on customer perceptions and financial, behavioral and relational outcomes. Design/methodology/approach Enabled by a five-year panel data set, seemingly unrelated regression model methodology is applied to test the proposed conceptual framework. Data are obtained for a sample of 2,175 B2B insurance service companies between 2013 and 2017. Findings Study results shed light on the significance of the sales force in B2B settings, as one of several key service touchpoints – together with firm expertise, service reliability and excellence – driving robust relationships, profitability and cross-buying. Firm-initiated contacts and tangible touchpoints are proven to be ineffective – even damaging in some instances – in terms of driving business customer perceptions. Originality/value The paper delivers empirical evidence providing insight on how service touchpoints and business customer perceptions have a long-term impact on customer outcomes. This has yet to be addressed in B2B service settings – despite being of vital interest to marketers, as the longitudinal approach of the research aids service firms in gaining a better understanding of company-customer touchpoints and the extent to which different factors have a decisive, lasting impact on B2B customer outcomes.

2021 ◽  
pp. 002224372110092
Author(s):  
Zhenling Jiang ◽  
Dennis J. Zhang ◽  
Tat Chan

This paper studies how receiving a bonus changes the consumers’ demand for auto loans and the risk of future delinquency. Unlike traditional consumer products, auto loans have a long-term impact on consumers’ financial state because of the monthly payment obligation. Using a large consumer panel data set of credit and employment information, the authors find that receiving a bonus increases auto loan demand by 21 percent. These loans, however, are associated with higher risk, as the delinquency rate increases by 18.5 −31.4 percent depending on different measures. In contrast, an increase in consumers’ base salary will increase the demand for auto loans but not the delinquency. By comparing consumers with bonuses with those without bonuses, the authors find that bonus payments lead to both demand expansion and demand shifting on auto loans. The empirical findings help shed light on how consumers make financial decisions and have important implications for financial institutions on when demand for auto loans and the associated risk arise.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 290-303
Author(s):  
Marta Mori ◽  
Ronan McDermott ◽  
Saut Sagala ◽  
Yasmina Wulandari

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how culture, including traditions and social structures, can influence resilience and how culturally sensitive relief operations can put affected people and their context at the core of any interventions. Design/methodology/approach A case study of the Mt Sinabung volcano area in Indonesia was undertaken. As part of the case study, an analysis of interventions was conducted, which was complemented by semi-structured interviews with Karo cultural experts and humanitarian organisations. Findings Culture influences the manner in which the Karo people react to volcano eruptions with varying implications for recovery. In addition, relief organisations which understand people’s actions through a cultural lens have better managed to tailor programs with long-term impact, thereby avoiding aid dependency. Practical implications Practical examples of disaster management activities that adequately account for the beneficiaries’ way of living prior to the eruptions are provided. Aid actors are provided with guidance concerning how to better tailor their activities in line with a cultural lens. Originality/value The study provides empirical grounding for claims concerning the role of culture in planning interventions in Indonesia and other similar contexts.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wajid Shakeel Ahmed ◽  
Muhammad Sohaib ◽  
Jamal Maqsood ◽  
Ateeb Siddiqui

Purpose The purpose of this study is to determine if intraday week (IDW) effect of the currencies reflect leverage and asymmetric impact in currencies market. The study data set comprises of intraday patterns of 15 currencies from developed and emerging economies. Design methodology approach The study applies the exponential generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (E-GARCH) model technique to observe the IDW leverage and asymmetric effect after introducing hourly dummies variables, namely, IDWmon, IDWwed, IDWfrid and IDWfrid-mon. Findings The study results favor the propositions and confirm that IDW effect do exist in the international forex markets in relation to hourly trading pattern for respective currencies. Mostly, currencies do depreciate on Monday and Wednesday compared to the rest of the days. However, on the last trading day, i.e. Friday currencies observe an appreciation pattern which is for both economies. The results have an evidence of leverage and asymmetric effect confirmed by the E-GARCH model as a result of press releases and influence by micro-factors in the currency markets. Practical implications The study believes to have theoretical connection related to the better understanding of currencies trend for developed and emerging economies, as the IDW effect exists. Moreover, confirmation of both the leverage and asymmetric effect in observed currencies would be able to assist the investors in making rational choices during the trading hours and would confirm considerable profits through profit incentivized strategies. Originality value The study not only add knowledge to the previous study work in relation to the hourly trading pattern of currencies with reference to the IDW effects but also highlights the leverage and asymmetric effect in currencies that will help in formulating future trading strategies particular to emerging economies.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Navendu Prakash ◽  
Shveta Singh ◽  
Seema Sharma

PurposeThis paper empirically examines the short-term and long-term associations between risk, capital and efficiency (R-C-E) in the Indian banking sector across 2008–2019 to answer the presence of causation or contemporaneousness in the R-C-E nexus.Design/methodology/approachThe paper focuses on three objectives. First, the authors determine short-term causality in the risk–efficiency relationship by studying the simultaneous influence of a wide array of banking risks on DEA-based technical and cost efficiency in static and dynamic situations. Second, the authors introduce bank capital and contemporaneously determine the interplay between R-C-E using seemingly unrelated regression equation (SURE) and three-staged least squares (3SLS). Last, the authors assess stability in inter-temporal associations using Granger causality in an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) generalized method of moments (GMM) framework.FindingsThe authors contend that high capital buffers reduce insolvency risk and increase bank stability. Technically efficient banks carry lesser equity buffers, suggesting a trade-off between capital and efficiency. However, capitalization makes banks more technically efficient but not cost-efficient, implying that over-capitalization creates cost inefficiencies, which, in line with the cost skimping hypothesis, forces banks to undertake risk. Concerning causal relationships, the authors conclude that inefficiency Granger-causes insolvency and increases bank risk. Further, steady increases in capital precede technical and cost efficiency improvements. The converse also holds as more efficient banks depict temporal increases in capitalization levels.Originality/valueThe paper is perhaps the first that acknowledges the influence of the “time” perspective on the R-C-E nexus in an emerging economy and advocates that prudential regulations must focus on short-term and long-term intricacies among the triumvirate to foster a stable banking environment.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marwa Ghanem ◽  
Ibrahim Elshaer ◽  
Samar Saad

Purpose This study aims to address the absence of a thorough understanding of commitment in tourism public-private partnerships (PPP) by exploring antecedents of PPP commitment and their underpinning relationships in regard to the destination management system (DMS). Design/methodology/approach An empirical investigation of the case of the Egyptian DMS, a PPP which was forsaken by the government partner and which subsequently failed. Qualitative and quantitative approaches are used for a comprehensive overview of the researched phenomena pertaining to external and internal stakeholders. Findings The results indicated that stakeholder management, relational capital, perceived benefits and stakeholder capabilities could influence intentions to commit to a tourism PPP project. Also, the latter three factors were found to mediate the relationship between stakeholder management and long-term PPP commitment. The results also shed light on the important aspects of non-contractual, interpersonal relationships between internal and external PPP stakeholders. Originality/value This research pioneers inquiries on the commitment of Tourism PPP/DMS projects and its possible drivers in a non-Western context. Also, this study contributes to knowledge by exploring the relationship within and between internal (partners) and external (e.g. local service providers) stakeholder groups and provided evidence on the crucial role of both on long-term PPP commitment and success. The current study has a few significant contributions to the PPP literature regarding the commitment and success of PPP in the complicated environments in which tourism PPP projects are operated. Moreover, this study offers essential information and practices for improving partner relationships with external stakeholders.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 42-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Shehzad Hanif ◽  
Shao Yunfei ◽  
Muhammad Imran Hanif

Purpose The paper aims to explore the long-term prospects of mobile broadband adoption in a developing country. The supply-side and demand-side policy measures are recommended to counter the challenges to broadband adoption. Design/methodology/approach Methodologically, this study uses document analysis to explain secondary data including growth statistics, trade literature and previous scholarly research. Based on the growth statistics of broadband and the informed market insights, the research discusses the prevailing market threats and recommends counter measures to improve the long-term prospects of broadband propagation. Findings The growth of mobile broadband is settling down in Pakistan due to various barriers like cost, literacy, security and unavailability of local content. Collaborative efforts are required by the government, the service providers and the people to enhance the adoption of broadband service and secure economic benefits of the broadband. Practical implications The research offers useful implications for managers and policymakers in Asian and African developing countries; the policy measures discussed here may serve as guidelines for them in the design of their own policies regarding broadband supply and demand. Originality/value The study makes an effort to examine the broadband growth in a developing country on the basis of both quantitative and qualitative aspects. The research endeavors to fill the gap on the particular scholarship of research covering potential uptake of broadband services and the effects of constraining elements to broadband adoption in a developing country.


2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (8) ◽  
pp. 898-901
Author(s):  
Robert Applebaum ◽  
Shahla Mehdizadeh ◽  
Diane Berish

The long-term services system has changed substantially since the mid-1970s, when the landmark book Last Home for the Aged argued that the move to the nursing home was the last move an older person would make until death. Using detailed nursing home utilization data from the Minimum Data Set, this study tracks three cohorts of first-time nursing home admissions in Ohio from 1994 through 2014. Each cohort was followed for a 3-year period. Study results report dramatic reductions in nursing home length of stay between the 1994 and 2011 cohorts. Reduction in length of stay has important implications for nursing home practice and quality monitoring. The article argues that administrative and regulatory practices have not kept pace with the dramatic changes in how nursing homes are now being used in the long-term services system.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 141-157 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Guimaraes ◽  
Ricardo P.C. Leal ◽  
Peter Wanke ◽  
Matthew Morey

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the long-term impact of shareholder activism on Brazilian listed companies. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a sample of 194 companies in 2010, 2012 and 2014 and a two-stage data envelopment analysis to generate an efficiency score based on corporate governance, ownership structure and financial characteristics of companies. In the second stage, the study applies a bootstrap truncated regression to identify whether there is a relationship between the efficiency scores and a company-level activism index. Findings The results show a negative correlation between the efficiency scores and the activism index, suggesting that activist shareholders tend to target less efficient companies. A time analysis over the period 2010-2014 does not offer evidence of impacts of activism on changes of the efficiency scores. Practical implications Activist shareholders target less efficient companies. Shareholder activism increased after regulation that facilitated shareholder voting and required greater company transparency was introduced. Originality/value The two-stage nature of the procedure used in the analysis ascertains that this result is not spurious, assuring data separability between productive resources and contextual variables. This study contributes to the scarce literature on activism in emerging markets.


2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 357-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eve Rosenzweig ◽  
Carrie Queenan ◽  
Ken Kelley

Purpose Research on the service–profit chain (SPC) provides important insights regarding how organizations attain service excellence. However, this research stream does not shed light on the mechanisms by which service organizations sustain such excellence, despite the struggles of many organizations to do so. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to develop the SPC as a more dynamic system characterized by feedback loops, accumulation processes, and time delays based on the service operations, human resources, and marketing literatures. Design/methodology/approach The authors posit the feedback loops operate as virtuous cycles, such that increases in customer perceptions of service quality and in profit margins lead to subsequent increases in the quality of the internal working environment, which ultimately reimpacts performance in a positive way, and so on. The authors test the hypotheses using five years of archival data on 417 full-service US hotels. The unique data set combines longitudinal data from multiple functions, including employee assessments regarding their tools, practices, and abilities to serve customers, customer perceptions of service quality, and objective measures of financial performance. Findings The authors find support for the idea that some organizations provide customers with high-quality service over time by reinvesting in the inputs responsible for generating the initial success, i.e., in various aspects of the internal working environment. Research limitations/implications The analysis of 417 hotels from a single firm may influence the extent to which the findings can be generalized. Originality/value By expanding the boundaries of previous conceptual and empirical models investigating SPCs, the authors offer a deeper understanding of the cross-functional character of modern operational systems and the complex dynamics that these systems generate.


2018 ◽  
Vol 78 (5) ◽  
pp. 592-610 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abbas Ali Chandio ◽  
Yuansheng Jiang ◽  
Feng Wei ◽  
Xu Guangshun

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of short-term loan (STL) vs long-term loan (LTL) on wheat productivity of small farms in Sindh, Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach The econometric estimation is based on cross-sectional data collected in 2016 from 18 villages in three districts, i.e. Shikarpur, Sukkur and Shaheed Benazirabad, Sindh, Pakistan. The sample data set consist of 180 wheat farmers. The collected data were analyzed through different econometric techniques like Cobb–Douglas production function and Instrumental variables (two-stage least squares) approach. Findings This study reconfirmed that agricultural credit has a positive and highly significant effect on wheat productivity, while the short-term loan has a stronger effect on wheat productivity than the long-term loan. The reasons behind the phenomenon may be the significantly higher usage of agricultural inputs like seeds of improved variety and fertilizers which can be transformed into the wheat yield in the same year. However, the LTL users have significantly higher investments in land preparation, irrigation and plant protection, which may lead to higher wheat production in the coming years. Research limitations/implications In the present study, only those wheat farmers were considered who obtained agricultural loans from formal financial institutions like Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited and Khushhali Bank. However, in the rural areas of Sindh, Pakistan, a considerable proportion of small-scale farmers take credit from informal financial channels. Therefore future researchers should consider the informal credits as well. Originality/value This is the first paper to examine the effects of agricultural credit on wheat productivity of small farms in Sindh, Pakistan. This paper will be an important addition to the emerging literature regarding effects of credit studies.


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