scholarly journals Linking internal marketing with customer outcomes

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 394-413 ◽  
Author(s):  
Achilleas Boukis ◽  
Kostas Kaminakis ◽  
Anastasios Siampos ◽  
Ioannis Kostopoulos
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Organizational Identification ◽  
Marketing Research ◽  
Employee Motivation ◽  
Internal Marketing ◽  
Retail Banking ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Perceptions ◽  
Positive Effects

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to explore how the adoption of an internal marketing (IM) programme in a retail banking setting enhances some positive employee behaviours that promote customer perceived service quality. Design/methodology/approach – A multilevel research design is adopted which draws evidence from branch managers, employees and customers in order to investigate whether branch manager’s adoption of an IM philosophy affects front-line employee responsiveness to the firm’s IM strategies and their levels of motivation, empowerment and organizational identification (OI), respectively. Findings – Results indicate that manager’s IM adoption can enhance employee adoption of IM and raises their levels of motivation, empowerment and OI. The moderating role of manager-employee dissimilarity is also discussed. Finally, findings confirm that employee motivation, empowerment and OI affect customer perceptions of service quality. Originality/value – This study provides an important shift by formally including IM into multilevel marketing research and establishes another link in the IM-organizational performance relationship, uncovering some behavioural routes through which the positive effects of IM can add to the achievement of firm’s external marketing objectives.

How personal advisors make a difference in serving “almost rich” bank customers

2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (6) ◽  
pp. 904-923 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olof Wahlberg ◽  
Peter Öhman ◽  
Christer Strandberg
Keyword(s):  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
Service Quality ◽  
Retail Banking ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Perceived Service Quality ◽  
Customer Perceptions ◽  
Quality Practices ◽  
Service Portfolio ◽  
Quality Dimensions ◽  
Service Quality Dimensions

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore mass affluent customer perceptions of the service quality delivered by personal advisors and banks, and the contributions of personal advisors and banks to customer satisfaction; and also to analyse the strength of the relationship between customer satisfaction with personal advisors and banks. Design/methodology/approach A survey composed of items designed to mirror service quality practices used in the mass affluent segment was administered to customers of a major Swedish bank. Statistical analyses of the responses were performed. Findings Four service quality dimensions are identified as salient to customer satisfaction: interpersonal behaviour, knowledge, service portfolio, and trust. The relative importance of these dimensions depends on whether customer satisfaction with the personal advisor or the bank is focused. Moreover, the analysis indicates a double “rubbing off” effect where customer satisfaction with the personal advisor influences customer satisfaction with the bank and vice versa. Originality/value The unexplored separation of service quality provided by the bank and the personal advisor is central to perceived service quality. The study focuses on customer satisfaction in the mass affluent segment, which is an unexplored context different from retail banking.

The impact of internal marketing on the perception of service quality in retail banking: A Ghanaian case

2009 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 317-329 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Ankomah Opoku ◽  
Nana Atuobi-Yiadom ◽  
Cathryn Serwaah Chong ◽  
Russell Abratt
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Internal Marketing ◽  
Retail Banking ◽  
The Impact

Virtuous cycles of service quality: an empirical test

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 357-380 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eve Rosenzweig ◽  
Carrie Queenan ◽  
Ken Kelley
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Complex Dynamics ◽  
Empirical Test ◽  
Feedback Loops ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Perceptions ◽  
Internal Working ◽  
Research Stream

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.

Implementing capabilities-based quality management and marketing strategies to improve business performance

2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (8) ◽  
pp. 1124-1137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satish Mehra ◽  
Joshua T. Coleman
Keyword(s):  
Quality Management ◽  
Marketing Strategy ◽  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Retail Banking ◽  
Marketing Strategies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Quality Management Practices ◽  
Study Results ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the impact of successfully coordinating infrastructural capabilities, such as technology, and structural capabilities, such as people, on the performance of service businesses. Effective coordination of these two types of capabilities is shown to impact the implementation of quality management practices and the design of marketing strategy, both of which when utilized properly, lead to enhanced organizational performance. Design/methodology/approach The authors surveyed retail banking firms for this study to analyze empirical data on infrastructural and structural capabilities. Results were corroborated on the basis of in-depth interviews with several banking managers to provide real world verification of the findings. Findings Results indicate that both infrastructural and structural capabilities positively impact the design of marketing strategy, while only structural capabilities impact the implementation of quality management practices. Both, successfully implemented quality management ideals and a well-designed marketing strategy, are shown to enhance overall organizational performance. Research limitations/implications Research was conducted on a specific sector of the service industry, the banking sector. Also, the relatively small size of the study sample may have impacted the outcome of research applicability in some large businesses. Continuously emerging financial regulations could not be incorporated in the study. On the positive side, strong managerial feedback provides guidance toward adopting the study results, and lays the foundation for future research. Originality/value As today’s rapidly evolving society pushes people out of service encounters, replacing them with efficient and cost-saving technology, roles of both the people and the technology in an organization must be fully understood. This paper shows that, despite the exponential growth of technological innovation, both people and technology are critical to enhancing organizational performance through sound quality management practices and supportive marketing strategies.

Involvement in consumer-generated advertising

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (4) ◽  
pp. 1763-1784 ◽  
Author(s):  
James A. Busser ◽  
Lenna V. Shulga
Keyword(s):  
Structural Equation ◽  
Consumer Involvement ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Coffee Shop ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Perceptions ◽  
Brand Authenticity ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Marketing Tool ◽  
Organizational Transparency

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine consumer involvement with a popular US-based coffee-shop brand consumer-generated advertising (CGA) and its effect on brand loyalty and trust, to test the influence of antecedents: organizational transparency and brand authenticity on CGA involvement, and to analyze differences among customers and non-customers of the brand.Design/methodology/approachGrounded in the service-dominant logic and signaling theory, a scenario-based survey describing a contest to co-create a video commercial, as CGA, for a prominent US-based coffee-shop brand, yielded 492 responses from recent restaurant patrons. Structural equation modeling was used to test the effects of involvement in CGA on loyalty and trust. Multi-group comparison examined the differences between customers and non-customers of the brand.FindingsInvolvement in CGA had positive effects on loyalty and trust for both brand customers and non-customers. Transparency builds perceptions of brand authenticity; both authenticity and transparency significantly and positively affected trust, but only authenticity influenced loyalty. There was a stronger impact of involvement with CGA on loyalty for non-customers than brand customers. Non-customer perceptions of the brand’s authenticity influenced brand trust more significantly than customer perceptions.Practical implicationsCoffee-shop brand marketers should leverage online and physical brand exposure to involve both customers and non-customers in company-driven CGA, as a relationship management and marketing tool. Marketers should enhance transparency, which builds perceptions of brand authenticity, leading to greater CGA involvement.Originality/valueThis study contributes to hospitality research and literature, revealing that non-customers can be converted to brand customers through authenticity and indirect involvement with CGA, leading to long-term relational outcomes. The results identified consumers’ perception of organizational transparency is an antecedent of brand authenticity and established CGA contests as a relational marketing tool for hospitality brands.

Internal marketing, organizational commitment, and job performance in sport and leisure services

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 105-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Weisheng Chiu ◽  
Doyeon Won ◽  
Jung-sup Bae
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Commitment ◽  
Job Performance ◽  
Customer Service ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Internal Marketing ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Leisure Services

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual model and to investigate the relationships among internal marketing, organizational commitment and job performance in sport and fitness services. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected using a questionnaire survey from 254 employees at each of 12 municipal sport centers in Taipei City and were analyzed primarily using structural equation modeling techniques. Findings The results indicated that internal marketing has positive effects on organizational commitment and job performance. Moreover, organizational commitment has a positive influence on job performance and plays a partial mediating role in the relationship between internal marketing and job performance. The findings identify the relationships among internal marketing, organizational commitment and job performance. Originality/value This study proposed and tested an empirical model linking internal marketing, organizational commitment and job performance in sport and fitness services. Moreover, this study further probed into the path of influence of internal marketing strategies on job performance of employees by including their organizational commitment in the mediating process. The findings of this study have insightful implications and emphasize the important role of internal marketing in the management of customer service in sports.

Organizational success, human resources practices and exploration–exploitation learning

2019 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mercedes Ubeda-Garcia ◽  
Enrique Claver-Cortés ◽  
Bartolome Marco-Lajara ◽  
Francisco Garcia-Lillo ◽  
Patrocinio Zaragoza-Sáez
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Reward System ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Exploratory Learning ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Hrm Practices ◽  
Exploitative Learning ◽  
Learning Types

Purpose The purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to analyze which policies of human resource management (HRM) contribute to exploratory learning and which to exploitation learning; and second, to determine the influence of the two types of learning on organizational performance. Design/methodology/approach The research hypotheses are tested by partial least squares with data from a sample of 100 Spanish hotels. Findings The results confirm that, in order of importance, selective staffing, comprehensive training and an equitable reward system lead to exploratory learning. Exploitative learning seems to be fundamentally driven by comprehensive training and an equitable reward system (but in a different way than with exploratory learning). Finally, both types of learning have a positive impact on performance. Practical implications Both exploratory and exploitative learning result from HRM practices. To maintain performance expectations managers should develop both learning types, which entails the utilization of the best HRM practices. Originality/value This study presents empirical evidence around the findings of other studies (Laursen and Foss, 2014; Minbaeva, 2013) which call for further research into whether strategic HRM configurations have positive effects on the two learning types. The results find some practices that have a positive effect in both cases, but with different intensities in their explanations. This finding reveals the need for more detailed exploration around which combinations of HRM practices, in terms of exploratory vs exploitative learning, are advisable for organizations. The study also finds that the two learning types have a positive influence on organizational performance.

Internal marketing, service quality and perceived customer satisfaction

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leigh De Bruin ◽  
Mornay Roberts-Lombard ◽  
Christine De Meyer-Heydenrych
Keyword(s):  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
Service Quality ◽  
Banking Industry ◽  
Marketing Mix ◽  
Internal Marketing ◽  
Islamic Banking ◽  
Islamic Banks ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Internal Process ◽  
Perceived Ability

Purpose This study aims to explore the extent to which internal marketing influences employees’ perceived ability to deliver service quality in the Islamic banking industry in Oman. Additionally, the influence of perceived service quality on perceived customer satisfaction is established. Design/methodology/approach Data was obtained from retail banking branch employees at the customer front line of Islamic banks in Oman using electronic and person-administered surveys, and 272 responses were deemed suitable for data analysis. The measurement and structural models were measured through structural equation modelling. Findings The findings show that internal promotion, internal process and internal purpose are enablers of employees’ perceived ability to deliver service quality in the Islamic banking industry of Oman. In addition, service quality was found to have a strong positive influence on perceived customer satisfaction in Islamic banks. Research limitations/implications This study demonstrates that internal product, internal price, internal promotion, internal process and internal purpose are influencers of service quality, and the latter has a direct relationship with perceived customer satisfaction in Islamic banking. Practical implications The findings can guide the Islamic banking sector in Oman on how internal marketing can foster service quality, ultimately leading to positive perceived customer satisfaction experiences. Originality/value The internal marketing mix model is predominately a Western model, which has been tested primarily in mature Western markets. This study reflects on ten internal marketing mix elements, which have been tested for the enablement of service quality and perceived customer satisfaction in Oman.

Measuring service quality in mid-scale hotels

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dennis A Rauch ◽  
Michael Dwain Collins ◽  
Robert D Nale ◽  
Peter B. Barr
Keyword(s):  
Service Quality ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Factor Structure ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Online Reviews ◽  
Three Dimensional Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Service Environment ◽  
Customer Perceptions

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to identify an appropriate factor structure that may be utilized to effectively measure a hotel’s performance relative to service quality in a mid-scale setting. Customer perceptions of service quality in mid-scale hotels have largely been ignored; the focus of researchers has been the upscale (4-star) and luxury (5-star) segments. Design/methodology/approach – A 27-item questionnaire is utilized to measure service quality with an initial sample size of over 2,500 respondents. Principle component analysis is utilized to determine the factor structure and regression analysis to determine which factors may serve as predictors of a hotel’s ability to meet customers’ expectations and to provide value. Findings – A three-dimensional model emerged from the data, consistent with the theorizing of Rust and Oliver (1994), which includes the service product, service delivery and service environment. The service environment is the strongest predictor of a hotel’s ability to meet guests’ expectations and to provide guests with value within this context, which is inconsistent with findings in upscale and luxury hotels. Research limitations/implications – The generalizability of this research may be challenged, as the study was conducted within the context of an oceanfront resort destination dominated by leisure travelers; however, the study may be replicated in additional settings to determine if a similar bundling of service quality attributes occurs in other mid-scale settings including business hotels, as well as economy hotels. Practical implications – A three-factor model may be more appropriate for assessing service quality in a mid-scale (3-star) environment. In this setting, the service environment and service product may be more important measures of service quality than service delivery. This is an important finding, as many mid-scale and select-service, as well as new mid-scale, lifestyle hotel concepts, attempt to drive profitability by deemphasizing service delivery or by utilizing technology to facilitate service delivery. These findings may also assist operators of mid-scale hotels in improving guests’ perceptions of quality, which has been found to increase perceived value and may positively influence purchase or revisit intentions (Kashyap and Bojanic, 2000). Originality/value – Service quality research has been conducted, almost exclusively, in first-class (4-star) and luxury (5-star) hotels, while the majority of hotels do not fall into these categories. Although guest expectations relative to service quality may be lower in more moderately priced, mid-scale hotels, service quality remains a critical variable that influences a guest’s decision to return or recommend a hotel to others. Many travelers now utilize online reviews to minimize purchase risk by seeking information relative to service quality when selecting a hotel. Consequently, it is more important than ever that service quality is understood in hotels at all service levels. The present research contributes to filling this gap in the literature.

Customer perceptions of quality – a study in the SPA industry

2016 ◽  
Vol 28 (6) ◽  
pp. 657-675 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yvonne Lagrosen ◽  
Stefan Lagrosen
Keyword(s):  
Cluster Analysis ◽  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Service Quality ◽  
Exploratory Factor Analysis ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Perceptions ◽  
Quality Dimensions ◽  
Group Interviews

Purpose The purpose of this study is to explore dimensions of customer perceptions of factors important for a quality experience in the SPA industry and to assess service quality implications for these dimensions. Design/methodology/approach The empirical study involved seven Swedish SPA hotels. The first part was qualitative, consisting of seven focus-group interviews with hotel guests. In addition, service providers’ perceptions of customer quality were collected through seven quality cafés. The qualitative parts were analysed with the constant comparative technique from the grounded theory approach. Based on the findings from the interviews, a questionnaire was delivered to 400 randomly accessed women. The responses were analysed with exploratory factor analysis and cluster analysis. Findings The focus-group interviews showed that the customers’ perception of quality could be expressed in the following dimensions: physical effects, mental effects, pleasure and flexibility. The dimensions for customer quality seen from the staff’s perspective were treatments, climate and the SPA facility itself. The exploratory factor analysis defined the following underlying factors: enjoyment, treatments, practicality, fitness, cost and calm. The cluster analysis resulted in four groups of customer profiles: the more of everything group, the enjoyers, the savers and the fitness freaks. Research limitations/implications A limitation is that the study has only been carried out in one country. The main implication for research is a better understanding of quality dimensions and perceptions of service quality in the SPA industry. Practical implications The study provides a comprehensive insight into the dimensions of quality for SPA visitors. Moreover, four distinct groups of customers have been identified. This knowledge should be useful for SPA managers. Originality/value Only limited amounts of research have previously been carried out in the SPA industry. The paper provides a framework depicting perceptions of quality dimensions in SPA hotels.

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