scholarly journals Understanding lovemark brands

2018 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 272-294
Author(s):  
Apostolos Giovanis ◽  
Pinelopi Athanasopoulou
Keyword(s):  
Hierarchical Model ◽  
Least Squares Method ◽  
Brand Performance ◽  
Brand Relationships ◽  
Love Styles ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Consumer Responses ◽  
Repurchase Intentions ◽  
Emotional Aspects ◽  
Partial Least Squares Method

Purpose The purpose of this study is to develop and empirically test a lovemark measure that can be used to identify how brands of wireless-enabled computing devices are classified based on customers’ respect and love toward them. Design/methodology/approach On evidence drawn from 1,016 consumers of wireless-enabled computing devices (e.g. netbooks and tablets) in Greece, partial least squares method is used to test the validity of the proposed hierarchical model. Findings Results show that a lovemark measure can be conceptualized as a third-order reflective construct having respect and love as its second-order dimensions. In turn, respect reflects on brand performance, trust and reputation, and love reflects on brand commitment, intimacy and passion. The proposed measure presents a very good external validity as it can explain big portions of variance in consumer responses including repurchase intentions, positive WOM and willingness to pay a price premium. Finally, the proposed measure is used to classify eight well-known devices as products, fads, brands and lovemarks and identify the love styles associated with brand relationships. Originality/value This paper provides empirical evidence for measuring and identifying lovemarks using a hierarchical model, which can be further used to develop a more effective strategy for managing the functional and emotional aspects of brands to strengthen consumer-brand relationships.

scholarly journals The impact of brand concept on brand equity

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-245 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joo-Eon Jeon
Keyword(s):  
Brand Equity ◽  
Emotional Attachment ◽  
Brand Performance ◽  
Brand Relationships ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Customer Commitment ◽  
Brand Relationship ◽  
Brand Concept ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

PurposeResearches on the impact brand equity have grown considerably in recent years, as it has been shown to have significant impact on a company’s financial performance. This paper aims to empirically test the relationships between brand concepts and brand equity, while exploring the mediating roles of emotional attachment and customer commitment. Design/methodology/approachThe research investigates the effect of brand concept on the customer–brand relationship and brand performance. Additionally, it examines how the relationship between brand concept and brand equity is mediated by customer–brand relationships such as emotional attachment and commitment. FindingsThe results empirically demonstrate the important contribution of the three brand concepts to brand equity. The results empirically demonstrate the important contribution of the three-brand concept to customer commitment and to brand equity that has been predicted by prior research. Originality/valueThe main contribution of this study is to demonstrate the effects of the brand concepts related to aesthetic, functional and symbolic benefits on brand equity. From this, brand equity may be viewed as a link in the path of effects that indirectly connects brand concepts with market performance. Brand concept, emotional attachment and customer commitment are relevant constructs underlying brand equity, and commitment and loyalty are key mediating variables in relational exchanges.

What makes users willing or hesitant to use Fintech?: the moderating effect of user type

2018 ◽  
Vol 118 (3) ◽  
pp. 541-569 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hyun-Sun Ryu
Keyword(s):  
Least Squares Method ◽  
Original Data ◽  
The Novel ◽  
Continuance Intention ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Partial Least Squares Method ◽  
Benefit And Risk

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to better understand why people are willing or hesitant to use Financial technology (Fintech) as well as to determine whether the effect of perceived benefits and risks of continuance intention differs depending on user types. Design/methodology/approach Original data were collected via a survey of 243 participants with Fintech usage experience. The partial least squares method was used to test the proposed model. Findings The results reveal that legal risk had the most negative effect on the Fintech continuance intention, while convenience had the strongest positive effect. Differences in specific benefit and risk impacts are found between early and late adopters. Originality/value This empirical study contributes to the novel understanding of the benefit and risk factors affecting the Fintech continuance intention.

How vendor capabilities impact IT outsourcing performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 325-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meng-Meng Wang ◽  
Jian-Jun Wang
Keyword(s):  
Indirect Effect ◽  
Least Squares Method ◽  
It Outsourcing ◽  
Learning Capability ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Moderated Mediation Model ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
Internal Integration ◽  
Partial Least Squares Method

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the underlying mechanisms through which integration capability and learning capability influence IT outsourcing performance from vendor’s perspective. Design/methodology/approach This paper develops a moderated mediation model to explain the underlying influence processes of integration capability and learning capability on vendor’s performance. A sample of 237 vendor firms was obtained from China through two separated surveys. The hypotheses were tested with the partial least squares method and bias-corrected bootstrapping method. Findings The empirical results indicate that external integration capability (EIC) mediates the effect of internal integration capability (IIC) on vendor outsourcing performance, and the relationship between EIC and vendor performance is positively moderated by learning capability, while learning capability has a negative moderating effect on the link between IIC and vendor performance. Further, the conditional indirect effect is suggested. The indirect effect of IIC on vendor performance through EIC becomes non-significant when learning capability is low. Originality/value This study highlights the counterintuitive notion that learning capability may not always have uniformly positive effects and figure out the mechanism through which integration capability and learning capability can effectively improve IT outsourcing performance.

How social influence and personality affect users’ social network fatigue and discontinuance behavior

2018 ◽  
Vol 70 (4) ◽  
pp. 344-366 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sajad Shokouhyar ◽  
Seyed Hossein Siadat ◽  
Mojde Khazeni Razavi
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Social Influence ◽  
Least Squares ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Least Squares Method ◽  
Social Network Sites ◽  
Research Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Partial Least Squares Method ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to focus on understanding how social influence and personality of individuals differentiate between users’ social network fatigue and discontinuance behavior. Furthermore, the most common discontinuance behavior among users was investigated. Design/methodology/approach The research model was tested with the data from 163 Instagram users based on online and offline surveys. The partial least squares method was used to test the proposed hypotheses of this study. Findings The results indicate that social influence affects users’ discontinuance behavior and social network fatigue. Social network fatigue is greater in users with higher reported social influence compared to those with a lower one. Moreover, in response to social network fatigue, users prefer to keep their activities under control instead of switching to alternative social network sites (SNSs) or a short break in social network activities. Practical implications By achieving a better understanding of users’ feeling and behaviors, social network providers may codify their strategies more efficiently. Originality/value The study is novel in exploring users’ SNS fatigue and their discontinuance behavior by integrating social influence and personality. The authors defined a new concept of effect of social influence on social network fatigue. Additionally, the authors examined which discontinuance behaviors in individuals were more prevalent.

Gift giving via social network services: the case of a WeChat mini-program used in China

2020 ◽  
Vol 54 (4) ◽  
pp. 481-502
Author(s):  
Chen Hao ◽  
Chen Hai-tao
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Least Squares Method ◽  
Relationship Maintenance ◽  
Network Services ◽  
Promotion Strategy ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Network Services ◽  
Questionnaire Method ◽  
And Behavior ◽  
Partial Least Squares Method

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine and explore the factors that drive users to gift through social network services (SNS).Design/methodology/approachA questionnaire method was applied to collect data from the sample of the WeChat users who have used mini-program. This paper employed the partial least squares method and used SmartPLS2.0 to analysis sample data, which examined the validity as well as reliability of the sample and further tested the hypotheses by the path coefficients.FindingsThe empirical results showed that pleasure, social relationship maintenance, convenience and comprehensiveness are significantly related to SNS gifting behavior, and conscientiousness moderates the relationship between intention and behavior in the context of SNS gifting. However, this study cannot find the effect of symbolic representation, impersonality and gift reciprocity motivations.Research limitations/implicationsTheoretically, this study perfects the research of SNS gifting on the lack of exploring characteristics of comprehensiveness. Practically, this paper lends insights on how SNS providers attract users to adopt gifting.Originality/valueSNS gifting lacks a complete and effective promotion strategy, resulting in a small number of users as well as low profit. Besides, prior studies have focused on tradition gifting and online gifting. Little research talks about gifting on SNS phenomena, and thus it is necessary to perfect the theory of SNS gifting.

Improving SME performance through organizational memory

2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 473-491 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roman Kmieciak
Keyword(s):  
Customer Satisfaction ◽  
Least Squares Method ◽  
Organizational Memory ◽  
Operational Performance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Direct And Indirect Impacts ◽  
Indirect Impacts ◽  
Partial Least Squares Method ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose Specific research on the meaning of organizational memory (OM), including databases, for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and their performance is limited. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationships between open-mindedness culture (OMC), OM, SME innovativeness and customer satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach Five hypotheses were formulated and tested using the partial least squares method. The survey data were collected from 120 Polish SMEs. Findings A positive and significant relationship between OMC and OM was found. OM has both direct and indirect impacts on customer satisfaction through firms’ innovativeness. The results confirmed the correlation between firms’ innovativeness and customer satisfaction. Research limitations/implications The focus on SMEs in a single country limits the generalizability of the results. Practical implications The findings of this research can inform SME managers who are willing to improve operational performance. This study suggests that OMC is a prior stage in building, updating and using OM in the form of databases. Leveraging databases is a way to incrementally increase firms’ innovativeness and customer satisfaction. Originality/value This paper fills an important gap in the extant literature by empirically testing the relationship between OMC, OM, firms’ innovativeness and customer satisfaction. This study is the first ever to study these relationships within the context of SMEs.

The link between guanxi and customer–salesperson collusion

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 353-378 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lu-Ming Tseng
Keyword(s):  
Ethical Decision Making ◽  
Least Squares Method ◽  
Insurance Industry ◽  
Insurance Fraud ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ethical Conflicts ◽  
Partial Least Squares Method ◽  
First Time ◽  
Perceived Harm

Purpose In the insurance industry, it is common for the insurance salespeople to sell insurance products to friends, relatives and associates. However, permitting (or encouraging) salespeople to sell insurance through personal relationships may result in some ethical conflicts. For example, some insurance salespeople may help relatives or friends with pre-existing medical conditions buy the health insurance. Previous studies on insurance fraud have rarely focused on this problem. Thus, this study aims to investigate the effects of guanxi (guanxi refers to the durable social connections and relationships a Chinese person uses to exchange favors for a specific purpose) on the salespeople’s acceptance of customer–salesperson collusions. Two types of guanxi are discussed in the research. The author further focuses on how the ethical attitudes and intentions are affected by the salespeople’s guanxi considerations, consequence evaluations, perception of peers’ attitudes, perceived harm to other policyholders and perceived probability of being caught. Design/methodology/approach Full-time life insurance salespeople from Taiwan were surveyed, and partial least squares method was used in the study. Findings The results showed that the types of guanxi, guanxi considerations, consequence evaluations, perception of peers’ attitudes and perceived harm to other policyholders were important in forming the salespeople’s ethical decision-making in the customer–salesperson collusions. Originality/value This is the first time that guanxi has been studied as the factor influencing collusive behaviors in the problems of insurance fraud. The results challenged an established belief that the insurance salespeople should first target close relations as they build their portfolio of customers.

The impact of corruption on the export intensity of SMEs in Tunisia: moderating effects of political instability and regulatory obstacles

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Moujib Bahri ◽  
Ouafa Sakka ◽  
Rahim Kallal
Keyword(s):  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Least Squares Method ◽  
Political Instability ◽  
Secondary Data ◽  
Joint Effect ◽  
Export Intensity ◽  
Content Type ◽  
World Bank Enterprise Survey ◽  
Partial Least Squares Method ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the moderating effect of political instability and regulatory obstacles on the relationship between corruption and export intensity in the context of Tunisian small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Design/methodology/approach This study uses data from the World Bank Enterprise Survey (WBES). The sample consists of 537 Tunisian SMEs. The partial least squares method was used to analyse the data. Findings The direct effect of corruption on export intensity was found to be non-significant. It was significantly negative when corruption was combined with regulatory obstacles, whereas it was positive when corruption coexisted with political instability. Additional analyses revealed that results were sensitive to firm size (small versus medium) and sector of activity (service versus manufacturing). Research limitations/implications This paper has some limitations related to the use of secondary data. Enhanced variable measurements and more detailed data collection are recommended for future studies. Practical implications This paper is useful to researchers and policymakers who are interested in understanding the effects of a poor institutional environment on SME exports in developing countries. Originality/value This paper considers the impact of corruption on the export intensity of SMEs in the presence of political instability and regulatory obstacles in Tunisia. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the joint effect of these institutional variables on the exports of firms has not been examined in previous research.

To verify or not to verify: using partial least squares to predict effect of online news on panic buying during pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim-Lim Tan ◽  
Joseph Kee-Ming Sia ◽  
Daniel Kuok Ho Tang
Keyword(s):  
Least Squares ◽  
Partial Least Squares ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Least Squares Method ◽  
Online News ◽  
The Body ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Initial Attempt ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Partial Least Squares Method

PurposeCoronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic has given rise to different dimensions of uncommon human behavior, and panic buying is one of them. Interestingly, panic buying research has not been given much attention. The purpose of this paper is threefold. Firstly, it examines the influences of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) elements (subjective norm, attitude and perceived behavior control (PBC)) on panic buying. Secondly, it investigates online news and the perceived likelihood of being affected (PLA) as antecedents to the TPB constructs. Finally, to examine online news verification as a moderator on the relationship between the TPB constructs and panic buying.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from 371 respondents and analyzed using the partial least squares method structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). PLS predict was applied to determine the predictive power of the model further.FindingsThis study found that subjective norms and attitude influence panic buying. The results further revealed that online news has a direct influence on the PLA and attitude. However, PBC has no such effect on panic buying. Surprisingly, online news verification also has no moderating effects on the relationships between the TPB elements and panic buying.Originality/valueThis research helps to understand consumer panic buying behavior, especially during shock events such as the COVID-19 pandemic. This study is the first that extends the TPB incorporating both online news and PLA as antecedents to panic buying in the same model. Furthermore, the study serves as an initial attempt to investigate online news verification as a moderator between the link of three constructs of TPB and panic buying, contributing to existing literature. Lastly, it advances the body of knowledge on consumer behavior and contributes methodologically by introducing the PLS approach.

The impact of asymmetry on performance in different collaboration and integration environments in supply chain management

2018 ◽  
Vol 23 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marek Michalski ◽  
Jose-Luis Montes-Botella ◽  
Ram Narasimhan
Keyword(s):  
Supply Chain ◽  
Supply Chain Management ◽  
Least Squares Method ◽  
Chain Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Non Linear ◽  
Improved Performance ◽  
And Performance ◽  
Partial Least Squares Method ◽  
The Impact

Purpose This paper aims to examine the non-linear aspects of the relationship between asymmetry and performance in supply chains (SCs), under varying intensities of collaboration and integration. Design/methodology/approach The paper offers a useful new approach to designing strategic elements of supply chain management (SCM) relationships. Using the partial least squares method, an empirical study of 66 companies in Spain has been conducted to clarify contemporary relationships, suggest new directions and ultimately contribute toward developing SCM theory. Findings The influences of asymmetry on performance in varying collaboration and integration contexts are shown to be unstable and have non-linear paths. It is inappropriate for all firms to collaborate or integrate continually, even for a prescribed period. Furthermore, due to asymmetry, SCM processes are more complex. Research limitations/implications The results’ validity may be limited to contexts specific to Spanish SCs. It would be valuable to investigate the impact of asymmetry on firms’ performance and relationships in other markets. Practical implications Collaborations and integration between partners in a SC might change the role of asymmetry from restraining to improving performance. The best way to improve performance in asymmetric relationships is to collaborate. Certain dimensions of integration and full integration are not necessarily required to improve firms’ performance under asymmetry conditions. Originality/value The study adds a new viewpoint on SCM by suggesting that not all collaboration and integration developments lead directly to improved performance.

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