Love books: sustained success amidst uncertainties

Subject area: The sub field of academia that the case is designed to teach is small business development, entrepreneurship or women in business. Study level/applicability: This case is appropriate for graduate and post-graduate, MBA and executive education students focusing on entrepreneurship, small business development or women in business. Case overview This real-life case is based on interviews that took place with Kate Rogan, the co-founder of Love Books, and other stakeholders associated with the small bookselling business that is based in the suburb of Melville in Johannesburg. It describes how Rogan’s past influenced how she saw and was open to the opportunity; and how, through passion, commitment, dedication and stakeholder management, she created a business that brought meaning to her and others’ lives. Rogan’s vast experience in editing, publishing and radio influenced how she evaluated the bookstore opportunity. For the past 11 years, she focused on building a loyal customer base through knowing her customers, staying on top of current industry and market trends and constantly thinking about how she could add value through minimal financial outlay. COVID-19 further complicated her thinking about how to traditionally market and sell books to her client base. As the case concludes, Rogan wonders how to build upon the foundations of her successful bookshop and grow profitability while remaining true to her and the business’s values. Expected learning outcomes The case allows students to consider the key enablers for assessing entrepreneurial opportunities and drivers of small business growth. Following discussion and analysis of the case, students should be able to: explore how cognitive dynamics affect an entrepreneur’s evaluation of opportunities; analyze the case against the 4Cs (continuity, community, connection and command) of competitive business advantage; evaluate building blocks for sustainable business profitability; and assess and recommend different learnings for entrepreneurs and small business owners. Supplementary materials Teaching notes are available for educators only. Subject code CSS 7: Management Science.

Antecedents of Customer Loyalty and Word of Mouth: A Study on Consumer Durables in Emerging Economies

In the era of Marketing 4.0, where customers and companies interact online as well as offline, an immense need to understand the actions and reactions of a potential customer is generated. The expectation of the customer is sure to rise in the time ahead. There are challenges for organizations to prove their sustainability with all this. Among all challenges, developing loyalty among customers remains foremost, keeping into consideration the supremacy of customer loyalty (CL) in influencing other customers by using word of mouth (WOM). Organizations strategically use many tools to maintain a positive WOM and its image, that is, corporate image (CI) and brand image (BI) lead the confrontation. This article reveals that people are very rational while buying durables. The customer evaluates the CI and BI differently to buy high-priced and low-priced electronic products, which is a price-sensitive industry. The finding indicates that CI and BI have a significant impact on CL and WOM in the case of both high-priced and low-priced products, with a strong distinction in their intensity. Organizations must understand the presence of variation, as a loyal customer is the right source of positive WOM. Furthermore, the contribution of gender towards CL, BI and WOM is not seen, but is present in CI. Thus, the study provides new phenomena for using CI and BI as marketing tools to improve CL and WOM.

Drivers of Customer Retention: An Introspection Into Indian Retail Customers

There is a wide variety of choices for the modern retail customer including multiple retail formats. The success of the retail establishments has a great reliance of customer retention, which is an essential attribute to achieve profitability. This study takes in to consideration to extract the factors responsible for customer retention which in turn assists in increasing the customer base. The prime objective of the study is to ascertain the influence of customer satisfaction, switching costs and customer loyalty on customer retention. Whereas, the second one is to explore the effect of demographic factors on customer retention. The sample size of this study was 600 respondents who were chosen for the full-fledged study. The statistical techniques used for final analysis were structural equation modelling and regression. The findings subsequent to the statistical analysis and interpretation concluded that customer loyalty, customer satisfaction and switching cost have the strongest effect on customer retention in retails. Customer satisfaction alone is not every time an indicator of customer loyalty. A loyal customer will spread positive word of mouth to other prospective customers about the retail. Occupation of respondent has a major influence on customer retention dimensions.

Determinant of Satisfaction and Repurchase Intention on E- commerce: A Case Study of Housewife in Indonesia

The development of a digital-based economy creates potential opportunity upon e-commerce platform service provider. Moreover, in pandemic situation shopping online support the large-scale social restriction. There are many well-known e- commerce brands in Indonesia both domestic and international establishment. The competition is in the red ocean which comprising many competitors who have strong leadership strikes penetration of the market. Innovation towards strategy to make consumer kept staying must be very important especially on how to lead them to do repeat order. However, many firms still neglect this factors. Switching behavior from the individual’s attitude towards the other e-commerce brands become threat for the certain e-commerce brand’s loyal customer. Therefore, this particular research focus on house-wife who fit-matched with the research profile respondent where mostly the house-wife plays significant role on decision and purchase making in a family. This research has purposes to analyze the factors that might influence the satisfaction and repurchase intention in e-commerce platform. In addition to that, analyze the correlation of brand leadership perception towards satisfaction and repurchase intention. Lastly, identify the characteristic of house-wife by looking at repeat order intention upon the brand leader. Conclusive-descriptive-multiple cross sectional research model by using statistical approach of PLS-SEM was conducted in this research. 265 housewives were recruited as respondent by using online survey across Indonesia. Study found that perceived value and popularity are directly related positively and significantly affect satisfaction and repurchase intention. Future research is encouraged to use longitudinal design in providing a holistic understanding of perceived brandleadership

Determinants and implications of travel motivations: international travellers visiting Cappadocia

Purpose This paper aims to explore the determinants and implications of travel motivations of international tourists visiting the Cappadocia destination. Design/methodology/approach The quantitative research method focusing on numerical data was used to test the proposed hypotheses, and the survey technique has been used to collect data. The research participants consisted of 363 international tourists visiting the Cappadocia region/Turkey and spending at least one night there. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed using the AMOS 22 package program to ensure the scales’ construct validity. Then, the structural equation model was established to test the study’s hypothesis, and these hypotheses were tested with the help of path analysis. Findings As determinants of travel motivations, while electronic word of mouth (eWOM) has a positive effect on travel motivation dimensions, the impact of travel risk perception is negative. Moreover, from the dimensions of travel motivations, novelty/learning and socialization positively affect destination loyalty. However, the influences of escape and relaxation and self-development are meaningless. Besides that, travel risk perception strongly impacts eWOM. Practical implications Destination managers and practitioners must maintain a higher level of tourist motivation and reduce tourists’ travel risk perception levels to improve destination competitiveness by constituting a more loyal customer profile. Moreover, eWOM platforms should be used efficiently. Originality/value This study points to a functional multidimensional model that contributes to the literature and guides destination managers and practitioners. The proposed framework of determinants and consequences of tourists’ travel motivation can also be applied in other service contexts.

SERVICE QUALITY IN INSURANCE COMPANIES

Insurance services are a special category of services, characterized by a high standardization and at the request of customers to protect themselves from a number of financial losses that they may suffer as a result of risks. For this reason, it is very important that insurers provide quality services to customers. Customer satisfaction is paramount for attracting new customers and retaining existing ones, thus achieving a loyal customer base. They will recommend the insurance company and other potential customers if they are satisfied, thus increasing the market share of the insurance company. The quality of insurance services and the relationship between the insurance company and the client have been the subject of many studies over time, most often being followed by the impact that the quality of services has on their behavior. Starting from the identified problem, I set out in this paper to look at how consumers’ perceptions of the quality of insurance services influence their perceptions of their relationship with the insurance company and implicitly their behaviour towards it.Starting from these approaches, we aimed in this paper to see what is the meaning given by the consumers of the insurance services of the company Allianz Țiriac to the concept of quality of insurance services.Our study consisted of an extensive process, carried out in several stages of work, namely: elaboration of the questionnaire addressed to the insurance company’s clients, establishing the sample, collecting data based on questionnaires, centralizing and processing the data and interpreting the results.The case study took place over a month, on a sample of 300 people, most of the respondents are between 26 and 45 years old, who work in the private sector and came monthly between 1800-290 lei. The GAP analysis highlights some aspects of the services offered by Allianz Țiriac. A negative GAP highlights the unfavorable aspects of the services provided by the insurance company and raises an alarm about the situation of the company.

DOES THE IMPLEMENTATION OF LOYALTY PROGRAMMES LEAD TO GAINING A LOYAL CUSTOMER?

An increasing number of retailers and service providers are aware of the importance of loyalty programmes as a tool to support sales. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the benefits of loyalty cards for sales support at three selected companies in the Czech market, especially Kaufland, Globus and Tesco, and to determine whether the implementation of the loyalty programme leads to gaining a loyal customer. The basic source of data is the data obtained through an interview and the CAWI method, which consists in collecting data using an online questionnaire survey. The obtained data are evaluated using a prognostic marketing and comparison method. In total, responses were obtained from 121 respondents. The results of the research show that the implementation of loyalty programmes does not lead to gaining a more loyal customer. If the customer does not have to register to join the programmer, he does not perceive himself as loyal to the brand. The Kaufland Card programme has become the most used loyalty programme. These conclusions lead to new ideas that could affect both the future development of loyalty programmes and their structure.

Influence of Human Resource Management Policy on Customer Loyalty

The business would not be able to achieve the set goals without qualified specialists. Therefore human resource management is one of the most important processes to an organisation. HRM policy aspects – employee motivation and job satisfaction – directly contribute to customer satisfaction and loyalty. The problem is that in today’s business environment, where there is a big rivalry, maintaining customer loyalty becomes a huge task for the business. The aim of this article is to evaluate the impact of human resource management policy on customer loyalty. The article analyses concept of human resource management, evaluates the development of loyal customer behaviour, distinguishes traditional and innovative concepts of human resource management. Also, the article notices a relationship between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction. Analysis of empirical research level shows the impact of human resource management policy on customer loyalty and provides a research model.

POSTCORONAVIRUS MARKETING POLICY OF RETAINING LOYAL CONSUMERS OF HOTEL AND RESTAURANT PRODUCT

The article is devoted to the study of post-coronavirus marketing policy of retaining loyal consumers of hotel and restaurant products. The understanding of the complex hotel and restaurant product, which is the final product of the hotel and restaurant industry, which covers the processes of production, sales, organization of consumption in accordance with the theory of marketing services. The specific features of the hotel and restaurant product in the concept of modern consumption are highlighted. The scheme of a complex hotel and restaurant product is offered. The profile of the segment of loyal consumers is made. The definition of the term "loyal consumer" is defined as a certain segment of the market of buyers of a complex hotel and restaurant product, which has chosen the range of goods, services and services of a hotel and restaurant enterprise, formed an appropriate and justified by its own decisions and impressions degree of commitment positive emotional attitude to it, demonstrates the rejection of alternative competitors. Criteria for forming loyalty for the consumer are defined. The main benefits of retaining loyal customers for the hotel and restaurant business are outlined. The basic requirements to the enterprise-manufacturer of a complex hotel and restaurant product from loyal consumers are grouped. The priority vectors of attention of the management of the hotel and restaurant firm in the formation of post-coronavirus marketing policy of consumer retention are indicated. The types of analysis that should precede policy development are substantiated. The main purpose and tasks of the postcoronavirus policy of retaining loyal consumers are formulated. Postcoronavirus directions of formation of a set of marketing functions concerning interaction with a segment of supporters of a product of the company are offered. The list of measures for effective interaction and management of a certain microsegment of the market of loyal consumers is made. Further scientific developments should be promising in the direction of creating a digital accounting system for the segment of loyal customers of the enterprise.Keywords: marketing, product, hotel, restaurant, loyal customer. Стаття присвячена дослідженню питань посткоронавірусної маркетингової політики утримання лояльних споживачів готельно-ресторанного продукту. Уточнено розуміння поняття комплексного готельно-ресторанного продукту, виокремлено його специфічні риси та запропоновано схему. Надано визначення терміну «лояльний споживач». Окреслено вигоди від утримання лояльних споживачів для готельно-ресторанного підприємства. Згруповано базові вимоги до підприємства-виробника комплексного готельно-ресторанного продукту з боку лояльних споживачів. Позначено пріоритетні вектори уваги менеджменту фірми при формуванні посткоронавірусної маркетингової політики утримання споживачів. Сформу-льовано головну мету і задачі розробленої політики. Запропоновано посткоронавірусні напрямки формування набору маркетингових функцій щодо взаємодії з сегментом прихильників продукту компанії. Ключові слова: маркетинг, продукт, готель, ресторан, лояльний клієнт.

Customer Engagement in Private Sector Healthcare: How Does it Affect Customer Loyalty

Service sector grows rapidly and gives a foremost contribution to the world economy. In Sri Lanka, the service sector contributes more than 55% to the Gross Domestic Production. Among such services, health care is pioneering and includes many businesses and a wide variety of organizations. Within the healthcare sector, this study focuses on the private sector hospitals where customer engagement is very high. However, the scholarly attention given to understanding customer engagement and its impact is very rare, particularly in the healthcare sector in Sri Lankan context. Therefore, this study aims to examine the impact of customer engagement on customer loyalty in private sector hospitals. Based on the positivism, a quantitative survey was carried out distributing more than 200 questionnaires among people who have visited private sector hospitals in Colombo district, chosen based on convenience sampling method. The rationale behind limiting the study to Colombo district is, many of the private sector hospitals are located in this district in Sri Lanka. The data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and regression. The study found a high level of customer engagement in private sector healthcare and has a strong positive impact on customer loyalty. As implications, the study suggests private sector healthcare to manage customer engagements providing positive experience in order to sustain a loyal customer base.