What’s important for relationship management? The mediating roles of relational trust and satisfaction for loyalty of cooperative banks’ customers

Building on the corporate reputation model, this study investigates the drivers of customer-based corporate reputation. We consider two corporate reputation dimensions (i.e., the cognitive dimension competence and the affective dimension likeability, and their effects on customer satisfaction and loyalty). Adapting the model to the banking sector, we theoretically extend this model by reasoning that customer satisfaction and relational trust are mediators of the relationship between the two corporate reputation dimensions and loyalty. Studying a sample of 675 customers and members of cooperative banks in Germany, we find perceived attractiveness to be the most important driver of corporate reputation. Furthermore, we confirm a positive relationship between corporate reputation and loyalty, and a mediating effect of both satisfaction and relational trust. With our study, we give support for the proposition of customer satisfaction's as well as relational trust’s role as mediators of the relationship between corporate reputation and loyalty. With this research, we expand our knowledge on the well-known corporate reputation model, which has high relevance and important implications for marketing research and relationship management practice.

Producing zombie television: AMC, The Walking Dead, and the institutional dynamics of green-lighting hard-edged horror on cable

This study documents the industrial conditions that permitted the green-lighting and production of The Walking Dead (2010–present) on AMC, a network that built its reputation through high-brow series like Mad Men (2007–2015) and Breaking Bad (2008–2013) . The findings challenge two major arguments forwarded to make sense of the show’s airing: 1) the diagnostic model which suggests that zombies dovetailed into a zeitgeist-coloured paranoia of Others and the aftereffects of a neoliberalised social order and 2) the reputation model, which maintains that the industry track records of the personnel behind projects significantly enhances the chances of receiving a green-light.

Advertisement-financed credit ratings

This paper investigates the incentives of a credit rating agency (CRA) to generate accurate ratings under an advertisement-based business model. To this end, we study a two-period endogenous reputation model in which a CRA can increase the precision of its ratings by exerting effort. The CRA receives a revenue not from rating fees, as is standard in the literature, but through online advertising. We show that the advertisement-based business model provides sufficient incentives for the CRA to improve the precision of signals at intermediate levels of reputation. Furthermore, we identify conditions under which truthful reporting is incentive compatible.

The effects of quality of services and emotional appeal on university reputation: stakeholders’ view

Purpose Competitive universities try to improve their reputation to attract the best students as university reputation is a significant factor affecting the decision of a student. In this context, universities need a systematic management plan to improve their reputation among the stakeholders. This study aims to identify the factors affecting university reputation with the University Reputation Model. This model includes quality of services, emotional appeal, employee competence, academic leadership, student orientation, and social responsibility as possible factors affecting university reputation. . Design/methodology/approach Survey methodology was used in the current study. A total of 1000 questionnaires were collected from the stakeholders: students, alumni, academic and administrative staff. A structural equation modeling technique was used to analyze the data. Findings According to the results, quality of services and emotional appeal affect university reputation directly. Furthermore, employee competence, academic leadership, and student orientation have indirect effects on university reputation with the mediating effect of quality of services. Besides, emotional appeal mediates the effect of student orientation and social responsibility on university reputation. Originality/value A University Reputation Model is developed to explore significant direct and indirect effects of employee competence, academic leadership, student orientation, and social responsibility on the quality of services, emotional appeal, and university reputation. Furthermore, a measurement instrument applicable to various stakeholders of a university is developed. Additionally, large-scale data is collected from the stakeholders in Turkey to increase the validity of the findings.