Charles Cui

Service Quality Management in the Banking Sector in South Korea

There have been numerous studies on measures of service quality, such as SERVQUAL and SERVPERF, in a variety of contexts, but the validity of these instruments in Asian markets is under‐researched. The present study was focused in South Korea and data on expectations, perceptions and importance measures were collected from 153 bank customers. Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the measurement scales lacked validity with the South Korean sample, and principal component analyses revealed that SERVQUAL and SERVPERF were not uni‐dimensional. An amended SERVQUAL type scale showed three factors similar to the original SERVQUAL analysis, and an amended SERVPERF type scale showed two factors, with most of the original items converged on different conceptual dimensions.

Export market-oriented behavior and export performance: the moderating roles of competitive intensity and technological turbulence

This study examines the issue of how export market‐oriented behaviors influence export success. Using survey data obtained from Hong Kong based manufacturing exporters, our findings suggest that export market‐oriented behaviors are important predictors of several dimensions of export performance. In particular, it appears that this behavior is most important for exporters operating under conditions of high environmental turbulence. The export market‐oriented behavior – export performance relationship for these firms, was generally positive and strong. However, under conditions of low environmental turbulence, the costs of developing and implementing high levels of export market‐oriented behavior may outweigh the benefits accrued.

National identity and NATID: An assessment in Yemen

The national identity scale (NATID) was recently reported in the literature for identifying the core elements that define the uniqueness of a given culture or nation in so far as their association with marketing is concerned. This study examined the conceptual strengths and empirical limitations of NATID, and assessed the relevance of the national identity construct in Yemen. Confirmatory factor analysis of the data from a sample of 208 Yemeni respondents revealed that the NATID scale did not fit the Yemeni data. Modification of the scale was made through exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses, which resulted in four dimensions in two alternative models similar to NATID. Results from the second‐order confirmatory factor analysis of the two alternative models supported NATID’s multi‐dimensionality of the national identity construct in the Yemeni context. Implications for future research are discussed and limitations noted.

Working Effectively in Strategic Alliances Through Managerial Fit Between Partners: Some Evidence From Sino-british Joint Ventures and the Implications for R&D Professionals

To succeed in RD and (2) there is often a mismatch of perceptions between the British and Chinese managers with regard to who plays a particular managerial role in a JV. Managerial implications are discussed and issues for further research are highlighted.

Consumer xenocentrism in China: An exploratory study

Purpose – Marketing research has focussed more on in-group favoritism and out-group derogation (i.e. ethnocentrism) than out-group favoritism and in-group derogation (i.e. xenocentrism). The purpose of this paper is to explore the xenocentric behavior in the consumer sphere to explain why some consumers have a bias for foreign products even when domestic ones are qualitatively similar or better. As the Chinese economy has experienced more than three decades of near double-digit growth and increased openness to foreign products, it is important to examine phenomena related to the formation of Chinese attitudes toward foreign products with the rising tensions between the seemingly irreversible globalization and Chinese re-awakening nationalism. Design/methodology/approach – This study is based on a review of the extant literature and focus groups in three cities in China. Findings – This study has found that consumer xenocentrism (CX) is prevalent in China, especially among the new emerging wealthy classes,...

Consumer susceptibility to credit card misuse and indebtedness

Purpose – Prior research suggests that payment mechanisms are imbued with cues that affect purchase evaluation and future spending behavior. Credit cards are distinguished from other payment mechanisms as they elicit greater willingness to spend, prompt weaker recollections of past credit expenses and overvaluation of available funds – a phenomena the authors call as “credit card effect.” Little is known about the individuals’ differential exposure to the credit card effect. The purpose of this paper is to present a new concept and measure of susceptibility to the credit card misuse and indebtedness (SCCMI). Design/methodology/approach – The study focussed on young credit card users (aged 18-25) from Malaysia, Singapore, and the UK as they represent varying levels of credit card issuance and consumer protection regulations. The authors conducted confirmatory factor analysis and invariance tests to assess the validity, reliability and parsimony of the proposed scale in the three countries. Further, the aut...

Brand addiction: conceptualization and scale development

Purpose This paper aims to develop a definition of brand addiction and a valid brand addiction scale (BASCALE). Design/methodology/approach The authors used focus-group results to define brand addiction and generate items for the BASCALE and validated the BASCALE with survey data collected in the UK. Findings Based on the 11 brand-addiction features found from the focus groups, the authors define brand addition as an individual consumer’s psychological state that pertains to a self-brand relationship manifested in daily life and involving positive affectivity and gratification with a particular brand and constant urges for possessing the brand’s products/services. Based on the survey study, the authors have established a valid ten-item BASCALE. Research limitations/implications Due to the survey’s setting in the fashion context in the UK, the authors do not intend to generalize the results to other product types and countries. Future research should replicate the BASCALE in different product categories and different countries. Practical implications The BASCALE can serve marketers in the behavioral segmentation and assist brand managers to identify brand addict consumers and maintain long-term relationships with them. Originality/value The authors have developed a definition of brand addiction and a valid BASCALE, which one can use for a wide range of theoretical and empirical research in the marketing and psychology fields. The definition and BASCALE also serve to differentiate brand addiction from other consumer–brand relationships and addiction constructs (e.g. compulsive buying, brand love and brand trust).

An Exploratory Study on Consumers’ Perceptions of Mono- and Multiethnic Marketing: An Abstract

The extant literature shows a lack of consistency and understanding of the impact of ethnic marketing on ethnic consumers’ well-being and identity dynamics (Bennett et al. 2013; Demangeot et al. 2014; Kipnis et al. 2012). While considerable amount of research is concerned with ethnic consumer response to ethnic embedded marketing communications, less attention has been paid to the psychological and social mechanisms that dictate such responses (Appiah 2001; Bennett et al. 2013). The way ethnic consumers are depicted in marketing communications has deep impact on individual self-perceptions (Bailey 2006; Johnson and Grier 2012). Therefore, it is of immediate importance to identify potential controversies and vulnerabilities that result from ethnic-targeted marketing efforts and to expand our horizons and look beyond narrowly defined target marketing at the impact that ethnic marketing has on migrants’ well-being and their experience in the broader society. While mono-ethnic marketing communications and segmentation practices have been subject to criticism (Davidson 2009; Jafari and Visconti 2014; Kipnis et al. 2012), limited research has been conducted on multiethnic marketing communications, which have the potential to reach to multiple consumer segments simultaneously (Johnson and Grier 2011; Kipnis et al. 2012). This paper reports on the results of an interpretivist-constructivist qualitative study that investigates how ethnic consumers in the UK interpret both mono-ethnic and multiethnic embedded marketing communications and explores their impact on intercultural communication, ethnic consumers’ well-being, and their experience in being an integral part of the host country. Twelve in-depth interviews employing a photo elicitation technique were conducted with multicultural consumers of varied ethnic backgrounds and lengths of residence in the UK. This study employed a purposive sample, identified through a maximal variation sampling strategy (Creswell 2012). During the interviews, the participants were exposed and asked to interpret a series of mono-ethnic and multiethnic print advertisements featured in the British media. The data collected were analyzed inductively following the six steps of thematic analysis technique (Braun and Clarke 2006). The results show that multicultural cues in advertising appeals are a more accurate reflection of the enhanced diversity in the modern society and can potentially be a viable solution against vulnerability and toward more fluid cross-cultural communication. Multiethnic marketing communications were found to promote a sense of acceptance by acknowledging the ethnic presence in the community and sensitizing the society on diversity issues. On the other hand, our findings show that multicultural identities cannot be primed through mono-ethnic-targeted messages, which were primarily interpreted as tools to capitalize on ethnic consumers’ buying power. Our results contribute to insights into ethnic consumers’ experience of living in the UK and the role of marketing communications in enhancing social well-being and conviviality of ethnic individuals in the broader society.

An Exploratory Study of the Language Effect on Cross-Cultural Marketing: An Abstract

Language is one of the most important dimensions of one’s ethnic identity (Jafari and Visconti 2014; Richard and Toffoli 2009). For this reason, language is used extensively as a strategic tool to reach multicultural consumers in countries of increased ethnic diversity. Two major sociolinguistic and psycholinguistic theories—the speech accommodation theory (Giles et al. 1973) and the revised hierarchical model (RHM) (Kroll and Stewart 1994), respectively—seem to provide a motivation for using vernacular language in marketing communications. Drawing on the two theories, researchers argue that marketing communications in the vernacular language express marketer’s sensitivity and congruity to the audience’s cultural heritage (Holland and Gentry 1999; Koslow et al. 1994), facilitating, at the same time, message comprehension (Luna and Peracchio 2001). However, using a vernacular language can be criticized as employing a mono-ethnic prime, which risks being interpreted as an indication of multiple identity blindness (Kang and Bodenhausen 2015). In today’s society ethnicity is situational and an ethnic individual can have multiple, parallel ethnic identities that cannot be grasped through mono-ethnic marketing messages (Binning et al. 2009; Jafari and Visconti 2014; Stayman and Deshpande 1989). The current study addresses the theoretical inconsistency in the extant literature on the effectiveness of vernacular language use in marketing to multicultural consumers. We follow a constructivist/interpretative approach to data collection and data analysis to explore how ethnic consumers feel about ethnic language depiction in marketing communications. This chapter reports on the results of 16 in-depth interviews with multicultural consumers with diverse ethnic backgrounds, occupations and lengths of residence in the UK. In the interviews a photo elicitation technique was employed, participants being exposed and asked to interpret a series of ethnic embedded print advertisements employing vernacular, standard and bilingual messages. The data collected were analysed inductively using thematic analysis method, which followed the six steps recommended by Braun and Clarke (2006) and Yin’s (2016) recommendations on interpretation and concluding. Our findings seem to contradict the principles of accommodation theory in that employing vernacular language cues in marketing communications as a high level of accommodation does not trigger positive affect in ethnic consumers, unless the media used is ethnic congruent. Our results point to new directions of advancing the RHM framework in marketing research by exploring the symbolic roles of second/standard language use in ethnic targeted communications to facilitate cross-ethnic relations and the ethnic individuals’ feeling of social involvement in the host country. The current study makes an important theoretical contribution to the literature on cross-cultural consumer behaviour and international marketing. Our findings aim to reach marketers and researchers in the multicultural marketing discipline.

A Structural Equation Model of Credit Card Debt Among the Youth Market

Faced with market saturation and intense competition, the credit-card industry has turned to the youth market as the final untapped market segment to sustain profitability. However, the vulnerable status of this market segment means that they might be exposed to debt accumulation and a worrisome future. Correspondingly, marketers are expected to prioritize social responsibilities without posing harm to other stakeholders. In an effort to enrich the knowledge about youth market vulnerability to credit card, this paper reports the development of several important new constructs and a structural equation model with empirical results. Following the theory of planned behavior (Ajzen, 1991), three sequential processes of consumer attitudes and patterns of credit card usage are conceptualized. Our theory argues that attitudes towards deferred gratification and instant gratification function as antecedents to consumer susceptibility to credit card effects, which subsequently affect the degrees of problematic credit debt accumulation. A sequential study of qualitative and quantitative methods was employed and the current paper reports the main results on the validity of measurement and the structural model.