Ebi Marandi

The impact of perceived service provider empathy on customer loyalty: some observations from the health and fitness sector.

The leisure product is often dependent on the person delivering the service. The research presented here sought to better understand how important the empathy component is in that personal delivery of a service. Health and fitness clubs, faced by high rates of customer attrition, traditionally promote themselves on the basis of either price or facilities, but are these two tools the only ones that the marketing of the clubs should be limited to? For this study, the impact of service provider empathy, as perceived by health and fitness club members, was examined in an attempt to better understand the impact of the concept on customer loyalty. The findings indicate that for those with a low level of self-responsibility for getting the most out of the service experience, those without previous experience of gyms and those with heightened self-consciousness, empathy is an important factor impacting upon their anxiety levels as well as on their loyalty to a club.

Brand names and global positioning

Purpose – There is little in the literature on branding that considers how a brand name may affect a brand and its global positioning. Similarly, there is little research on brand dissonance and the paradoxes that occur in a globalised world. This research aims to examine the impact of country of origin image on consumer perceptions of a successful tea brand dissonance between the country of origin and the brand name.Design/methodology/approach – A case study approach, using qualitative data collection, has been applied in this study. In‐depth interviews were conducted with 22 experienced tea distributors and managers of Ahmad Tea in the Confederation of Independent States.Findings – The findings show that a positive country of origin effect can have a positive impact on a global brand image transcending any negative connotations that a brand name may have.Practical implications – The findings of this study provide useful insights for academics and practitioners regarding the success factors of branding s...

The gendered dynamics of relationship marketing: an initial discussion of the health and fitness industry

The last two decades witnessed the increasing popularity of relationship marketing amongst academics and practitioners. As the initial euphoria begins to settle, more considered questions about the concept are emerging. One area that needs further investigation is the concept of gender with respect to relationship marketing. Sex and gender has always been of interest to marketers and played a large role in their assumptions about consumer behaviour. The following study provides an initial discussion of gender and relationship marketing within the health and fitness industry. Exercise settings construct notions of desirable bodies whereby men, in general, aim to be muscular and women predominantly work towards thin, lithe, feminine ideals. The study is situated within an interpretive framework drawing upon our individual research interests in relationship marketing and gender issues within sport and exercise. We have begun to conduct field research to examine whether gender is a mediating construct in building long-term relationships with clients within the health and fitness sector. This paper sets the theoretical background to the empirical research.

Co-Creating Value With Self-Service Technology: Helping Customers Help Themselves

Vargo and Lusch’s (2004) and subsequent work on service-dominant logic [S-D logic] (Lusch and Vargo, 2006; Vargo and Lusch, 2008a, 2008b, 2008c) provides a focus on the role of customers in value creation. S-D logic challenges the conventional idea that value is embedded in goods, emphasizing value in use. This perspective recognizes that customers are co-creators of their own value and determine what is of value (Ballantyne, Williams, and Aitken, 2011). S-D logic also puts a focus on the resources used by both sides in the process of exchange.