Eyal Gamliel

The role of private branding in improving service quality

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to examine the potential contribution of private branding to the service sector, and to integrate private branding into the SERVQUAL model.Design/methodology/approach – A total of 300 customers of a health maintenance organization (HMO) were asked about the five dimensions of the service‐quality model and about several aspects of their HMOs private brand.Findings – The study finds that satisfaction with service quality among subjects who were aware of the HMOs private brand was higher than that of unaware subjects when asked directly. In addition, a positive relationship was found between the perceptions of service quality in the HMO and the evaluation of a private brand in the HMO those customers who were aware of the private brand. The data analysis suggests that private branding constitutes an additional (sixth) dimension in the SERVQUAL model.Research limitations/implications – This research was conducted during the initial stages of the market penetration o...

Online versus traditional teaching evaluation: mode can matter

Using an experimental mixed design, this study compared the traditional paper‐and‐pencil method for evaluating teaching with the online method. Replicating previous findings, the comparison revealed similar evaluation means of the two methods. However, the stability of teaching evaluations using paper‐and‐pencil twice was substantially higher than the corresponding stability using different methods—online and paper‐and‐pencil. One possible explanation for this finding is the different visual presentation of the scales: a typical form of the paper‐and‐pencil method presents the scale horizontally, enabling the subjects to examine the profile of their answers that might result in an artificially lower variability of the evaluations. In contrast, an electronic answering form can abolish this artificial answering effect.

Private and national brand consumers' images of fashion stores

Purpose – The present study aims to investigate the role of brand store image in the context of private and national fashion brands. The study examines two issues: do private brand consumers differ from national brand consumers in their perception of the attributes they value in their store image? And, do fashion consumers in general differ in their perception of the attributes they value in a store image? Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through a field survey comprising 395 respondents: 195 private brand consumers and 200 national brand consumers. Findings – Findings indicate that the two groups of consumers do not differ in their perception of store image. Cluster analysis reveals two groups of consumers: “Brand Store Image Enthusiasts” who are high in their perception of their brand store image attributes, and “Brand Store Image Indifferent” consumers who are low in their perception of their brand store image attributes. The first group was also found to have greater brand loyalty. Pr...

To end life or not to prolong life: The effect of message framing on attitudes toward euthanasia

People ascribe “euthanasia” different values and view it differently. This study hypothesized that a different framing of objectively the same euthanasia situations would affect people’s attitudes toward it. Indeed, “positive” framing of euthanasia as not prolonging life resulted in more support for both passive and active euthanasia relative to “negative” framing of the objectively same situations as ending life. Two experiments replicated this pattern using either continuous measures of attitude or dichotomous measures of choice. The article offers two theoretical explanations for the effect of message framing on attitudes toward euthanasia, discusses implications of this effect, and suggests future research.

The moderating role of objective and subjective numeracy in attribute framing

Previous research has found that objective numeracy moderates framing effects: People who are less numerate were found to be more susceptible to goal-framing and attribute-framing effects than people who are highly numerate. This study examined the possibility that subjective numeracy likewise moderates attribute framing in contexts where participants are presented with percentages of success or failure. The results show that compared with highly numerate participants, less numerate participants were more susceptible to the effect of attribute framing. Interestingly, this moderating effect was revealed only when using objective numeracy measures, and not when subjective numeracy measures were used. Future research is suggested to replicate these findings, to establish the generalizability of numeracy as a moderator of other cognitive biases, and to examine several possible theoretical explanations for the differential moderation of attribute-framing bias.

Mind the Gap: Between-Group Differences and Fair Test Use

This paper integrates recent meta-analytical findings regarding group differences in job- and educational-related criteria and cognitive ability measures used as predictors in personnel selection and selection to higher education institutions. The findings suggest that cognitive ability measures reveal much higher group differences than the corresponding between-group differences in job- and educational-related criteria. One possible explanation for these differential gaps is that cognitive ability measures are objective and standardized while the typical measures used as job- and-educational related criteria are non-standardized subjective evaluations of job performance and academic achievement. While these findings are consistent with unbiased prediction or over-prediction for lower scoring groups, they imply that selection is biased against them. Implications and future research are discussed.

Prediction Bias and Selection Bias: An Empirical Analysis

Empirical examination of the relation between prediction bias and selection bias has been hampered by the lack of a valid definition of selection bias. In this article, we show that such a definition is possible in the special case of fixed-n selection, where the only reason for rejecting otherwise acceptable applicants is that their number exceeds the number of available places. Using the proposed definition, the empirical relation between prediction bias and selection bias with respect to prominent social groups is examined. The results indicate that although the 2 biases are related, the relation is not isomorphic: First, it is mediated by the selection ratio; second, for most selection ratios, its strength is only moderate. Thus, both the direction and the magnitude of prediction bias may be misleading as a basis for determining the corresponding direction and magnitude of selection bias. In particular, lack of prediction bias does not entail lack of selection bias. Hence, examination of selection bias with respect to social groups cannot rely only on empirical investigation of prediction bias. Rather, it calls for direct investigation of selection bias per se.

The Effect of Private Brands on Leveraging Service Quality and Satisfaction

The aim of the present study is to test the positive effect of private labels in the service sector on perceptions of service quality (the SERVQUAL dimensions) and service satisfaction. A total of 200 health club and 200 coffee shop/restaurant customers completed the study questionnaire. Overall, perception of the private label had a positive effect on service satisfaction through the mediation of perceptions of service quality. The impact of private label perception on service quality and satisfaction was stronger in the coffee shop/restaurant subsample. Service providers should consider implementing private branding strategies as a way to reinforce perceptions of service quality.

Framing and involvement effects on consumers’ brand choice

Purpose – Consumers frequently find themselves having to choose between various product brands that differ in price and quality. The purpose of this paper is to examine several possible factors that may affect this choice: message framing of the choice as either gain or loss of money or quality, consumer involvement, and consumers’ perceived monetary and quality gains.Design/methodology/approach – In all, 837 participants from Portugal, Turkey, and Israel were randomly assigned to a positively or negatively framed message regarding the quality or price of two alternative brands of sunscreen lotion.Findings – As expected, highly involved consumers show a higher preference for the better and more expensive product than less involved consumers, while perceived monetary or quality gains mediates this relation. Challenging previous findings, negative framing of loss avoidance affects perceived gains and brand choice more than positive framing only for less involved participants, rather than for highly involved...

The effect of construal level on unethical behavior

ABSTRACT Construal level theory predicts that people will judge immoral events more harshly when these are presented in a way that elicits a higher construal level, relative to a lower construal level. Previous research supported this prediction using an Israeli sample but not a U.S. sample. This article compared Israeli and U.S. samples with respect to the interactive effect of utility and construal level on unethical behavioral intentions. We found that construal level did not affect unethical behavioral intentions in either the U.S. samples for low-utility level or the Israeli samples for low- and high-utility levels. In contrast, construal level affected unethical behavioral intentions in the U.S. sample for high-utility level: unethical behavioral intentions were higher in the low-construal level compared to the high-construal level. We discuss these findings and suggest additional factors that challenge arguments concerning the direct effect of construal level on unethical behavior.