François Durrieu

The impact of electronic service quality's dimensions on customer satisfaction and buying impulse

This paper proposes a conceptual framework for measuring the effects of electronic service quality dimensions on customer satisfaction and buying impulse. The functional nature of customer buying impulsivity is introduced as a moderator. This variable measures both the general tendency of customers either to trust or not to trust buying impulses and their level of satisfaction from impulsive purchases. The research utilised an online questionnaire administered to 4,109 clients of a leading French e-commerce Website specialising in electronic and cultural goods. The results highlight the principal dimensions of Website quality and their direct influence on customer satisfaction and impulse buying. In addition to this direct effect, the impact of Website quality dimensions on impulse buying is also mediated by customer satisfaction. Functional buying impulsivity moderates the influence of Website quality dimensions on satisfaction and on buying impulses as well as the influence of satisfaction on buying impulses. As a conclusion, limits and research avenues are examined and discussed.

Strategy development in international markets: a two tier approach

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to seek answers to the question of the impact of different classes of strategy (generic and international) on firm performance in international markets.Design/methodology/approach – Survey of 213 British SME exporters, using EQS.Findings – The paper concludes that Porters generic strategies have both a direct and an indirect impact through international marketing strategies on firm performance, and that the combined impact of the two levels yields better returns than either of them individually. Furthermore, it questions the wisdom of a stepwise approach to international markets and highlights the importance of a challenger strategy.Research limitations/implications – This research is limited to British SMEs and needs to be supplemented by research from other countries. Also, it explores the effect of only a limited number of confirmed international marketing strategies, excluding for instance the standardisation construct – a key construct in international marketin...

An examination of the online service-profit chain

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to study the service-profit chain (SPC) on e-service quality dimensions, online customer value (CV) dimensions, e-satisfaction, and e-loyalty in an e-commerce context. Design/methodology/approach – A total of 2,813 internet customers filled in an online questionnaire after completing a specified task on one of 28 wine web sites from seven countries. Findings – The results highlight the impact of the dimensions of e-service quality (information, aesthetics, ease of use, security/privacy, and reliability) on the dimensions of online CV (functional, economic, and social value) as they affect e-satisfaction, which in turn influences e-loyalty. The results validate the SPC in an e-commerce context and also stress the partial mediating role of the dimensions of online CV between the dimensions of e-service quality and e-satisfaction. Research limitations/implications – The sample may not exactly match the customer profile of the web sites analyzed. In order to generalize t...

Market orientation of French and Hungarian small and medium‐sized wineries

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of market orientation on strategy orientation (communication, target and image strategy). This impact is studied by using a multicultural approach (Hungarian and French wineries).Design/methodology/approach – A questionnaire was completed by 131 French wineries – châteaux and 66 Hungarian wineries. French wineries are located in the Bordeaux region. Participants were obtained by sending questionnaire to wineries lists provided by wine‐related organizations. Market orientation and strategy orientation scales were constructed by using confirmatory factor analysis and this impact confirmed by using structural equation modelling. To measure the differences of this impact between French and Hungarian wineries, multigroup analysis is practiced.Findings – Market orientation as information gathering, and difficulties involved in searching and planning are defined. Concerning the impact of market orientation on strategy orientation, the main finding is t...

Customer experience design: a case study in the cultural sector

The purpose of this paper is to explore the experience design phenomenon in the cultural sector. Specifically, it purports to articulate a set of design characteristics that support the alignment between an organisation’s design intention (i.e. intended experience) and the actual experience of customers (i.e. realised experience).,A single case study approach is adopted to explore the phenomenon from both the provider and customer perspectives simultaneously. A range of qualitative data, including 42 interviews with managers and customers as well as voluminous documentary evidence, are collected. Provider and customer data are analysed independently using a rigorous inductive analytical process to generate experience design themes and to assess possible gaps between intended and realised experience.,The findings reveal the design characteristics of touchpoints and the overall customer journey, which constitute the core experience, as well as the design characteristics of the physical and social environment, which support the realisation of the core experience, in a cultural context.,Limitations include difficulties in generalising the findings from a single case and in claiming that the set of design characteristics identified is exhaustive.,The paper makes several recommendations that are useful and relevant for customer experience practitioners in the cultural sector.,The paper’s contribution is to provide novel empirical insights into the four experience design areas of touchpoints, journey, physical elements and social elements in an experience-centric cultural context. On that basis, a conceptual framework for experience design in the cultural context is proposed.

A Risk Avoidance Versus Typicality Account of Front Label Fluency Effects on Consumer’s Willingness to Pay: A Structured Abstract

Research provides evidence for positive effects of products’ package aesthetic designs on responses in consumers (Bloch 1995; Creusen and Schoormans 2005; Reimann et al. 2010), notably on the important variable of willingness to pay (Bloch et al. 2003; Combris et al. 2009). What results suggest is that consumers evaluate bottle designs in a holistic manner (Orth and Malkewitz 2008) and rather than relying on specific attributes, most consumers process the label as a whole. Considering this holistic process, the investigation of the influence of package designs has often been conducted under the lens of fluency or the ease with which stimuli are processed (Reber et al. 1998). Fluency appears to play an important role in that fluently processed stimuli seem to be preferred (Alter and Oppenheimer 2008; Reber et al. 2004). Another recent stream of research highlights the role played by typicality or the degree of family resemblance of a product with the other products belonging to the same category (Loken and Ward 1990). The empirical results from research on typicality converge toward the notion that consumers prefer in general more typical (vs. atypical) designs (Celhay and Trinquecoste 2014; Veryzer and Hutchinson 1998), at least in the short run (Landwehr et al. 2013). Considering their important effects on consumer’s responses to package design, previous research has started to examine the relationship between fluency and typicality (Alter and Oppenheimer 2009; Oppenheimer and Frank 2007). However, a review of the existing research highlights some inconsistencies, and this research thus investigates the potential interaction between these two variables. In addition, this research extends the literature on fluency by focusing on its interaction with a specific individual variable that may help in getting a better understanding of the effect of fluent package designs: risk avoidance tendency. Since people perceive disfluently (vs. fluently) processed stimuli as riskier (Song and Schwartz 2009), the objective of this article is to present and provide empirical support for a theoretical framework that outlines not only the moderating role of typicality in the effects of fluency but also that of risk avoidance tendency.

The influence of economic crises on network behavior

Purpose Following industrial network theory, this paper aims to address network behavior from a focal company’s perspective. Special attention is paid to examining the effect of perceptions of the economic crisis on network behavior. Design/methodology/approach The study is built on a quantitative analysis of an empirical database of 300 companies based on a survey completed in 2013 in Hungary. A focal company network behavior model was developed and applied to investigate the link between variables (valuable customer relationships, valuable supplier relationships, relationship strategy and relational outcomes) and the effect of managers’ perceptions about the intensity of the crisis. To obtain a deeper understanding of the effect of the crisis, structural modeling methodology was applied during data analysis. Findings How crises are perceived has a moderating influence on companies’ network behavior. In a context in which a crisis is strongly perceived, valuable customer relationships are considered more important than valuable supplier relationships; relationship strategy becomes more intensive; and performance is increasingly focused on operations and less on innovation. The main difference in network behavior is found with the management of the supply side. A different level of attention is paid to supplier relationships in a high crisis-perception context than when a crisis is perceived as being less critical. Research limitations/implications Results emphasize the importance of perceptions as a key factor in managerial attitudes, behavior and, ultimately, decision-making. This finding merits more attention from both researchers of business relationships and networks. Practical implications From a managerial point of view, the results emphasize the existence of potentially new opportunities in network management. The reinforcement of attention to the customer during a period of crisis implies the importance of the customer orientation, but also suggests that firms may have unexploited opportunities and more potential resources on the supplier side. Originality/value The paper combines an analysis of network behavior and perceptions of crisis, helping to explain managerial decisions and attitudes. Analysis was undertaken from a focal firms’ perspective and differences were investigated in attitudes concerning both supplier- and customer-side relations. How crises are perceived is a moderating variable of network behavior.

Understanding Relationship Value Applying a Cognitive Mapping Approach: A customer Perspective

We consider Vvalue creation as a process achieved in a business relationship has turned out to be one of as the fundamental questions in of B2B marketing. Value creation is a process achieved in a business relationship. We put forward the hypotheses that the value of a business relationship presents a particular combination in time of economic and non-economic (social) components, which are interrelated. Both the buyer (purchasing) and the seller (marketing) always have their own interpretation of business relationship value. A cognitive approach is implemented to shed light on the collective representation of a value phenomenon and to understand the three levels (episode, relationship and network) and two-dimensional conceptualization of focal relationship value. Our research focuses on understanding, representing and a further measuring of the economic and non-economic components of the value of a business relationship using a causal mapping technique. -------------------------------- Az uzleti kapcsolatokon keresztul letrejovő ertekteremtes folyamata napjainkban a szervezetkozi (business) marketing alapvető kerdesei koze tartozik. Kiindulo hipotezisunk, hogy az uzleti kapcsolatok erteke egymassal osszefuggő, gazdasagi es nem-gazdasagi (szocialis) elemekben tevődik ossze. Mind a vevő (beszerző), mind az elado (marketinges) sajat maga interpretalja, ertelmezi az uzleti kapcsolat erteket. A kutatasunkban alkalmazott kognitiv megkozelites lehetőve teszi az ertek kollektiv megjeleniteset, es a fokalis kapcsolati ertek haromszintű (epizod, kapcsolat, halozat) ketdimenzios megkozeliteset. Az uzleti kapcsolatok ertekenek gazdasagi es nem gazdasagi elemeinek megertesere, bemutatasara es meresere a kognitiv terkepek modszeret hasznaljuk.

Wine on the Web – Online-Weinhandel

Die Weinwirtschaft verfugt uber einen grosen Erfahrungsschatz auf den Gebieten Direktmarketing und Direktverkauf ihrer Produkte auf Weingutern und in Vinotheken. Daruber hinaus war Wein eines der ersten Produkte, auf welches reine Online-Handler aufmerksam wurden (Gebauer & Ginsburg, 2003).