Hans Rüdiger Kaufmann

Intentions to use and recommend to others: An empirical study of online banking practices in Portugal and Austria

Purpose – In an online banking context this study seeks to explore the relation between the relationship marketing factors of customer intentions to continue to use services and to recommend these services to others, and the technology acceptance factors of self-control, usefulness, customer value, technology-based service encounter satisfaction and reputation. Innovatively this study also compares the proposed model in two countries, Portugal and Austria. Design/methodology/approach – Derived from a review of previous literature, a survey was developed and data were collected using the online survey service of universities in two countries, Portugal and Austria. The partial least squares approach was employed to test the hypotheses. Findings – The findings showed that self-control and usefulness are important antecedents of customer value delivery. Furthermore perceptions of online bank reputation were enhanced by the satisfaction derived from positive customer encounters with online banking services. Un...

Reflection on knowledge transfer methodologies in Eastern/Western European co‐operations

Purpose – In order to win the global race for innovation as a source for competitive advantage, many companies enter into any kind of business co‐operation. Beyond intending to grow merely quantitatively, co‐operation partners should target to commonly create new knowledge and to transfer knowledge as a basis for qualitative growth. This apparent deficiency of practitioners is compounded by a lack of theory and empirical research on intercultural knowledge transfer. This task becomes even more daunting, when co‐operation partners transcend borders, and the knowledge transfer process becomes impacted by national cultures. This paper aims to present empirical research that illuminates the effects which national cultures have on the transfer of knowledge between Central/Eastern Europe (CEE) using Russia as a case study, and Western European partners.Design/methodology/approach – The paper applies a phenomenological approach applying grounded theory for data generation and analysis. The research method is a c...

Consumption Culture in Europe: insight into the beverage industry

This book offers the most relevant theories about culture and European market segmentation as well as providing updated data for the evaluation and analyses of the European consumption patterns in the beverage market.

The role of online brand community engagement on positive or negative self-expression word-of-mouth

Abstract The aim of this research is to explore how online engagement influences positive versus negative consumption-focused self-expression word-of-mouth. Three brands are selected to be the focus of the study (Starbucks, Apple, and McDonald’s), and six online brand communities of these brands participated. The online questionnaire was distributed to those communities and filled in by 600 members of the respective love and hate brand communities. Affection (passion/aversion) is the motivational factor that leads community members of both types (love and hate) to be active in commenting and writing reviews about the product/brand. In hate brand communities, connecting negatively influences consumption-focused self-expression word-of-mouth, whilst brand influence has a positive effect on it.

The impact of decision-maker's identity on SME internationalisation: Do origins matter?

This paper examines if the identity shaped by the region does have an influence on the owner-managers managerial behaviour. A survey approach was chosen, addressing SMEs from Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein and Switzerland, to address the research aim. The hypotheses posed were investigated applying hierarchical cluster analysis. Based on it different clusters were identified relating to different types of owner–manager identity. The findings provide a fruitful base for a better understanding of the owner-managers influence on the companys internationalisation process and assist in developing specific policies for different characters of owner-managers. Furthermore, the studys findings suggest that owner-managers of small countries are made of other sets of identities compared with their German counterparts indicating a different course of action in terms of internationalisation.