Janjaap Semeijn

E‐services and offline fulfilment: how e‐loyalty is created

Purpose – Most transactions initiated online are completed by some form of offline fulfilment, i.e. the delivery of the goods to the customers doorstep. In previous studies, web site performance or e‐service quality was found to be an important antecedent of customer satisfaction and loyalty. In traditional settings, physical fulfilment is considered an important driver of customers’ behavioral intentions. This study models and tests the combined effects of online and offline service components on customer responses.Design/methodology/approach – This is an empirical, cross‐sectional study across four online industries.Findings – In the surveyed industries offline fulfilment appears to be at least as important as web site performance.Research limitations/implications – Further research is needed on how value and joy are created as part of the total e‐experience. Furthermore, the importance of offline fulfilment in effecting customer satisfaction and loyalty levels for different online services needs furth...

Packaging and Proenvironmental Consumption Behavior: Investigating Purchase and Disposal Decisions for Beverages

Understanding proenvironmental consumption behavior may enable companies to establish reputational and competitive advantages. This study generates new insights by analyzing consumer-related factors related to distinct but connected package-related behaviors regarding beverage consumption: purchase and postconsumption disposal. An online survey among 176 German respondents provides empirical support for all but one hypothesis. The results suggest that eco-friendly purchase and disposal decisions for beverages are related to the environmental awareness of consumers and their eco-friendly attitude. Furthermore, consumers are willing to trade off almost all product attributes in favor of environmentally friendly packaging of beverages, except for taste and price. The nonsupported hypothesis pertains to the expectation that believing in the positive effects of own eco-friendly disposal actions will guide ecological disposal behavior. Perceived behavioral control may thus not translate into actual disposal behavior. Underlying this may be the belief that individual actions are not enough to contribute to a greener world.

Technology‐based service proposal screening and decision‐making effectiveness

Purpose – Decision‐making in early stages of technology‐based service (TBS) innovation projects proves to be challenging. Current failure rates in service innovation are high, while the investments in innovation projects are substantial. Research suggests that enhancing decision‐making in the screening stage could substantially increase success rates. By investigating the screening decision process from an information processing perspective, this article aims to identify antecedents of effective TBS screening decision‐making, and could thus help companies to enhance their decision‐making and reduce innovation project failure rates.Design/methodology/approach – Reviewing literature regarding service innovation, new product screening and decision‐making under uncertainty, we identify antecedents of decision‐making effectiveness in the TBS screening stage. Hypotheses are developed and tested with data from 251 TBS innovation projects.Findings – The study demonstrates the importance of decision‐making team co...

Consumers' Trade-Off Between Relationship, Service Package, and Price: An Empirical Study in the Car Industry

The prime objective of our study is to assess whether consumer segments based on relational aspects, service aspects, or price aspects have different preferences concerning these three key decision making variables when buying a car. In addition, we assessed consumer segments resulting from simultaneously incorporating relationships, service package, and price. We investigated a large sample of Mitsubishi drivers in the Netherlands emphasizing consumers’ trade-off between dealer relationship, service package and price. Conjoint analysis showed that dealer relationships (as opposed to price) represent a very important decision making variable when buying a car and consumer preferences concerning relationships provide a useful instrument for segmenting markets. Cluster analyses on the basis of three aspects simultaneously revealed that some consumers do value relationships, while others emphasize the service package in their purchase, both opposed to the third segment that is most probably not inclined to be loyal to a car dealer at all.Our study clearly indicates that different consumer segments can be distinguished on the basis of preferences for relationships and service packages rather than on the basis of price. This knowledge enables car dealers to use their resources more effectively.

Preparation of Logistics Managers for the Contemporary Environment of the European Union

This study reports and analyzes a questionnaire administered to US and European logistics managers soliciting their perceptions regarding changes in background and skill preferences for logistics managers operating in the new European Union environment. The combined sample of respondents appeared to indicate the importance of being a manager first and a functional/technical specialist second. While no statistically significant differences between the two subgroups were found with regard to background preferences, there were eight statistically significant differences between the two subgroups with regard to preferred skill requirements in the contemporary environment. Possible explanations for this phenomenon are suggested. Finally, implications of the survey findings for employers, practitioners, educators, and students are discussed.

International logistics and one‐stop shopping

One‐stop shopping for logistics services has been a popular concept in theory, but so far has not been very successful in practice. Reviews the theoretical basis for the concept and reports the findings of a shipper‐carrier comparison study about one‐stop shopping expectations for international logistics services. Shows that international shippers located in the USA rate the expected effects of one‐stop shopping as positive. Global carrier managers appear to be in tune with these shippers, although they tend to be somewhat less optimistic about the effects of one‐stop shopping. Certain shipper characteristics appear indicative of shipper enthusiasm for adopting the one‐stop shopping concept. Formulates implications of these findings for global carriers.

The added value of web innovation for customer satisfaction

Purpose – Recent studies have explored the effects of e‐service quality on satisfaction and loyalty of online customers by extending and supplementing traditional service quality frameworks. This research proposes a combination of traditional service quality and e‐service quality frameworks. The central question focuses on how to assess the added value of the web as a service innovation for a traditional service. The setting of the study is a traditional‐style barbeque delivery service with a recently installed advanced web‐initiated order entry facility now used by a majority of the customers.Design/methodology/approach – An empirical, survey‐based cross‐sectional study on web‐initiated customer experiences of an in‐home catering service, involving barbeque food items and cooking equipment.Findings – Findings indicate that adding an innovative e‐channel to a traditional business process does not automatically translate to a higher customer satisfaction. Only limited significant effects were found from on...

Increasing hotel responsiveness to customers through information sharing

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate customer responsiveness in the hotel industry, and the role of market orientation including both internal and external information sharing.Design/methodology/approach – Based on a review of the supply chain management and marketing literature, a conceptual model was constructed and tested based on a survey of European hotel managers using PLS path modeling.Findings – Market orientation seems to be an important basis for cross‐functional and inter‐organizational information sharing. Information exchange, both internal and external, can explain over 50 percent of customer responsiveness, as perceived by hotel managers.Research limitations/implications – The study mainly focused on European four‐ and five‐star hotels. The final sample is considered representative, but relatively small (50 respondents). The observed importance of information sharing warrants further investigation.Practical implications – While many hotel managers may focus on cleanliness, ...

Managing in-store logistics: a fresh perspective on retail service

Purpose – Traditional retailers still insist on using price, product, and promotion as sources of competitive advantage. This emphasis typically ignores the potential of in‐store logistics operations in the creation of customer value. A major objective of retail customers is to navigate the retail servicescape in an efficient, convenient, enjoyable and effective manner. In‐store logistics operations largely determine how and to what extent the customer may achieve this objective. However, customer‐perceived indicators of in‐store logistics performance, such as product returns, order information, opening hours, and product availability and accessibility, have been largely ignored in research on retail service. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of in‐store logistics in determining customer outcomes such as store image, satisfaction and loyalty intentions.Design/methodology/approach – A model is developed based on extant research in the areas of logistics service quality, service logic, st...

EU Deregulation and dealer-supplier relations in automotive distribution

Purpose – The automotive industry in the European Union (EU) faces a sharply reduced regulatory environment, with Block Exemption (1400/2002). Economists have predicted fundamental changes in the market as a result of the modified Block Exemption. In this article, the aim is to investigate how the relationship between a car dealer and its main supplier (i.e. an OEM or its national representative), affects how the dealer perceives threats and opportunities in this more competitive environment.Design/methodology/approach – Based on relationship marketing theory, propositions about antecedents and consequences of commitment to a supplier are formulated for the changing automotive market. Data were collected from 413 car dealerships in Belgium, The Netherlands and Finland, countries without domestic automobile brands.Findings – Commitment to the main supplier is mainly driven by satisfaction and trust. The more car dealers are committed to their main supplier, the lower the threat they perceive from new inter...