Michael J. Dorsch

The role of relationship quality in the stratification of vendors as perceived by customers

Companies implement preferred supplier programs to reduce their vendor relationships to a reasonable few. Consequently, vendors who do not effectively manage their customer-based relationships are strong candidates for deletion from a customer’s list of long-term suppliers. The emergence of preferred supplier programs suggests that businesses are beginning to formally recognize and reward differences between their qualified vendors. Vendor stratification is proposed as a framework for understanding the evolution of preferred vendor programs. With the growing interest in relationship marketing, a study was conducted to empirically examine the extent to which businesses use relationship quality perceptions to differentiate their qualified vendors. The findings support the notion that relationship quality is a higher-order construct that can be used as a basis for developing vendor stratification systems. The article concludes with a discussion of the managerial and research implications of the study findings.

Does the Franchisor Provide Value to Franchisees? Past, Current, and Future Value Assessments of Two Franchisee Types

The degree to which a franchise system penetrates a target market over time often is influenced by the rate to which its individual franchisees expand. Yet a franchisees decision to expand the business operation depends, in part, on the perception of value that the franchisee expects to receive from the franchisor in return for a variety of fees (for example, entry fee, advertising fees, royalties). Moreover, the franchisees experience with its franchisor may strengthen or weaken his or her perception of franchisor value. The change in perception of franchisor value can influence franchisees’ decisions to expand their franchise operations. To date, scant research exists on factors influencing a franchisees decision to expand. In the reported study, a four‐stage analysis was conducted to examine empirically whether franchisees’ opinions about the value of their franchisors changes over time. The study findings reveal that franchisees had the strongest, positive opinions when asked to recall an earlier decision to expand their franchise operations. These opinions weakened when franchisees contemplating expansion of their operations were asked for their current and anticipated future opinions of franchisor value. Overall, franchisees were undecided when asked about their perceptions of current franchisor value and anticipated future franchisor value. Implications of these findings for theory and practice of franchising are discussed.

Can Tourism Providers Buy their Customers’ Loyalty? Examining the Influence of Customer-Provider Investments on Loyalty

As many segments of the tourism industry reach the maturation stage, marketers have turned their attention to building long-term relationships with their best customers. Despite the importance of customer loyalty for understanding these relationships, there is no consensus as to how loyalty develops. Most loyalty programs currently being used promote repeated purchases but are ineffective in enhancing customers’ psychological attachment. The purpose was to test a conceptual framework of the development of loyalty that is grounded in resource theory, reciprocity, and customer equity. The results indicated that if customers perceived that a provider was making an investment in them, they in turn made a similar investment in the provider, and those investments led to loyalty. The findings revealed that investments of love, status, and information were more closely associated with loyalty than investments of money. These findings support the proposed theoretical model and help explain how well-designed loyalty programs may lead to increased psychological attachment. Recommendations for effective relationship marketing strategies are provided.

Consumer intentions to use a service category

Even though service marketers are interested in influencing customer choice at the service provider level (i.e. the service brand level), the decision to patronize a particular service firm seldom occurs until after the customer decides to use a service provider in the first place. Ultimately, this initial “make‐or‐buy” purchase decision – the decision to use a service category – restrains customer decisions at the service provider (brand) level. To enhance our understanding of customers’ service category decisions, a double cross‐validation approach was employed to investigate the applicability of a service category choice model which we adapted from Howard’s work on consumer decision making. Our model, which was tested with two different service categories, was supported.

The Institutional Foundations of Materialism in Western Societies: A Conceptualization and Empirical Test

Studies of materialism have increased in recent years, and most of these studies examine various aspects of materialism including its individual or social consequences. However, understanding, and possibly shaping, a society’s materialistic tendencies requires a more complete study of the relationship between a society’s institutional patterns and the acceptance of materialism by its members. Consequently, the current study examines five of the institutional antecedents of materialism to understand better how and why it develops as a mode of consumption within a society. More specifically, a model relating materialism and a set of institutionalized patterns of social behavior referred to as the dominant social paradigm was developed and tested in a study of seven industrial, market-based countries. The results suggest that the economic, technological, political, anthropocentric, and competition institutions making up the dominant social paradigm are all positively related to materialism. The implications of the relationship are then discussed.

An Investigation into the Intentions of Purchasing Executives to Reciprocate Vendor Gifts

In this study, an experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of gift cost, gift type, and buyer-vendor relationship status on purchasing executives’ feelings of indebtedness, perceived manipulation, and intentions to reciprocate vendor gifts. The findings indicate that the likelihood of a business gift being reciprocated depends on the type of vendor gift received, the extent to which the buyer experiences a sense of indebtedness, and buyer perceptions of the level of manipulation associated with the gift. Evidence also indicates that the level of perceived manipulation associated with a gift is based on considerations of gift cost and type with respect to the buyer-vendor relationship status.

The impact of improvisation training on service employees in a European airline: a case study

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the value of improvisation training, as used in schools of acting, in preparing front‐stage service employees perform their roles when interacting with customers as cabin crew in Aer Arann, a regional Irish airline.Design/methodology/approach – To discern the relevance and impact of improvisation training, a case study methodology was employed. The subjects of the investigation were seven recently hired cabin crew personnel for Aer Arann. Data for the case study were collected from the new hires at three different times.Findings – The study shows that participants both enjoyed the improvisation training and found it to be very valuable as preparation for their roles in the airline. A key finding was that the new hires strongly recommended that improvisation training be incorporated into the airlines regular induction training programme. Specifically, participants felt the improvisation training improved their confidence, effectiveness, ability to adapt, s...

Spectator Rage as the Dark Side of Engaging Sport Fans Implications for Services Marketers

Customer rage is a complex phenomenon that is beginning to receive attention from researchers and practitioners. To date, research into the phenomenon has focused exclusively on its occurrence within a failed service context; however, rage may also occur in nonfailure situations as a negative by-product of an organization’s efforts to engage the customer at an emotional level. As a service entity, the live sporting event is characterized by a number of features which make it particularly susceptible to acts of rage. This article examines rage within the context of spectator sport by utilizing a framework that is capable of organizing and focusing attention upon those factors that shape a fan’s consumption experience and render spectator sport, and services in general, susceptible to rage. Services marketers may be unable to eliminate all incidents of spectator rage, especially those that arise when a customer becomes excessively and emotionally absorbed with the service encounter. Nevertheless, fans’ propensity to rage may be reduced by understanding the factors that contribute to it and by carefully designing servicescapes and vigilantly managing customer interactions to generate exhilarating, yet nonaggressive, customer experiences.

Building loyal relationships between customers and providers: a focus on resource investments.

Abstract The increasingly competitive tourism industry has led to a paradigm shift in marketing philosophy from a focus on discrete transactions to one of long-term relationships. This paper proposes a conceptual model of the antecedents of customer loyalty; a construct central to relationship marketing. The model proposed draws from Resource Theory, and the notions of reciprocity and customer equity. According to the proposed model, when customers and providers invest specific profiles of resources in each other, the customers tend to develop a bond with the customer and become dedicated to maintaining a stable relationship. The model is used to discuss the mixed results of current loyalty programs and to outline future research efforts.

Investigating the Portrayal and Influence of Sustainability Claims in an Environmental Advertising Context

The ability of consumer judges to identify sustainable messages in environmental advertising and the effect of these messages is explored. A content analysis provides insight into these judges’ perceptions of the depth of environmental advertising messages. An experiment investigates the influence of sustainable messages and includes collection of cognitive response data to evaluate the cognitive dimension of sustainability messages. Content analysis results suggest that sustainability messages may influence how environmental advertisements are perceived. These findings are supported by the cognitive response data, which shows cognitive differences across advertisements, and the experimental manipulation that suggests sustainable ads may be more involving to consumers.