Nic S. Terblanche

Dimensions of relationship marketing in business-to-business financial services

The marketing environment has changed considerably over the past few decades and firms are increasingly attempting to build relationships with their customers to shield off competitors’ offerings. Although relationship marketing (RM) had been practised in the 1800s, it was the reemergence of RM at the beginning of the 1990s that triggered a renewed focus on the part of both marketing practitioners and marketing academics on the potential value of relationships with customers (Sheth & Parvatiyar 1995). Modern-day firms realise the value of long-term relationships with customers, and considerable evidence exists that validates the profit impact emanating from strong relationships (Barry et al. 2008). RM is essentially about building relationships at every point of interaction with the customer, with the intention to create various benefits for both the firm and the customer.

Generation Y and sparkling wines: A cross-cultural perspective

Purpose – The aim of this study is to investigate and compare the engagement of Generation Y consumers with champagne and sparkling wine across five Anglophone countries.Design/methodology/approach – A qualitative approach was adopted using focus groups with young consumers, including images and wine tasting as projective stimuli.Findings – There were significant trans‐cultural similarities between consumption behaviour (sparkling wine is a womens drink, and a separate category from still wine, and that they will “grow into” drinking it) but also noticeable differences (responses to images and colours varied substantially, as did attitudes to price and the particular status of champagne).Research limitations/implications – Research into the behaviour of Generation Y as a cohort needs to take account of cultural as much as generational context. However, as a qualitative study the findings need further quantitative validation.Practical implications – Marketers cannot view Generation Y as a single group; ev...

The antecedents of relationship commitment in the management of relationships in business-to-business (B2B) financial services

The importance of commitment in the management of long-term marketing relationships is well accepted in the marketing literature. There is, however, uncertainty regarding the antecedents of relationship commitment. The study on which this paper is based focused on four possible antecedents of relationship commitment, namely trust, communication, shared values and attractiveness of alternatives. The study was conducted in the South African business-to-business (B2B) financial services industry. A web-based approach was used to survey 300 relationship managers, while data from 400 B2B clients were collected using a telephone survey. The relationship-manager data were analysed with regression analysis, while structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the client data. The uniqueness of the study is the simultaneous consideration of the perceptions of both relationship managers and clients. As far as could be ascertained, a study of this nature has not yet been conducted in the B2B financial services industry. Based on the perceptions of both relationship managers and clients, the contribution of this study is the confirmation of the important roles of trust, communication, shared values and attractiveness of alternatives in the management of commitment to a relationship from both a customer and a provider perspective.

Who Receives What? The Influence of the Donation Magnitude and Donation Recipient in Cause-Related Marketing

Cause-related marketing campaign structural elements (CSEs) are individual message components that are selected for campaigns and have the ability to influence consumer intentions and behavior. In this study, the impact of donation magnitude (small; large) and donation recipient (branded and well-known; branded and fictitious; unbranded and well-known) on the dependent variables of consumer attitude toward the offer, attitude toward the alliance, and participation intention is explored by means of a 2 × 3 between-subjects experiment. Despite significant differences in familiarity with and attitude toward the donation recipient, significant differences between groups in terms of the dependent variables were not found. The nature of the sample (Generation Y), their attitude toward helping others and charitable organizations, social exchange theory, and equity theory are explored in an attempt to clarify the lack of significant differences pertaining to the dependent variables.

The Antecedents of Trust in Business-to-Business Financial Services

Purpose: To explore how satisfaction, communication, customization, competence, and shared values (as antecedents) influence trust in B2B financial services relationships, and to assist decision makers in this industry to manage long-term relationships with their clients. Methodology/approach: Based on a literature review, five hypotheses were developed. The hypotheses were addressed by empirically evaluating a theoretical model based on data from both relationship managers and the clients of a leading South African B2B financial services provider. Regression analysis was used to assess the relationships in the relationship-manager sample, while structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to assess the relationships in the client sample. Findings: In the relationship-manager sample, satisfaction, competence, and shared values were found to be significant predictors of trust. However, in the client sample, all five of the hypothesized antecedents were found to contribute significantly to trust. Originality/value/contribution: The major contribution of this study, for both marketing academics and practitioners, lies in the simultaneous consideration of the perceptions of both financial services providers as well as their clients. As far as it could be ascertained, this combination of both exchange partners (service providers and clients) in a single study has not been reported in a financial services context.

Measuring Consumer Ethnocentrism in a Developing Context: An Assessment of the Reliability, Validity and Dimensionality of the CETSCALE

Research in the field of international marketing has identified consumer ethnocentrism as a possible reason why consumers would buy domestic rather than imported products. Consumer ethnocentrism implies that consumers may regard the purchase of foreign products as “wrong,” as it might harm the domestic economy and result in job losses in industries that compete with imports. Consumer ethnocentrism and the measurement thereof has been actively researched in many, especially developed, countries but there is a dearth of knowledge about the impact of consumer ethnocentrism in developing countries. This study was conducted in response to calls by several researchers to investigate the validity, reliability, and dimensionality of the CETSCALE, a scale to measure consumer ethnocentrism, in developing markets. An original contribution of this study is that two subsamples, namely a sample of white and a sample of black South African respondents were surveyed to account for the ethnic diversity in South Africa. Results indicate that, as has been found for two other African countries (Mozambique and Ghana), the CETSCALE should be regarded as a multi-dimensional measuring instrument for South Africa.

The Need for a Marketing Reform: The Wines of the Loire Region

ABSTRACT This article focuses on how the French wine industry and, in particular, the wine-producing Loire region in France is affected by global and domestic factors. An overview of some of the vast regulations prevailing in the French wine industry that prohibit the wine producers to compete efficiently, especially with the wines from the “new world,” is provided. A Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) analysis is used as the tool to study the competitiveness of the French wine industry in general and the Loire region in particular. The French wine industry is too fragmented and subjected to too many controls and, as a result thereof, is not flexible enough to respond to market opportunities. French wines have the unique blend of “historical intangibles” of romance and mystery that have been part and parcel of wine for many centuries. This advantage is no longer a major competitive advantage, and the time has come to make decisions on which of the vast range of regulations are worthwhile to maintain to contribute positively to the best interests of the French wine industry.

Good idea, bad idea: A study of young adults’ opinions on anti-drunken driving campaigns

Abstract Social marketing campaigns intend to persuade specific target groups to accept, modify, or abandon certain attitudes and behaviour, in order to protect society. The negative consequences of alcohol abuse in South Africa have led various associations to run social marketing campaigns, including ArriveAlive, DriveAlive, ARA (Industry Association for Responsible Alcohol Use), and programmes by the Ministry of Transport. Fear appeals are widely used in these campaigns and the purpose of this study is to investigate the role of fear appeals on behavioural intent. A qualitative pilot study was done by conducting an in-depth focus group with students from a university in South Africa. Respondents were exposed to and discussed nine fear appeal television advertisements (three low, three medium and three with a high level of fear appeal), to gauge the impact of the level of fear appeal. Qualitative content analysis revealed several themes on the execution of television advertisements thought by the young adults to have an impact on their age group: realism, visuals and sound, shock, language and attention. Low fear appeal advertisements were criticised by respondents as having no impact. Differences in personal relevance influenced respondents at medium and high level. Based on the results, a quantitative study was conducted.

Studies on Customer-Based Corporate Reputation Scales: Some Application Guidelines for Emerging Markets

This article focuses on whether the customer-based corporate reputation (CBCR) scale is able to measure CBCR in an emerging market. The findings show that only two of the five dimensions of the Walsh, Beatty, and Shiu (2009) CBCR scale survived the statistical analyses, namely Customer orientation and Competitiveness of the firm. No dimension or item associated with good corporate citizenship survived the statistical analyses. Suggestions are made with regard to pretesting, the institutional context in emerging markets, the group as unit of observation, and using cognitive-friendly scales.

The role of trust in relationship marketing in business-to business financial services

The role of trust on the intention to stay in a relationship is investigated. Communication, satisfaction, customisation and competence as antecedents of trust are investigated; and trust on a party’s intention to stay in a relationship. The study confirms the important roles of satisfaction and trust on intention to stay.