Robin A. Coulter

Determinants of trust in a service provider: the moderating role of length of relationship

Trust is a key factor in the establishment of long‐term relationships between service representatives and their customers. Prior research has documented that both “person‐related” (e.g. empathy, politeness and customer/service representative similarity) and “offer‐related” (customization, competence, reliability and promptness) service representative characteristics have an impact on trust. However, the relative importance of these characteristics, and in some cases the direction of their relationships with trust, has varied across studies. In this paper, we posit a contingency model of trust, suggesting that the effects of the above variables on trust are moderated by length of the customer/service provider relationship. Our model is tested in a business‐to‐business context by means of a mail survey involving 677 small business owners. The small business owners provided data about their relationships with their insurance industry service providers. Our results demonstrate how service representatives and firms can work toward the establishment of trust with their clients under varying market conditions.

Rethinking the Origins of Involvement and Brand Commitment: Insights from Postsocialist Central Europe

Drawing on our work in two postsocialist countries, Hungary and Romania, we contribute to understanding product involvement and brand commitment. We demonstrate that prominent political-cultural discourses, cultural intermediaries, social influences, and life themes and projects collectively prompt product involvement. We introduce the concept of involvement with branded products and examine its origins within a sociohistorical context. We consider the origins of brand commitment and illustrate that consumers with little interest in either the product category or the idea of branded products may be committed to particular brands. Further, we contribute to understanding the relationships among product involvement, brand commitment, and brand experimentation. Copyright 2003 by the University of Chicago.

Branded Products as a Passport to Global Citizenship: Perspectives from Developed and Developing Countries

This article focuses on belief in brands as a passport to global citizenship, defined as a persons perception that global brands create an imagined global identity. The authors assess the effects of this belief on the importance consumers assign to branded products and also examine the antecedent effects of cultural openness and consumer ethnocentrism. Their work focuses on the global youth market in the developing countries of Romania, Ukraine, and Russia and the developed U.S. market. The findings contribute to a broadened understanding of branding in a global marketplace by examining the associations between beliefs about global brands and the importance consumers attach to branded products in their daily lives.

The effects of industry knowledge on the development of trust in service relationships

Abstract Trust is a key factor in the establishment of long-term relationships between business suppliers and their clients. The development of trust is particularly important within service industries because of the abstract nature of most service products. Prior research has documented that both “personality-related” (e.g., empathy, politeness, and customer/service representative similarity) and “performance-related” (customization, competence, reliability, and promptness) service representative characteristics have an impact upon trust in the service provider. However, the relative importance of these characteristics, and in some cases the direction of their relationships with trust, has varied across studies. In this paper, we posit a contingency model of trust, suggesting that the effects of the above variables on trust are moderated by a customers knowledge of, or familiarity with, the service industry in question. Our model is tested in a business-to-business context by means of mail surveys involving a large sample of small business owners. The small business owners provided data about their relationships with their health insurance, management consulting, telecommunications, or travel industry service providers. Our results demonstrate how service representatives and firms can work toward the establishment of trust with their clients under varying market conditions.

Changing faces: cosmetics opinion leadership among women in the new Hungary

Research conducted in the early 1990s in Hungary indicated a lack of knowledgeable and influential personal sources in the cosmetics product category. The purpose of this article is to examine women cosmetics opinion leaders in Hungary approximately ten years into the country’s transition to a market economy. Because of the evolution of the cosmetics market over the past decade and Hungarian women’s increased involvement with cosmetics, we expected to see the emergence of opinion leadership in the product category. Survey data from 340 Hungarian women indicate that the incidence of cosmetics opinion leadership and self‐reported product knowledge is lower than what we might expect in more established market economies. Nonetheless, we found the relationships between cosmetics opinion leadership in Hungary and antecedent and consequent variables are similar to what we would expect in more established market economies. We discuss the implications of these results for marketing managers.

The long good‐bye: The dissolution of customer‐service provider relationships

Our research examines customer-service provider relationship dissolution. We conducted in-depth interviews with five women who recently took at least several months to terminate a service relationship. The data provide a holistic perspective on why consumers take a long time to exit, how they exit, and their expectations about rekindling their relationships. Based on our data, we conceptualize a model of the long exit, a process that includes a dissolution stage, an exit stage, and a post-dissolution stage. Our model offers a theoretical framework of service dissolution, as well as practical implications for service providers.

A Typology of Customer-Service Provider Relationships: The Role of Relational Factors in Classifying Customers

Research on customer relationships has documented that customers focus not only on the functional benefits they receive, but also the relational benefits. This study examines the underpinnings of customer relationships designated as professional relationships, casual acquaintances, personal acquaintances, and friendships, with regard to the relational factors: emotional attachment to a particular provider; personal advice seeking, and socializing outside of the service encounter. A survey is used to examine relationship types across four service industries (healthcare, financial services, hair care, and automotive repair). It is found that relationship types can be distinguished based on the relational factors, and that relationship types vary by service.

An examination of consumer advocacy and complaining behavior in the context of service failure

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the relationships between consumer advocacy and consumer complaining behaviors such as voicing and negative word‐of‐mouth in the context of dissatisfactory service experiences.Design/methodology/approach – Using an experimental design embedded in a survey methodology, the authors examine the relationship between consumer advocacy and the likelihood for complaining about dissatisfactory service experiences among adult US consumers. Additionally, the authors examine the differences between likelihood for voicing and negative word‐of‐mouth (NWOM) in the context of dissatisfactory service experiences at varying levels of service encounter failure.Findings – The authors find that consumer advocacy is positively related to consumer complaining (i.e. voicing and NWOM), and that likelihood of NWOM is consistently greater than likelihood of voicing.Research limitations/implications – This study uses a convenience sample of US adult consumers, which could compromise generalizabi...

The Effects of Cultural Individualism and Self-Confidence on Propensity to Voice: From Theory to Measurement to Practice

This article examines the effects of cultural individualism on consumers’ propensity to voice and the mediating effects of self-confidence. The authors explore these relationships in the United States and South Korea to assess whether a consumers culture, measured as an individual difference variable, is as an explanatory variable for propensity to voice in the context of dissatisfactory marketplace experiences. They find that individualism has a positive effect on propensity to voice at the pancountry and intracountry levels and that self-confidence fully mediates the relationship between individualism and propensity to voice. The results have important implications for understanding consumer complaining behavior for organizations that serve culturally diverse consumer groups.

Small Sounds, Big Deals: Phonetic Symbolism Effects in Pricing

Studies suggest that certain vowel and consonant sounds (or phonemes) can be associated with perceptions of large and small size. Mental rehearsal of prices containing numbers with small phonemes results in overestimation of price discounts, whereas mental rehearsal of prices containing numbers with large phonemes results in underestimation. Mental rehearsal of the same sale prices characterized by small phonemes in one language and large phonemes in another language can yield differential effects. For example, when sale prices are rehearsed in English, an (28.4%) discount is perceived as greater than a (29.9%) discount; however, when these same prices are rehearsed in Chinese, the latter discount is perceived as greater. Non-price-related phonemes do not yield these same discount distortions. Collectively, findings indicate that the mere sounds of numbers can nonconsciously affect and distort numerical magnitude perceptions. (c) 2010 by JOURNAL OF CONSUMER RESEARCH, Inc..