Shalom Levy

Emotional brand attachment: a factor in customer-bank relationships

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the relationship between customers’ emotional attachment toward bank service providers and bank loyalty. In particular, the study examines the impact of the emotional attachment factor while treating established effecting variables by employing a new conceptual framework that integrates these variables. Design/methodology/approach – The study employs data collected from a survey involving 436 participants. The study employs Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis methods following a path analysis method and structural equation modeling for testing research hypotheses. Findings – The empirical results support the claim that the conceptual framework applied in this study better explains the relationship between customers’ emotional attachment toward bank service providers and bank loyalty. Specifically, the findings show a significant, direct and positive relationship between the customer’s emotional attachment and bank loyalty; an indi...

Antecedents of attitudes toward eWOM communication: differences across channels

Purpose Despite the extensive academic interest in electronic word of mouth (eWOM) communication, consumer attitudes toward eWOM communication have been neglected. The purpose of this paper is to propose a conceptual framework for attitudes toward eWOM communication across digital channels. Design/methodology/approach Data were collected through a web-based survey on seven major digital communication channels. ANOVA was applied in order to analyze their differences. In addition, structural equation modeling was used to test the eWOM attitude model, using a sample of 864 participants who have had prior experience with the channels under study. Findings Findings indicate that both attitude toward eWOM and its antecedents significantly differ across channels. Additionally, a path analysis model reveals that the original integrated model applies to eWOM communications. Yet, in the case of eWOM, irritating messages may be positively related to attitude toward the channel, and credibility serves as a mediator of message value. Research limitations/implications This paper supports the notion that attitude toward eWOM communication significantly differs across media channels. Future research should examine additional implications of attitude toward eWOM, and explore new and evolving channels. Practical implications Practitioners should adjust their eWOM media strategy to their objectives; blogs and social networks are more effective for brand attitude formation, whereas web forums enhance message credibility. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first research study that tests attitudinal differences toward eWOM across digital channels. As such, it contributes to the understanding of people’s perception of these platforms.

Does advertising matter to store brand purchase intention? A conceptual framework

Purpose – The hottest trend in retailing is the emergence of “premium” store brands. Though store brands are treated as important players in grocery store strategies, many retailers prefer price over quality and often prefer to invest in store promotion, while neglecting brand advertising. This papers aims are to propose a conceptual framework, integrating advertising‐related psychographic factors which will be empirically tested.Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected through a survey of 206 participants randomly recruited among adult grocery shoppers. The study employs a factor analysis method following path analysis using AMOS 17 and structural equation modeling (SEM), based on the maximum likelihood approach.Findings – The results show the salience of creating a strong and sustainable store brand through advertising and innovation. A store brands perceived quality was found to be the most important factor in predicting store brand purchase intention, and advertising was found to have an in...

Does usage level of online services matter to customers’ bank loyalty?

Purpose – This paper aims to evaluate the relationship between the customer’s relative usage levels of online banking services and bank loyalty, and to examine the effect of customer satisfaction with the quality of online banking services and services’ convenience in this relationship. This study proposes a conceptual framework, integrating these factors. Design/methodology/approach – Data were collected from among traditional banks’ customers. The study uses a factor analysis method following path analysis, using AMOS 19 and structural equation modeling. Findings – The findings show a significant, direct and negative relationship between the relative usage level of online banking services and bank loyalty. However, a positive relationship was found to exist between bank loyalty and customer satisfaction with online service quality. An indirect positive relationship was also found to exist between services’ convenience through satisfaction with online banking service quality. Practical implications – The...

Programme involvement and interactive behavior in interactive television

Interactive television facilitates two-way communication between individual viewers and advertisements embedded in programmes. In this paper we examine how interest in the content of television programmes affects the interactive behaviour of viewers with interactive advertisements that are included in advertising breaks. Our empirical results show that the likelihood of entering interactive behaviour is negatively impacted by the viewer’s involvement in the programme, but only after a certain threshold is passed. Once engaged in interactive behaviour, programme involvement has no effect on the extent of interactivity that is impacted by involvement in the advertised product or service.

Consumer response to private label brands’ negative publicity: a relational effect on retailer’s store image

Purpose This study aims to examine the effect of private label brand (PLB) products’ negative publicity (NP) events on PLB general image and retailer’s store image, because of the suggested interdependency between retailer’s store image and PLB image. Design/methodology/approach Three empirical studies were conducted to test the NP effect – Studies 1 and 2, respectively; and test the occurrence of moderate and extreme NP events regarding the functional PLB product category. Study 3 replicates prior studies conducted on the hedonic product category. In these studies, participants were randomly assigned to treatment and control groups. The studies use factor analysis methods following t-tests and paths analyses, using structural equation modeling (SEM). Findings Findings show that both moderate and extreme NP have an influence on the PLB’s image dimensions. These effects “spilled over” to the entire range of PLB products, regardless of the category of the damaged product. Regarding retailer’s store image, the effect of NP was retained in the product-related image context and did not exceed that of the store-related image. However, in relation to functional products, when NP is very extreme, the effect on PLB image exceeds that of retailer’s store image. Practical implications Retailers should invest more efforts in their PLB product selection, quality maintenance and supervision to eliminate potential damage from events related to their PLB products. Originality/value The originality of this study is in the association of two streams of research: NP effects and the relationship between PLB image and retailer’s store image.

Determinants for store-switching in shopping for fresh produce: investigating the mediating role of consumer way of life

Abstract The present study addresses store-switching behavior regarding shopping for fresh produce. In particular, the study highlights the role played by a consumer way of life associated with fresh food consumption and explains how it has a mediating effect on consumer intention to switch food stores. A sample consisting of 252 respondents was obtained from the Israeli Arab community. The empirical results of the study indicate that way of life factors have a mediating effect on the influence of store outputs on consumer emotions and behavior intention, thus low outputs for fresh produce will lead to store-switching. However, the findings reveal that dissatisfied consumers may not consider switching due to switching barriers which moderate the influence of perceived dissatisfaction on store-switching. Implications for food retail providers are identified, together with a discussion of the study’s limitations and avenues for future research.

Does PLB Name Really Matter for Retailers? A Case of Negative Publicity

A retailer’s brand name is more than just a name or a symbol, it is a tool used to differentiate one retailer from another and advance store positioning. This study examines the effect of retailers’ private label brand (PLB) negative publicity on PLB image, and retailers’ store image as a result of this publicity. Empirical testing was conducted to check this effect in two situations: a private label as a family brand extension of the retailer’s name and a brand name that is independent from the retailer’s name. Findings show that negative publicity mainly has an influence on the PLBs image dimensions, but not on overall store image. PLB name type was found to be insignificant in most cases.

Status Consumption: Both an Antecedent and a Moderator of Private Label Brand Proneness

Status consumption has received little attention from scholars of private label research, and the results of the few existing studies were inconclusive about its influence on private label brand proneness. The aim of this research is to explore how status consumption is involved in the decision process to buy private label brands. An integrated model was constructed and empirically tested in a survey of 603 consumers. The findings show that although the impact of status consumption on private label proneness is not significant, but rather positive and small, it has a negative influence on quality perception and a positive influence on familiarity. The findings also revealed the interesting moderator function of status consumption on the relation between quality perception and buying proneness.

The Moderating Role of Mood in Consumer Response to Scent Cues in Advertising

Consumer exposure to scent stimuli is difficult to avoid. Affective reaction to scent is immediate and instinctive (Vlahos, 2007; Wilkie, 1995), and it precedes thinking (Vlahos, 2007). Yet, practical applications of olfactory cues in advertising are rare (Kelly, 2012), in part due to the scarcity of research in this field (Ellen and Bone, 1998; Lwin and Morrin, 2012). Another reason may be the complexity of this effect.