Purpose This research aims to determine to what extent corporate social responsibility (CSR) actions developed by bank entities in Spain improve the vulnerable customers' emotions and quality ...perception of the banking service. Consequently, this increases the quality of their relationship regarding satisfaction, trust and engagement. Design/methodology/approach Data from 734 vulnerable banking customers were analyzed through structural equations modeling (EQS 6.2) to test the relationships of the proposed variables. Findings Vulnerable customers' emotional disposition exerts a strong influence on their perceived service quality. The antecedent effect is concentrated primarily on the CSR towards the client, with a residual secondary weight on the CSR towards society. These positive service emotions are determinants of the outcome quality perceived by vulnerable customers, directly in terms of higher satisfaction and trust and indirectly through engagement. Practical implications This research contributes to understanding how financial service providers should adapt to the specific characteristics and needs of vulnerable clients by adopting a strategy of approach, personalization and humanization of the service that seems to move away from the actions implemented by the banking industry in recent years. Originality/value This study has adopted a theoretical and empirical perspective on the impact of CSR on service emotions and outcome quality of vulnerable banking customers. Moreover, banks can adopt a dual conception of CSR: a macro and external scope toward society and a micro and internal scope toward customers.
Purpose
This study aims to examine the co-creation of customer experiences at different levels in service ecosystems, analyzing the case of a tourist destination.
Design/methodology/approach
A ...questionnaire was designed based on previously validated scales. The questionnaire was distributed through the social media platforms Facebook and Instagram. The survey yielded 1,476 valid responses for three types of destinations. Structural equation modeling and multigroup analysis were performed to test the hypotheses.
Findings
Aggregate service experience and memorable customer experience (MCE) in service ecosystems are determined by customer experiences at a dyadic level. Service experience at the ecosystem level is formed from ordinary experiences at the actor level, while MCE is formed from extraordinary experiences at the dyadic level. The type of ecosystem moderates the relationships between the variables but does not alter the importance of each of them.
Originality/value
The relationship between the co-creation of customer experiences at different levels of service ecosystems (dyadic vs aggregate) is addressed. A relationship is established between the ordinary and extraordinary character of experiences and their memorability at the ecosystem level.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the role of bank branch managers’ perceptions of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in CSR marketing outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper ...proposes a causal model establishing that managers’ perceptions of CSR influence the perception of CSR held by the branch’s customers, which in turn directly affects customer satisfaction, customer trust, customer engagement and customer loyalty. The unit of analysis in this quantitative study is the bank branch. Two questionnaires were administered: one to branch managers and another to five customers in each branch.
Findings
Branch managers’ perceptions of CSR have a marked influence on customers’ perceptions of CSR, which again have a notable impact on the relationship variables studied: customer satisfaction, customer trust, customer engagement and customer loyalty.
Research limitations/implications
The sample was taken from two banks in the same country (Spain) and only five customers were interviewed in each branch. The type of customers analyzed should be taken into account since a growing number of customers now carry out all of their banking online and are less likely to visit their branch.
Practical implications
The results highlight the importance of adopting socially responsible actions not only in the bank as a whole, but also in individual branches. It would, therefore, seem crucial for high level bank executives not only to involve branch managers in the bank’s CSR strategy, but also to empower them to undertake CSR actions that involve the customers and local community with which they interact.
Originality/value
First, the paper reveals the differences within the same organization in the way its CSR strategy is implemented. Second, intermediary figures or supervisors are shown to have a key role in ensuring the organization’s CSR strategy is effective. Third, the study emphasizes the importance of customers’ perception of CSR in achieving the main outcomes of relationship marketing (satisfaction, trust, engagement and loyalty). Fourth, the methodology applied in the study is innovative in its construction of dyads in which the branch is the unit of analysis, enabling a comparison between the manager’s perceptions of CSR with that of five customers from the same branch. Fifth, the findings add to the knowledge of a particularly relevant sector in the recent economic crisis, namely, the retail banking industry.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse the influence of service quality dimensions as determinants of the emotional and relational behaviours experienced by the client in bank branches in ...the post-crisis context experienced by Spanish financial institutions.
Design/methodology/approach
Data taken from a total of 1,125 customers were analysed through structural equations modelling (EQS6.1) to test the relationships of the proposed model’s variables.
Findings
The results support the hypotheses stated, with the exception of the influence of a service quality dimension (servicescape) on emotions during the service. In fact, the dimensions of the service quality of an intangible nature (personnel, outcome and social) are determinants of the positive emotions and relational behaviours of clients around the service provided by the branches. For its part, servicescape quality, of a more tangible nature, exerts indirect influence on the other dimensions that compose the quality of service.
Practical implications
This paper provides senior bank executives established evidence on the degree of influence of the different dimensions in relation to the quality of service in the bank branch. Furthermore, it emphasises the importance of emotional factors during service as essential elements in strengthening customer–staff relationships under a non-transactional dynamic.
Originality/value
This paper has adopted an analytical holistic, theoretical and empirical perspective on the impact of the different dimensions of service quality (servicescape, personnel, outcome and social) as well as to the emotions experienced by banking customers during services and its lasting effect on customer engagement and customer advocacy.
The aim of this study is to examine the relationship between sustainability with customer satisfaction and service experience in service ecosystems, by analyzing the moderated role of business ...models. A model with four variables is proposed, whereby customer satisfaction is the dependent variable, perceived sustainability of the service ecosystem is the explanatory variable, service experience is the mediator variable, and business models is the moderator variable. The model is applied in a survey of tourists. The results enable comparison of the causal model: perceived sustainability influences customer satisfaction directly and indirectly through service experience; and business model can play a moderator role since significant differences are identified in one of the three types of tourism destinations.
According to the FCA UK definition, “a vulnerable customer is someone who, due to their personal circumstances, is especially susceptible to detriment, particularly when a firm is not acting with ...appropriate levels of care.” In these circumstances, it is vital that banks endeavour to incorporate considerations of vulnerability in everything they do, whether designing products, communications, inclusive treatment or channels, in order to guarantee suitable levels of attention. ...banks are expected to provide customers with a level of commercial attention that is appropriate and fair, given the characteristics of these customers. ...banking service providers should evolve towards a transformative perspective when assuming their functions, whereby the fair treatment of vulnerable customers is fully integrated into corporate culture across departments. Banks which are involved in such specific unethical behaviour can neither satisfy their consumers nor maintain a sustainable and profitable relationship with them. ...unethical behaviours harm relationship outcomes in the banking sector.
The objective of this paper is to study the relationship between memorable tourism experiences and destination sustainability. Three hypotheses that relate dimensions of sustainability (economic, ...socio-cultural, and environmental) to memorable tourism experience are considered, based on a review of the literature. A questionnaire designed for that purpose was administered to 1034 tourists who stayed at five rural and sun and beach destinations in Spain. A multigroup analysis with a structural equation model was conducted to establish the differences between both destination types. The results show that destination environmental sustainability influences the memorable tourism experience, though significant differences between rural and sun and beach destinations have been detected. Age plays a moderating role: the younger the tourist the greater the influence of sustainability on memorable tourism experiences.
Este trabajo ha obtenido el 1.er Premio Estudios Financieros 2022 en la modalidad de Marketing y Publicidad.
Este estudio supone una contribución importante a la literatura de turismo al explorar la ...relación entre la sostenibilidad y la gastronomía local en los destinos turísticos dentro del marco conceptual de la investigación de servicios transformadores. Además, tras la pandemia de la covid-19, la experiencia segura se propone como una nueva dimensión en la escala de medición de experiencia de servicio EXQ para considerar la importancia de la seguridad en la salud. A través de un cuestionario a 1.433 turistas, se confirman todas las hipótesis planteadas, comprobándose así la sostenibilidad percibida, la gastronomía local y la experiencia de servicio como aspectos clave en la estrategia de cualquier destino turístico. En primer lugar, el estudio identifica que la sostenibilidad percibida es un factor determinante de la experiencia de servicio del turista en el destino. Los turistas consideran que la sostenibilidad es una parte intrínseca de la propuesta de valor del destino y valoran la experiencia local de gastronomía y servicio a través del filtro de la sostenibilidad. En segundo lugar, la percepción de la gastronomía local no solo afecta a la experiencia turística, sino que influye de manera decisiva en la sostenibilidad percibida. Finalmente, la experiencia de servicio de los turistas tiene un efecto positivo significativo en la satisfacción, lo que a su vez afecta de manera positiva a la abogacía. También se demuestra la importancia de la experiencia segura en la experiencia de servicio, lo cual supone una contribución a la literatura de turismo en el contexto de la covid-19.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of the customer engagement and customer self-brand connection on customer advocacy and firms’ financial performance. The research focuses on ...the financial sector and studies a complex organization with a uniform strategy, but which attends the public in different centers (bank branches).
Design/methodology/approach
A theoretical model of effects is tested using dyadic methodology, with 225 dyads (bank branch manager – average of five customers). The authors use structural equation modeling (EQS6.1) to test the relationships.
Findings
The results corroborate the hypotheses, with the exception of the influence of customer self-brand connection on financial performance. These analyses show that in the banking sector, where the intensive use of new information and technologies has led to a reduction in direct physical contact with the customer, the off-line experience continues to have a notable economic impact. Furthermore, investment in the brand from an experiential approach determines customer advocacy.
Originality/value
The contribution of this paper is twofold. This research analyzes from a theoretical and empirical perspective the impact of the customer engagement and customer self-brand connection on customer advocacy and firms’ financial performance.
As the Covid-19 pandemic brought most in-person activities to a halt, radical and visible changes were imposed in all social interactions, including teaching and academic activity in general. This ...challenging setting tested the education system's capacity to successfully address the Sustainable Development Goals. The success of education for sustainable development (ESD) requires training in the specific skills needed to face the highly emotionally demanding post-pandemic context. In this line, this study focuses on university students' capability to understand and manage emotions, an issue considered to be a key factor in ESD. The aim of this study is to show how students' emotional intelligence influenced their resilience, with repercussions on their engagement and subsequent academic performance. The research model was tested through a questionnaire addressed to 340 students from three different universities during the full lockdown of March–May 2020 as a result of the pandemic.
Results show that emotional intelligence was positively related to resilience, which in turn was related to engagement, and consequently, resulted in better academic performance. This finding should spark interest in developing emotional intelligence in education, not only because it produces healthy citizens in the long term, but also because of its short-term positive impacts in the classroom, particularly in such adverse situations as those described here. This study provides a model that links classic variables on educational and positive psychology research with ESD in times of COVID-19.
•ESD requires the training of the specific skills needed for pandemic context.•The capability to understand and manage emotions is a key factor for the ESD.•Students' emotional intelligence influenced their resilience, engagement and academic performance.
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