PurposeA significant body of research has now been accumulated in the intercultural service encounter (ICSE) literature. However, no study to date has provided scholars and practitioners with a ...systematic review to map and better understand the ICSE domain.Design/methodology/approachTo fill this gap, the authors systematically review and critically examine the state of academic research on ICSE.FindingsBased on a systematic review of 31 journal articles published over the last two decades, the results illustrate that ICSE research is a vibrant and rapidly growing stream of the broader international business domain, and it is topically and methodologically diverse. This review also identifies significant knowledge gaps related to the adoption of different theoretical orientations by researchers examining ICSE at different levels of analysis, a lack of contextual positioning, as well as poor methodological rigor.Originality/valueBased on the findings, the authors introduce a multilevel and multidisciplinary conceptual framework that integrates the concepts of emotional intelligence (EI) and intercultural communication competence (ICC) as the key variables that explain trust development during the interaction between two key culturally different stakeholders: service providers (employees) and service receivers (customers). Finally, the authors discuss the contributions and implications for both academics and practitioners.
A new love–hate scale for sports fans Shuv-Ami, Avichai; Toder Alon, Anat; Loureiro, Sandra Maria Correia ...
International journal of sports marketing & sponsorship,
08/2020, Letnik:
21, Številka:
3
Journal Article
Recenzirano
PurposeThis study, an empirical research, aims to construct and validate a new love-hate scale for sports fans and tested its antecedents and consequences.Design/methodology/approachThe scale was ...designed and validated in three separate empirical survey studies in the context of Israeli professional basketball. In Phase 1, the authors verified the factorial validity of the proposed scale using exploratory factor analysis. In Phase 2, the authors conducted a confirmatory factor analysis using structural equation modeling. In Phase 3, the authors tested the nomological network validity of the scale.FindingsThe findings show that fans' involvement, loyalty and fandom significantly predicted their love–hate, which in turn significantly predicted self-reported fan aggression, fans' acceptance of fan aggression, price premium and frequency of watching games.Research limitations/implicationsThe model was tested on a relatively small sample of fans within a single country. This lack of generalizability should be addressed in future studies by examining the model in other sports contexts and countries.Practical implicationsThis study suggests that understanding the properties of the love–hate measure may assist team sports clubs in identifying, preventing and controlling potential fan aggression.Originality/valueThe study provides three incremental contributions above and beyond existing research: it develops and validates a scale for measuring the phenomenon of sports fans' love and hate as mixed emotions; it makes it possible to capture the variations in the magnitude of fans' love–hate; and it relates fans' love–hate to important attitudinal and behavioral outcomes.
PurposeThe purpose of this paper is twofold: first, to explore the influence of an individual’s attitude towards advertising and country-of-origin (COO) images (brand origin (BO) and country of ...manufacture (COM)) on brand equity creation; and second, to investigate how brand typicality moderates the effect of BO macro image on perceived quality.Design/methodology/approachThe data to test the hypotheses were elicited from a consumer survey in the Greater Lisbon area (305 Portuguese consumers). The product category of smartphones was selected for two main reasons: it has not been extensively analysed in previous studies on the subject of brand equity; it is a device well-known to Portuguese consumers (particularly in the Greater Lisbon area). Three criteria guided the selection of the brands. The first criterion is to select brands which are well-known to consumers. The second is to choose brands with a distinctive BO and a main COM. The third and final criterion is to consider brands in different positions in the brand ranking. In order to estimate structural path coefficients, R2, Q2, and bootstrap techniques, the current study employs the partial least squares approach.FindingsThe results show that individuals’ attitudes towards advertisements have a positive impact on brand equity creation, whereas those towards the COM do not significantly influence brand equity creation. Attitudes towards BO only have a partial influence. Brand typicality, however, exerts a significant direct effect on brand equity dimensions and, hence, does not have a significant moderating effect.Research limitations/implicationsThe authors suggest analysing the influence of COO on dimensions of brand equity considering consumer segmentation, types of industry and a range of brands, as well as different levels of consumer involvement with the product category. Several brands with the same COO should be analysed in order to understand whether the effects on brand equity depend on the product category. Although the current study is a first attempt to combine the potential effect of individuals’ attitudes towards advertisements and COO on creating brand equity, further research should examine additional potential antecedents of brand equity. Finally, cross-cultural studies are recommended.Practical implicationsRegarding managerial implications, three main aspects should be taken into consideration. First, creative, original and different advertising strategies are more effective than the COO in creating brand equity and, consequently, in building loyalty among smartphone consumers. Second, consumers do not tend to care about the place, country or region where the smartphone is produced, but the image of the country where the brand originated may be important. Finally, managers should be aware that, at least, in the smartphone sector, the way consumers create favourable associations with the brand and typicality, trust the company and consider it good value for money, are more effective in building brand loyalty than the perceived quality of the product/brand.Social implicationsRelating to the interrelationship between COO and brand equity, the results of the current study prove that the effects of COO are category specific. Therefore, more studies focussed on other contexts of products and brands are still needed to know in more detail how COO exerts an influence on brand equity dimensions. Even within a product category context, the results can depend on individual brands being analysed.Originality/valueTo the knowledge of the authors, this study is the first to investigate the dual (simultaneous) effect of individuals’ attitudes towards advertisements and COO images on brand equity dimensions. Adding to the originality of the paper, the category of smartphone with respect to brand equity has not been extensively analysed in previous studies.
Purpose - Environmental changes require higher levels of corporate authenticity when communicating with stakeholders. This is achieved by a congruence of stakeholder and brand identities. Focusing on ...employee identity, the purpose of this paper is to explain relationships of factors predicting brand-building behavior.Design methodology approach - The study pursues a triangulation approach, applying case study and survey as research methods and telephone interviews and questionnaires as research techniques in the respective exploratory and explanatory research stages.Findings - Confirmed by exploratory and explanatory research, the antecedent factors of behavioral branding have been elicited. Interestingly, marketing control reflected differentiated results compared to previous research. It showed the highest level of contribution to explain R square followed by role identity salience and value congruence. This factor also had the highest correlation value.Research limitations implications - Additional qualitative and quantitative research with increased sample size is suggested to validate the findings in diverse cross-cultural research settings.Practical implications - The findings enable global marketing managers to more effectively relate to stakeholders by a holistic, empathetic and authentic corporate branding strategy execution.Originality value - The interdisciplinary study validates and further develops recent pioneering research by using different measurements, scales and sample scopes. This multidisciplinary research delineates innovative and integrated conceptualizations on corporate branding, identity and leadership and supports the call to upgrade the branding concept within the marketing discipline.
Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to provide a contribution to advancing knowledge on the more recent phenomenon of social brand community.Design methodology approach - The paper is based on an ...extensive interdisciplinary literature review in areas such as sociology, management, and marketing. Three interrelated and consecutively developed conceptualizations resulting from a co-operation of the researchers over the last three years are presented to explain the influence of the evolution of current social trends on the relationship between consumers and brands in different contexts (socio-demographic aspects and culture). The conceptualizations have been applied to a qualitative case study on Cypriot consumers, which conducted in-depth expert interviews and focus groups. The research project has been designed in three stages: the first stage elicited thenature of relationships between consumer, brands and social groups; the second stage was concerned with differentiating consumer behaviour and segmentation patterns in the various stages; finally, the last one conceptualized the influence of culture on the brand-consumer relationship and benefited from a progressive knowledge of the researchers in the field of embedded learning and human branding.Findings - The first conceptualization (Siano and Basile) explains the various stages of the evolution of the relationship between the consumer and the brand. The second conceptualization proposes a new segmentation and categorization pattern of brand consumers and their respective behaviors derived from the different stages of the consumer-brand relationship development (Siano and Basile; Siano, Kaufmann and Basile). The third conceptualization has been developed from the findings of an exploratory study on Cypriot brand related consumer behavior (Kitsios and Kaufmann), which had expanded the previous two conceptualizations by integrating cultural aspects. Beyond that, the third conceptualization integrates the influence of embedded learning and stimulant experience on the consumer-brand relationship.Originality value - The paper provides innovative knowledge on a new quality, even new paradigm, of consumer-brand-social group relations leading to newly arising segmentation patterns and socially responsible marketing.
This paper aims at filling a gap that we perceive to exist in the scientific literature as to legitimacy, reputation and sustainability and their interrelationship to corporate and supply chain ...branding. A series of innovative theoretical frameworks are provided interrelating companies and their value (supply) chains with legitimacy, reputation, and branding which are essential conditions to achieve sustainability and competitive advantage based on dyadic and social context consonance to the benefit of society and all stakeholders involved. An urgently required better understanding of the concepts and their interrelations is enhanced by a synthesized explanatory basis entailing an eclectic mosaic of interdisciplinary theories (institutionalist, neo-institutionalist theories, the viable system approach, isomorphism and identity) to improve corporate and supply chain performance. To better inform managerial practice the theoretical considerations are spiced with case studies among which especially the currently debated supply chain case of the European horse meat scandal is illuminated suggesting concrete managerial cross-functional implications in the food industry. The paper culminates in the call for a newly to-be-established marketing stream we call ‘Sustainable and Curative Marketing’.
Brand communities have been regarded as avenues where the relationship between consumers and a brand can flourish. The main aim of this research was to investigate if luxury values, that is, the ...individual, social and functional values and believes influence the affective commitment in the luxury car context. This study explores the effect of luxury values on luxury car affective commitment mediated by brand tribalism and brand reputation. The proposed model was tested through a survey on car brand communities (BMW, Mercedes and Audi). Findings reveal that brand tribalism is more important than brand reputation when developing brand relationship. Functional values are more effective to create brand reputation than to improve brand tribalism. Social values influence more on brand tribalism than on brand reputation. Individual values exercise a significant effect on brand tribalism.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to provide a holistic view on e-learning-related concepts as a basis for an e-learning strategy. Furthermore, it aims to shed light on the level of application ...of existing open-source learning management systems (LMS) by the public and private universities of Cyprus. Due to a currently existing information gap in the field, the study should rather be seen as an exploratory descriptive snapshot to create initial awareness based on which further hypotheses can be derived for future studies.
Design/methodology/approach
– Quantitative research has been conducted in this study with an online questionnaire distributed to all the public and private universities in Cyprus.
Findings
– The conducted research analysis results clearly illustrate the comparisons among different features and services of an e-learning platform. Additionally, the analysis results highlighted the tendency of the participants toward a social learning environment which was considerably high in using social networks and other collaboration platforms, as students were more attracted to those e-learning platforms that integrate social learning elements such as various social media tools.
Research limitations/implications
– The only data collection method used was the online questionnaire. Even though it provided the researchers with sound and useful outcomes in a considerably short time, the validity of the results was not properly justified. The findings cannot claim to be representative. The main reason of selecting only one type of data collection method, i.e. questionnaire was the limited time of completing the research. Another significant limitation was the very low co-operation level of some of the universities under study which resulted in having less reliable results, as the response rates of some universities were merely 1 per cent.
Originality/value
– This research study provides a comprehensive body of knowledge about LMS and e-learning, in general, within the public and private universities in Cyprus. In other terms, the results of this study enhance the existing knowledge about the e-learning features as well as demonstrating the tendency of the students toward social learning within an LMS.
Few studies have examined the relationships between brands and consumers in the context of counterfeiting. In this context, this research aims to explore how the attachment of a consumer with a ...luxury brand can affect her/his decision to buy counterfeits, and how this relates to her/his public self-consciousness. Two survey based studies were conducted among potential counterfeit buyers in Brazil. A sample of middle-class female fashion shoppers from Brazil was used to test the hypotheses in study 1 (n=532) and study 2 (n=276). Innovatively, this research provides convincing implications for the need to differentiate counterfeiting theory between emerging and developed economies. Evidence of the positive impact of actual self-congruence and ideal self-congruence on brand attachment to luxury brands in emerging economies is provided. The role of brand attachment is in contrast to findings reported in other emerging economies. Interestingly, the results demonstrate that the purchase of counterfeits is a more hedonic process compared to the purchase of originals (study 1). The effect of brand attachment on the willingness to buy counterfeits may vary according to how attachment is measured (study 2). Yet, brand attachment has a consistent positive effect on intentions to purchase originals. Producing increments in the emotional brand attachment level can reduce the behavioural intentions of purchasing counterfeits. Hence, the findings suggest that the creation of emotional links with brands can be an appropriate strategy to reduce counterfeiting.
Purpose
This paper aims to contribute to the understanding of the complex consumer brand relationships by holistically exploring the dynamics between brand love and co-creation, how they are impacted ...by behavioural branding and their combined impact to brand loyalty.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper, based on extensive and thorough literature review on the fields of brand love, behavioural branding, brand communities and co-creation, that leads to the formulation of a proposed synthesized framework.
Findings
The authors propose that consumers experiencing brand love are more willing to engage in an active co-creating behaviour in the context of a brand community, especially when brand representatives vividly communicate the brand values and motivate consumers to engage. This process is moderated by the product/service category and level of customer involvement with it, and it produces a combined positive impact on brand loyalty.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed conceptual framework needs to be validated through empirical research. However, even at this initial stage, it may have a significant impact, especially as it highlights the role of brand representatives and how they could drastically moderate the relationship between the brand and the consumer.
Originality/value
This is the first attempt to incorporate the constructs that are significant to the consumer–brand relationship research stream in one conceptual framework. The synthesis of these concepts will contribute to the improved understanding of the consumer–brand relationship, and its dynamics and will equip managers with a novel approach to the central role of behavioural branding.
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