Sensible Agnosticism: An Updated Approach to Domain-Name Trademark Infringement

The Internet era has brought a new battlefield to U.S.-trademark-law disputes: domain names. Trademark owners have vigorously challenged the registration of domain names that consist of-or merely include-their trademarked terms, suing these domain-name registrants in U.S. courts for trademark infringement. During the early years of the Internet, courts often found consumer confusion-and thus trademark infringement-in these cases. As Internet use has developed, however, many courts have not recognized the growing sophistication of online consumers. This Note proposes that U.S. courts adapt their analyses to recognize evolving consumer behavior and expectations. This updated analysis, based on a 2010 Ninth Circuit opinion, will promote trademark law\u27s historical focus on accuracy by encouraging courts to recognize the right of domain-name registrants to engage in accurate, nonconfusing speech

Self-service technology complaint channel choice : exploring consumers\u27 motives

Purpose &ndash; This study aims to explore consumers\u27 motives for their choice of complaint channel in the context of self-service technology (SST) failure. Traditional and evolving communication channels are considered.Design/methodology/approach &ndash; Qualitative self-report data from consumers who had recently experienced dissatisfaction with SSTs were collected via an open-ended survey question. Three independent coders used a deductive and inductive iterative process to code the data.Findings &ndash; The findings suggest that both consumer complaint behaviour (CCB) theory and media richness theory (MRT) help to explain consumers\u27 motivation for channel choice. However, consumers\u27 choice appears to be motivated to a greater degree by convenience rather than task-medium fit.Research limitations/implications &ndash; This study was set solely in the SST context and explored consumers\u27 hypothetical complaint channel choice, not actual channel use. Future research could examine the actual performance of complaint channels as perceived by consumers. Consumers\u27 motivation to choose other emerging electronic complaint channels, such as complaint blogs and forums, could also be explored.Practical implications &ndash; Understanding consumers\u27 complaint channel choice is important for organisations to enable them to provide effective and efficient ways for consumers to complain. As complaint channels proliferate, it is difficult for organisations to know which channels to offer.Originality/value &ndash; Choosing an appropriate channel for resolving a complaint is an important consumer decision, which the study of CCB needs to be broadened to include. The current study addresses this gap by, for the first time, integrating CCB theory and MRT. This is valuable because it is common for consumers not to voice their complaints to organisations. To facilitate voiced complaints, organisations need to determine which complaint channels will be most effective and efficient and in which situations.<br /

Tell it like it is: The effects of differing responses to negative online reviews

Negative electronic word‐of‐mouth (eWOM) has a notable impact on a consumer\u27s online purchase decisions and attitude toward a company or product. Despite substantial research examining this phenomenon, little attention has been given to the impact of responses to negative eWOM. The authors examine negative eWOM in the form of online reviews to understand how responses may impact a consumer’s product satisfaction and attitude toward the company. Three studies examine specific aspects of responses, including responder type, attribution, and severity of negative review. Consistent findings across the studies reveal while any response is better than no response, a fellow consumer responding to a negative review can produce the most beneficial outcomes. The findings of this study are important for advancing theory in relation to negative eWOM and for helping practitioners develop appropriate response strategies

Business to Business Marketing: Service Recovery and Customer Satisfaction Issues with Ocean Shipping Lines

The tenets of relationship marketing are useful in understanding the success of a service provider. Based on a sample of 221 firms in Singapore that use ocean freight shipping services, examines service recovery issues related to satisfaction. It was found that service recovery methods such as claims handling, problem handling and complaint handling are associated with the level of satisfaction of customers. In addition, interfacing departments also have varying association with levels of satisfaction of customers. Finds that users of these services can identify problems they experience with ocean freight shipping services, and this may impact their choice of most preferred vs. least preferred shipping line. Concludes by giving recommendations on how service firms can mitigate and be vigilant for service recovery problems

Procedural Justice Complaints Resolution Strategies and Customer Satisfaction in Kenya’s Insurance Industry

Insurance industry is one of the world’s biggest and growing industries in the world and more so a cushion of the economy. Its stability and growth is therefore paramount to economic performance of countries including Kenya. However, with the increasing competition insurance companies have had to refocus on various strategies aimed at maintaining profitability. Maintaining a loyal customer base has seen insurance firms invest in various marketing strategies among them complaint resolution strategies so as to have an ever satisfied clientele. The purpose of this study therefore was to establish the effect of procedural justice customer complaint resolution strategies on customer satisfaction. The study employed an explanatory survey design and targeted 10 insurance companies based in Nakuru Town operating and licensed by the commission of Insurance in Kenya as at December 2014. The study targeted 186 customers of insurance services from a total population of 2400 customers. A self administered questionnaire was used to collect primary data. Descriptive and inferential tests such as Pearson correlation, Exploratory Factor Analysis and Multiple Regression Analysis were performed using SPSS. Exploratory factor analysis was used to validate and test the indicators of the preconceived complaints resolution variables. The study revealed four dimensions of complaint resolution strategies; Procedural justice strategies (Timing Communication, Decision control, and Effort) accounted for 56 % ( R) of the total variance hence justice theory on complaint resolution is valid in developing countries including Kenya. Results of the Hypothesis testing via multiple regression analysis indicated that procedural justice factors were significant (p&lt;0.05) and accounted for 33.5% ( R2) of customer satisfaction. The study concludes that customer complaints resolution strategies are an important feedback mechanism to establish customer satisfaction levels and insurance firms are therefore advised to invest in them. Further, the study recommends that Timing, Effort, Decision Control and communication related strategies should be pursued by business firms in the insurance industry. A comparative study with special emphasis on managers’ perspectives could as well be undertaken. Keywords: Customer satisfaction, Procedural Justice, Customer complaints resolution strategie

Science in Sanitary and Phytosanitary Dispute Resolution

The World Trade Organization Sanitary and Phytosanitary Agreement (SPS Agreement) relies heavily on science and expert organizations to avoid and resolve trade disputes over measures enacted under the rationale of food safety or plant and animal health protection. However, the state of science for sanitary and phytosanitary risk analysis is highly uncertain, and the SPS Agreement leaves many science policy issues unsettled. The international agencies charged under the SPS Agreement with harmonizing standards and forging international scientific consensus face a daunting and politically-charged task. Two case studies are briefly developed. In the first case, the international scientific consensus strongly supports the U.S. challenge of the European Union’s ban on cattle growth hormones, but the root causes of the dispute go much deeper. The case suggests that establishing a precedent for SPS measures based solely on "sound science" may be a slippery objective. In the second case, domestic avocado producers challenged a U.S. Department of Agriculture assessment which concluded that a partial lifting of the ban on Mexican avocado imports posed a negligible plant pest risk. Although the Department’s phytosanitary risk assessment gained endorsement by independent scientists, a contributing factor to resolving this dispute was the threat of retaliation against U.S. agricultural exports to Mexico. A recent survey of current and proposed technical barriers to U.S. agricultural exports suggests that the trade impacts could approach $5 billion a year and that the most common SPS disputes in the future will be over biological hazards�particularly plant pests and food-borne microbial pathogens. This poses a tremendous challenge, however, because the practice of risk assessment for biological stressors is much less developed than that for chemical substances. The paper concludes with some proposed criteria for evaluating the weight of scientific evidence in SPS risk assessment.

Relationship Marketing

The relationship between firm and their customers is a critical issue when establishing a long term relationship. The relationship management has become an essential part of business strategy due to the complexity and increasing competition. Previous researchers mention (Wong & Sohal 2002, Grönroos & Ravald 1996, Selnes 1996,) that values and benefits can only be obtained if customers agree to make long term relationship and consider them valuable. In the context of buyer-supplier relationship, continuity of relationship consists on loyalty from both sides. Loyalty has been define in term of repeat purchase, positive attitude, long term commitment, intention to continue relationship, expressing positive word of mouth and not switching for any other product. There are many factors which can affect the loyalty but in the current study four factors or variables have been discussed such as supplier competence, communication, commitment and conflict handling. The aim of this study is to know the role of relationship variables between international buyer-supplier relationship and on customers’ loyalty. Theoretical work was based on previous researches and literature regarding relationship variables and customer’s loyalty. Case study method has been chosen for current study which is most appropriate to meet the purpose. Data has been collected from one Finnish firm in print industry. The study found that in order to maintain customers’ loyalty, it is vital for firms to meet their needs and wants, and all relationship variables need to be considered during the entire relationship process between supplier and buyer, without any discrimination whether new customers and old one.fi=Opinnäytetyö kokotekstinä PDF-muodossa.|en=Thesis fulltext in PDF format.|sv=Lärdomsprov tillgängligt som fulltext i PDF-format

The impact of generation Y's customer experience on banking sector

JEL: M310 - Marketing; JEL: M390 - Marketing and Advertising: OtherThis dissertation based on customer experience of the Generation Y, individuals born between 1980 and 2000, and its effect on banking sector efforts from marketing perspective. Recently, banking sector focus on attracting Generation Y because they has emerged as a big force with growing spending power which will unavoidably rival Baby Boomers' market dominance, and are becoming even more important due to their large size. Banks try to attract them by offering a unique customer experience, especially the ability of differentiation by using price or service become less than before and easier to copy from other banks. Using Mehrabian and Russell’s model of stimulus (S) - organism (O) - response (R), this study developed Generation Y customer experience framework that intends to explain Generation Y consumer behavioral responses toward customer experience attributes in bank that developed by KPMG International. This process happen through three aspects: Affective, Attitudinal, and Perspective toward banks. Empirical evidence, based on data from a survey suggests that the overall customer experience attributes in the bank had a positive relation with behavioral responses that represented by three items: loyalty, word-of-mouth, and brand equity, in different ways. In addition, “Value for money”, “Getting things right the first time” and "Put the consumer first" emerge as the most importance attributes for Generation Y in experiencing the bank.Esta dissertação tem como base a experiência dos indivíduos da geração Y, nascidos entre 1980 e 2000, e seu efeito sobre os esforços de marketing do sector bancário. Recentemente, o sector bancário tem apostado em atrair a geração Y, pois ela tem emergido como uma grande força com crescente poder de compra que inevitavelmente rivalizam com o Baby Boomers no domínio do mercado e, está-se tornando ainda mais importante devido ao seu tamanho. Os bancos tentam atraí-los (indivíduos da geração Y), oferecendo uma experiência de cliente único, especialmente a capacidade de diferenciação, usando o preço ou o serviço tornarse- iam menos do que eram antes e mais fáceis copiar por outros bancos. Mediante a aplicação do modelo de Mehrabian e Russell (estímulo (S) - organismo (O) - resposta (R)), este estudo desenvolveu um modelo conceptual da experiencia de consumidor da geração Y, o qual pretende explicar o comportamento de resposta mediante os atributos da experiência do consumidor no setor bancário propostos por KPMG International. Este processo ocorre através de três aspetos: afetivo, altitudinal e perspetivo para o sector bancário. A evidência empírica, com base na informação recolhida mediante um questionário online sugere que em geral os atributos da experiência global do cliente bancário tem uma relação positiva com as respostas comportamentais representadas, de formas diferentes, pelas três itens: lealdade, passa-palavra e equity da marca. Além disso, o "valor pelo dinheiro", o "fazer as coisas bem à primeira " e o "colocar o consumidor em primeiro lugar" emergem como os atributos mais importantes para geração Y em experiências com o banco

THE IMPACTS OF CULTURAL VALUES ON ELECTRONIC WORD OF MOUTH : OPINION LEADERSHIP AND OPINION SEEKING

Purpose: The importance of electronic word of mouth has been proven in consumer-dominated communication. It is also one of the most effective ways to influence consumers when it comes to the purchase decision process. What is more, Hofstede’s cultural dimensions are widely used in business research even though it has criticized. This study aims to explain the relationship be- tween Hofstede's dimensions and two flip-side of electronic word of mouth (opinion leadership orientation and opinion seeking orientation at the individual level. Method: This study will include two main steps which included (1) initial research and (2) official research. In details, qualitative and quantitative research methods would be used in the initial research. A deep interview with few samples was carried out to check the validity of the scales. Then, the initial survey was carried to confirm the reliability of the scale. In official research, quantitative research was used to identify the relationship between variables. Findings: This study is suggested that there is a positive relationship between opinion leadership orientation. Still, opinion seeking orientation is found to have a positive association with uncertainty avoidance and negative relationship with power distance. Value: Theoretically, this study confirmed that Hofstede’s dimensions could be measured at the individual level as well as find out the relationship between cultural values and two flip-side of electronic word of mouth. Practically, this study is to assist the firm in their viral marketing, especially in seeding strategies and behavior of the characteristic of recipient