The Effects of Service and Consumer Product Knowledge on Online Customer Loyalty

Customer loyalty is a key driver of financial performance for online firms. The effect of service quality on customer loyalty has been well established. Yet, there is a paucity of research that has studied the cost of obtaining service quality during the service process and the service outcome influenced by such cost. We extend previous research and propose the 3S Customer Loyalty Model by integrating sacrifice and service outcome as additional important service dimensions together with service quality when predicting online customer loyalty, and examining how their influences on loyalty vary across customers with different degrees of product knowledge. Further, we theorize that service quality and sacrifice -- as service process dimensions -- influence service outcome, and we theorize how “live help” technology improves customer perceptions of service quality and sacrifice. The empirical results indicate that 1) customer loyalty increases with higher perceived service quality, lower perceived sacrifice, and better perceived service outcome, 2) service quality and sacrifice influence service outcome, 3) customer product knowledge negatively moderates the relationship between service quality and online customer loyalty and positively moderates the relationship between sacrifice and customer loyalty, and 4) live help technology enhances service quality and reduces sacrifice. These findings support the theoretical importance of including sacrifice and service outcome (parallel with service quality) as antecedents of online customer loyalty. Our study also advances the theoretical understanding of what service process consists of and how the service process (i.e. service quality and sacrifice) influences service outcome

Critical review of the e-loyalty literature: a purchase-centred framework

Over the last few years, the concept of online loyalty has been examined extensively in the literature, and it remains a topic of constant inquiry for both academics and marketing managers. The tremendous development of the Internet for both marketing and e-commerce settings, in conjunction with the growing desire of consumers to purchase online, has promoted two main outcomes: (a) increasing numbers of Business-to-Customer companies running businesses online and (b) the development of a variety of different e-loyalty research models. However, current research lacks a systematic review of the literature that provides a general conceptual framework on e-loyalty, which would help managers to understand their customers better, to take advantage of industry-related factors, and to improve their service quality. The present study is an attempt to critically synthesize results from multiple empirical studies on e-loyalty. Our findings illustrate that 62 instruments for measuring e-loyalty are currently in use, influenced predominantly by Zeithaml et al. (J Marketing. 1996;60(2):31-46) and Oliver (1997; Satisfaction: a behavioral perspective on the consumer. New York: McGraw Hill). Additionally, we propose a new general conceptual framework, which leads to antecedents dividing e-loyalty on the basis of the action of purchase into pre-purchase, during-purchase and after-purchase factors. To conclude, a number of managerial implementations are suggested in order to help marketing managers increase their customers’ e-loyalty by making crucial changes in each purchase stage

Investigating the relationship of brand experience and loyalty: A study of luxury brand in Thailand

The concept of 'brand experience' has evolved as an imperative arena of study in the marketing discipline. Although the importance and the concept of experience have been adapted in marketing such as customer experience, consumption experience and so on, the explanations of brand experiences have remained vague and absent a thorough theoretical foundation. This research aims to understand the concept of 'brand experience' and its impact of consumer behaviour (loyalty) direct or indirect through brand personality, satisfaction or [and] brand trust in the luxury brand context (Thailand). This research is carried out in one stage 'quantitative'. Furthermore the research data will be collected based on distributing survey questionnaire. Among of 400 Thai citizen samples will be surveyed to measure a modify framework from (Brakus et al, 2009). The result will provide meaningful information in both academic research and marketing practice. Furthermore, it will be presented the prediction of consumer behaviour via brand experience. Moreover, it guides marketers to various marketing strategy option such as experiential marketing or traditional marketing

Towards a co-creation framework in the retail banking services industry: a cross-cultural analysis

An underlying theme in modern marketing is the notion that value is not solely created within the boundaries of the firm, it is created co-jointly with outside parties. This paper aims to study the outcomes of co-creation from a customer perspective. Specifically, it examines the effects of co-creation on customer satisfaction, loyalty and word-of-mouth (WOM) within the banking services industry. Furthermore, we consider potential differences between consumers from Spain and the UK, thus incorporating cross-cultural aspects in our research. The research demonstrates that firms should not only respond to the differences that exist within different cultural contexts and incorporate these in co-creation initiatives; more importantly, firms should undertake co-creation activities themselves as these can result in customers who are more satisfied, loyal to the company and more likely to carry out positive WOM, which can ultimately lead to new customers

The impact of brand communication on brand equity through Facebook

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to fill the gap in the discussion of the ways in which firm-created and user-generated social media brand communication impacts consumer-based brand equity metrics through Facebook. Design/methodology/approach: We evaluated 302 data sets that were generated through a standardized online-survey to investigate the impact of firm-created and user-generated social media brand communication on brand awareness/associations, perceived quality, and brand loyalty across 60 brands within three different industries: non-alcoholic beverages, clothing, and mobile network providers. We applied structural equation modeling techniques (SEM) to investigate the effects of social media brand communication on consumers’ perception of brand equity metrics, as well as in an examination of industry-specific differences. Findings: The results of our empirical studies showed that both firm-created and user-generated social media brand communication influence brand awareness/associations; whereas, user-generated social media brand communication had a positive impact on brand loyalty and perceived brand quality. Additionally, there are significant differences between the industries being investigated. Originality/value: This article is pioneering in that it exposes the effects of two different types of social media brand communication (i.e., firm-created and user-generated social media communication) on consumer-based brand equity metrics, a topic of relevance for both marketers and scholars in the era of social media. Additionally, it differentiates the effects of social media brand communication across industries, which indicate that practitioners should implement social media strategies according to industry specifics to lever consumer-based brand equity metrics

An improved negative selection algorithm based on the hybridization of cuckoo search and differential evolution for anomaly detection

The biological immune system (BIS) is characterized by networks of cells, tissues, and organs communicating and working in synchronization. It also has the ability to learn, recognize, and remember, thus providing the solid foundation for the development of Artificial Immune System (AIS). Since the emergence of AIS, it has proved itself as an area of computational intelligence. Real-Valued Negative Selection Algorithm with Variable-Sized Detectors (V-Detectors) is an offspring of AIS and demonstrated its potentials in the field of anomaly detection. The V-Detectors algorithm depends greatly on the random detectors generated in monitoring the status of a system. These randomly generated detectors suffer from not been able to adequately cover the non-self space, which diminishes the detection performance of the V-Detectors algorithm. This research therefore proposed CSDE-V-Detectors which entail the use of the hybridization of Cuckoo Search (CS) and Differential Evolution (DE) in optimizing the random detectors of the V-Detectors. The DE is integrated with CS at the population initialization by distributing the population linearly. This linear distribution gives the population a unique, stable, and progressive distribution process. Thus, each individual detector is characteristically different from the other detectors. CSDE capabilities of global search, and use of L´evy flight facilitates the effectiveness of the detector set in the search space. In comparison with V-Detectors, cuckoo search, differential evolution, support vector machine, artificial neural network, na¨ıve bayes, and k-NN, experimental results demonstrates that CSDE-V-Detectors outperforms other algorithms with an average detection rate of 95:30% on all the datasets. This signifies that CSDE-V-Detectors can efficiently attain highest detection rates and lowest false alarm rates for anomaly detection. Thus, the optimization of the randomly detectors of V-Detectors algorithm with CSDE is proficient and suitable for anomaly detection tasks

The relationship between ecrm implementation and eloyalty at different adoption stages of transaction cycle: A conceptual framework and hypothesis

The purpose of this paper is to propose a model for the relationship between eCRM and E-loyalty by conceptualizing that e-loyalty is influenced by e-satisfaction, e-trust, and multi-dimensional aspects of eCRM. In order to capture the full picture for this relationship, we attempt to cover the complete purchase experience by focusing on transaction cycle (Pre-Purchase, A-Purchase, and Post- Purchase).different Components of eCRM have differing effects on e-loyalty. This study strengthens the literature by adding different components of eCRM as a possible critical antecedent in the model of e-loyalty development and attempts to build a stronger holistic model by including eCRM features

The impact of brand image and service quality on consumer loyalty in the banking sector

Purpose: The study aims to analyze the extent in which a bank is trying to provide the best service to survive in the long term and what is demanded from it to be the best banking company, by examining the increase of loyalty and Words of Mouth (WOM) of customers through brand image, service quality and customers satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach: This study is based on the answers of 130 respondents from the PT. Bank Rakyat Indonesia. The used method to colect data is the distribution of a questionnaire using a scale from 1-10. For the data analysis was used the Structural Equation Modeling with AMOS version 21 to test the causality of 8 research hypotheses. Findings: The results of this study indicate that there is a positive effect between the quality of service and customer satisfaction, loyalty and WOM, while the brand image has no effect on satisfaction, loyalty and WOM. The result of this research shows that the indirect effect of service quality variable on loyalty is better than that of WOM. Practical implications: The findings suggested that the Bank BRI marketers should be more persistent in publically communicating the bank’s products which are offered to customers and prospective customers. Originality/value: This study examined the effect of brand image, service, customer service in order to increase customer satisfaction, loyalty, and WOM at the largest bank in Indonesia.peer-reviewe

Quality modeling in electronic healthcare: a study of mHealth Service

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) have the potential to radically transform health services in developing countries. Among various ICT driven health platforms, mobile health is the most promising one because of its widespread penetration and cost effective services. This paper aims to examine Quality Modeling in Electronic Healthcare by using PLS based SEM