Determining relationship marketing instruments

The focus of businesses has shifted from acquiring new customers to placing greater emphasis on retaining customers through relationship marketing. However, currently, there is limited knowledge on Relationship Marketing Instruments (RMIs) that are appropriate in managing customer relationships. This paper aims to explore and empirically test the dimensions of RMIs that are appropriate in managing customer relationships. First, it reviews the concept of RMIs and its important dimensions, followed by reports on the construction and validation of the measure of RMIs. The existing literature on this topic have hypothesized five dimensions of RMIs; however, an exploratory factor analysis discovers that RMIs consist of eight dimensions. The final part of the paper discusses the implications of the findings and directions for future research

The Impact of Personal, Sociological and Institutional Influences on Relationship Commitment in the Retail Banking Sector

Most previous research in the domain of relationship marketing has focused on the antecedents of loyalty and commitment in the industrial market, distribution channel or consumer goods. This study however, models the antecedents of consumer's relationship commitment in the context of a retail banking service. The success and survival of a commercial bank depends on its bankers ability to understand customers' needs and find effective ways to satisfy them. Having recognized that retail customers are the potential market niche, it is essential for bankers to obtain information concerning their patronage factors towards specific financial institutions.The impact of four key explanatory variables (personal influence, sociological influence, institutional influence, and trust) on relationship commitment are examined. Self-administered questionnaires were used to obtain primary data from respondents consisted of bank consumer occupying the selected dwelling unit in Kuala Lumpur and Petaling Jaya. A final sample of 578, which was obtained from the both areas, was an acceptable representation of the population. The data was tested using (i) Multiple Regression Analysis (ii) Pearson Correlation Analysis, (iii) Path Analysis. The result shows that sociological influences and trust have the most significant direct impact on relationship commitment. Institutional influences give a great impact on personal and sociological influences but it give a small impact on relationship commitment. This result is consistent with the views of Anderson et. al (1976) and Tan and Chua (1986) that the consumer decision to choose their bank are greatly impacted by the sociological factors. The same study conducted in Malaysia by Haron and Ahmad (1992) however found that social factors are the least influential factors if compared to others. In spite of these inconsistencies, the current studies have comes out with a new conceptual model (Model of Determinant of Relationship Commitment) which indicate that Sociological and Personal Influence, as well as Trust are the determinant of relationship commitment in retail banking industry.However, it needs to be noted that the multiple regression analysis results only shows that the four hypothesized variables investigated (personal influence, sociological influence, institutional influence, and trust), only represents 25.5 per cent of the consumer relationship commitment towards their bank. In short, the bankers who seek success must become more and more oriented to understanding consumer behavior in the financial marketplace. Causal factors operative in consumer bank selection and patronization must be identified to optimize bank marketing strategies. The bankers must adopt a more aggressive stance, become more knowledgeable, acquire more skills and be totally committed to nurturing high quality relationship with the consumer

Entrepreneurial Training of Low-Income Women Micro Enterprises in the Service Sector in Malaysia: Understanding the Problems and Challenges

Most of the low-income women who are involved in micro enterprises (MEs) in Malaysia have low business sustainability due to low confidence and business skills. Current training programmes offered to the low-income segments have limitations such as too general training contents, expensive fees etc. The current assistance schemes given by the government have fallen into the trap of charity and high cost. Nevertheless, women who have undergone some kind of entrepreneurial training faced lesser obstacles and produced higher business growth than those who have never attended training. Despite the increase in the number of research involving women entrepreneurs, there is lacked of research about entrepreneurial training involving low-income women micro enterprises (MEs) in service businesses in Malaysia. For this reason, little knowledge exists regarding the entrepreneurial training for MEs and service sector, particularly in Malaysia. Therefore, this study intends to explore the problems and challenges relate to entrepreneurial training among low-income women MEs in service business. To achieve the objectives, this study will employ qualitative methods using focus groups and interviews targeted at low-income women MEs in the service sector in Malaysia. This study delivers an important contribution to our understanding of how to develop a better entrepreneurial training to low-income women MEs in service sectors in Malaysia

The Impact Of Personal, Sociological And Institutional Influences On Relationship Commitment In Retail Banking

Previous research in the domain of relationship marketing has focused mainly on the antecedents of loyalty and commitment in the industrial market, distribution channel or consumer goods. This study however, models the antecedents of consumer's relationship commitment in the context of a retail banking service. The impact of the four key explanatory variables (personal influences, sociological influences, institutional influences, and trust) are examined. The results support the hypothesized model and shows sociological influences to be a key driver of all antecedent variables, and the most powerful determinant of the relationship commitment

Persepsi mahasiswa terhadap urusan pembelian atas talian

Pembelian atas talian semakin mendapat tempat di hati masyarakat di Malaysia khususnya mahasiswa. Berbanding pembelian secara konvensional yang memerlukan seseorang individu untuk hadir ke kedai bagi mendapatkan barangan, pembelian secara atas talian adalah lebih mudah dan menjimatkan masa kerana segala transaksi dilakukan secara maya. Kemudahan ini amat sesuai bagi golongan mahasiswa yang mempunyai kekangan masa untuk keluar membeli-belah selain sifat semulajadi mereka yang inginkan sesuatu yang cepat dan senang. Namun begitu terdapat juga risiko yang perlu diambilkira seperti barang yang diterima berbeza (saiz, warna dan kualiti) daripada yang diiklankan, barangan tidak sampai setelah pembayaran dibuat, barangan yang sampai telah rosak dan sebagainya. Oleh itu, kajian ini dijalankan bagi mengenalpasti faktor yang mempengaruhi aktiviti pembelian secara atas talian khususnya dikalangan mahasiswa. Kajian kualitatif menggunakan temubual separa berstruktur telah dijalankan terhadap 30 orang responden yang terdiri daripada pelajar prasiswazah di Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Hasil kajian mendapati bahawa faktor kepercayaan dan risiko telah dikenalpasti sebagai faktor utama dalam pembuatan keputusan golongan mahasiswa untuk melakukan pembelian secara atas talian

Credit card usage behavior among working student

This study seeks to examine the credit card usage behavior among working students. Research questionnaires were distributed among young working adults who are pursuing their Bachelor Degree in the executive mode at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). T-test showed there is no significant different between male and female in terms of credit card usage. However, ANOVA analysis showed that there are significant different in credit card usage behavior among respondent within different gross monthly income

Factors Affecting Brand Loyalty: An Empirical Study in Malaysia

Abstract: In today's competitive business environments, consumers are exposed to a large number of brand choice alternatives. Managers and marketers are battling to keep their brand loyal customer loyal and trying to avoid competitors from grabbing of these customers. There are various factors that impede customers to become loyal to either company or brand that they are using. It is the facts that maintaining customer loyalty towards certain brand is not an easy task but marketers are trying their best to increase or at least maintain brand loyalty. As such, this study intended to examine the factors that could possible affect brand loyalty among young consumer in Malaysia. The self-administered questionnaires were distributed among 300 university students. The results revealed that product involvement, perceived quality and brand trust are the major factors that affect consumer brand loyalty. The implications of the study were discussed and future research improvement were suggested

Financial literacy and investment decisions in Malaysia and United Kingdom: a comparative analysis

In today’s advance and complex financial landscape, financial literacy (FL) is essential as it does not only influence and impact upon financial decisions at the firm level but also a country’s wider financial wellbeing and socioeconomic development . This study compares the FL levels of Malaysia and United Kingdom by utilising the results of the survey from the questionnaire developed by the OECD and by examining demographic and socioeconomic factors that influence the level of FL. The results show that,overall, the level of FL in both countries are low and necessary measures should be taken by the government to increase awareness of financial related matters. The literature findings also reveal that demographic, economic, social, and psychological factors are the main determinants, that some common themes appear with respect to the consequences of FL on investment decisions, demographic factors, methodology and program effectiveness, and that gaps exist in the literature of FL in Malaysia with respect to types of investment and risk tolerance, measurement of financial literacy, methodology and sources of knowledge. The study provides information that may assist in directing future research and in formuling policies and guidelines for policy makers, administrators and educators in incorporating suitable FL components in their training endeavours

Compulsive buying and credit card misuse among credit card holders: the roles of self-esteem, materialism, impulsive buying and budget constraint

Purpose: This study aims to examine the factors that influence credit card misuse among working adults in Klang Valley, Malaysia. The relationship among self-esteem, materialism, impulsive buying, budget constraint, compulsive buying and credit card misuse are explored in this study. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 186 questionnaires was collected via convenience sampling from credit card users of working adults in Malaysia. A structural equation model that assesses the relationship between the proposed variables is tested using AMOS 20. Findings: The findings reveal that budget constraints, impulsive buying and materialism have a statistically significant influence on compulsive buying. In terms of credit card misuse, it is influenced negatively by self-esteem while positively by compulsive buying. Originality/value: Despite vast research on compulsive buying and credit card misuse, very few studies have examined it in the non-Western context.Peer Reviewe

Is Religiosity An Important Factor In Influencing The Intention To Undertake Islamic Home Financing In The Klang Valley?

The paper is intended to determine whether religiosity is an important factor in influencing the intention to undertake Islamic home financing in Malaysia. A consumer survey comprised a sample of 300 Muslim respondents from various range of age and income group resided mainly in Klang Valley areas. A conceptual framework is constructed based on Ajzen’s [15] Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) and research hypothesis are developed in order to focus attention on sets of factors that influences intention to use Islamic home financing in Malaysia. The findings indicated that religiosity had significant influences on the intention of Islamic home financing among Muslims in Klang Valley. In addition, this study also confirms that the TPB components namely attitude and perceived behavior are significant factors as well. Key words: Religiosity Islamic home financing Customer Islamic banking