An empirical investigation of the factors affecting customer lifetime value

Purpose. The main objective of this paper is to investigate the factors affecting customer lifetime value (CLV) for Internet service providers in Jordan, namely, technical quality, functional quality, brand credibility, confidence benefits, special treatment benefits, customer satisfaction and commitment. Design/methodology/approach. An online survey was conducted involving a sample of 481 respondents. SPSS was used to analyse the data and test the proposed relationships, while SmartPLS was used to examine the robustness of our results. Findings. Results showed that confidence benefits, special treatment benefits and brand credibility had a significant and positive impact on customer satisfaction and commitment, with brand credibility appearing as the most influential factor leading to customer satisfaction and commitment, and ultimately CLV. Furthermore, research reveals an insignificant relationship between functional quality, technical quality and customer satisfaction. Practical implications. Services' providers seeking to increase CLV need to build strong and sustainable relationships with their customers. Originality/value. This study incorporates a set of crucial customer relationship management strategies that could be universally applied to enhance customers benefits and business performance. This is also the first study of its kind conducted in the Middle East, particularly in Jordan

Customer lifetime value: the effect of relational benefits, brand experiences, quality, satisfaction, trust and commitment in the fast-food restaurants

Purpose This study examines factors that affect customer lifetime value (CLV) in fast-food restaurants (FFRs) in Jordan. These factors are relational benefits, brand experiences, service quality (SQ), satisfaction, trust and commitment. Design/methodology/approach An online survey was collected from a sample of 503 respondents. The authors used SPSS to test the constructs' relationships and analyse the data. SmartPLS was used to test the hypotheses. Findings In contrast to previous studies, not all dimensions of brand experiences and relational benefits had a significant and positive influence on relationship marketing outcomes (satisfaction, trust and commitment). On the other hand, results demonstrated that SQ had a significant and positive influence on relationship marketing outcomes. Furthermore, research reveals that satisfaction, trust and commitment significantly and positively influenced CLV. Practical implications Those FFRs that seek to enhance CLV should build solid and sustainable bonds with their customers. This paper concludes by stating its implications, its limitations and the opportunities available for future research. Originality/value This study, which is unique in the Middle East, includes essential strategies for managing customer relationship that can be universally applied to improve customer benefits and maximise the performance of businesses

Linking bank advertising to customer attitudes: The role of cognitive and affective trust

The main objective of this paper is to investigate the effect of affective and cognitive trust in bank advertising toward its potential customers. An advertising experiment was conducted by creating two bank advertisements focusing on affective and cognitive trust in bank advertising. SEM analysis is conducted with a sample of 254 customers who banked with the Central Bank of Ghana using STATA 14.1. Results showed that customers of a bank are more drawn to affective advertising than cognitive advertising. Results also showed that cognitive trust is a stronger predictor of anticipation towards future interactions with a bank than affective trust. Uncertainty and commitment had insignificant relationships with affective trust. Cognitive trust had a positive relationship with commitment, while affective trust had no significant relationship with commitment. Managerial implications and future research of the findings are discussed

Phytochemicals as Micronutrients: What Is their Therapeutic Promise in the Management of Alzheimer’s Disease?

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a debilitating neurodegenerative disease with devastating outcomes to patients and exhaustive burdens to healthcare systems. Alzheimer’s disease has always been the focus of extensive research since its discovery in the early 1900s; however, AD continues to wreak havoc among the elderly population. Unfortunately, until now AD is still without any defined treatment that can curb its otherwise insidious progression. In the wake of this crisis and in the absence of a restorative cure, alternative approaches to AD management have been sought. In this regard, phytochemicals—a class of micronutrients composed of herbal or plant secondary metabolites— have shown potential as novel agents in the management of several diseases including cancer, hyperlipidemia, cardiovascular diseases, hyperglycemia, and neurodegenerative disorders including AD. Phytochemicals therapeutic abilities can be attributed to their ability to protect against several AD pathologic events such as inflammation, oxidative stress, protein misfolding, aggregation, and several more. In this chapter, we overview AD and its progression to pathology. Next, we highlight the available conventional treatments currently used to mitigate symptoms of AD. Then, we expose phytochemicals and their known therapeutic potential in several diseases including neurodegenerative disorders. Lastly, we explore the available literature concerning the use of phytochemicals in the management of AD. Specifically, light is shed on the possible curative capacity of certain plant phytochemicals—namely those of Ginkgo biloba, Piper nigrum, Withania somnifera, Lavandula angustifolia, Olea europaea, Nigella sativa, Ficus carica, and Panax ginseng—in the management of AD. Mechanisms by which extracts of these plants exert their neuroprotective effects are discussed alongside other aspects pertaining to the efficacy, safety, and druggability of some of these phytochemicals. We conclude that phytochemicals have shown promise in the management of AD. However, clinical trials remain lacking in this area and extensive efforts need to be exerted to determine the safety, efficacy, and exact modes of action of phytochemicals in human AD patients

Phytochemicals as Micronutrients: What Is their Therapeutic Promise in the Management of Traumatic Brain Injury?

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the key causes of deaths and disabilities worldwide. TBI progresses in two phases. The primary phase of injury is the direct result of the physical damage caused by the external force applied to the brain while the secondary injury takes place minutes to days after the primary injury. The secondary phase of TBI is marked by a series of pathological events that start following the initial mechanical impact. The mechanisms underlying TBI pathogenesis in the secondary phase are intricate and include metabolic alterations, excitotoxicity, oxidative stress, and neuroinflammation, among others; all culminating in neuronal cell damage and death. Currently, there is no FDA-licensed drug that targets TBI. Hence, the search for novel therapeutic agents that can target one or more of the mechanisms underlying the pathology of the secondary phase of TBI is warranted. Such novel therapeutic agents are expected to ameliorate the adverse consequences of TBI. Over the years, evidence has accumulated regarding the role of phytochemicals as novel agents in the management of TBI. Phytochemicals are a class of micronutrients composed of herbal or plant secondary metabolites. Phytochemicals offer appropriate candidates for the treatment of TBI since their use can warrant the inhibition of the progression of the secondary injury and the activation of major neuroprotective signaling pathways following TBI. In this regards, phytochemicals have been acknowledged to cause a significant decrease in neuronal injury through different mechanisms including the activation of the Nrf2 transcription factor leading to activation of several antioxidant enzyme systems such as superoxide dismutase, inhibition of NADPH oxidases (NOX) enzymes, suppression of nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) activity and reduction of the release of inflammatory mediators, suppression of the NLRP3 inflammasome, stimulation of neurogenesis by activating neurotrophic factors (BDNF), among others. As such, the chapter aims to evaluate the neuroprotective effects of phytochemicals in TBI by reviewing the available literature. In this chapter, we introduce TBI and the mechanisms that underlie its pathology. Also, we overview the current conventional strategies that are being used to manage TBI. Then, we overview phytochemicals and explore their use in the management of diseases with a special focus on their use in the treatment of neurological diseases. Finally, we discuss the therapeutic potentials of phytochemicals in the management of TBI by focusing on six phytochemicals: ginseng, curcumin, coumarin, genistein, apocynin, and baicalein. We review the available literature on the use of these phytochemicals in the context of TBI. In addition, we document the recent studies aimed that discuss the in vitro and in vivo experimental evidence on the cellular and molecular mechanisms of neuroprotection by these phytochemicals. We conclude that all of the studied phytochemicals have shown experimental preclinical promise. But, well-designed and controlled clinical trials are urgently needed to demonstrate their safety and efficacy in order to realize their benefits in human TBI patients