STUDY CONCERNING CUSTOMERS’ LOYALTY IN THE AUTO MARKET

In this paper we made an analysis of the loyalty in the auto market. We selected a sample from the residents of Craiova and asked them about their intentions concerning satisfaction, repurchase and recommendation regarding their cars. We used as auto market as the base of our study, since the car industry is very attractive to customers. We documented some correlation among the three dimensions of the loyalty. At the applicative level we found out that the loyalty toward the German cars is much higher than the loyalty for the cars from other countries. Further studies are needed to investigate the complex dimensions of the loyalty in-depth

BRAND - PRODUCT INTERDEPENDENCE

In this paper we conceptually discussed the brands’ role in the society, the dimensions of branding and the relationship between the brand and the products. We adhere to the main ideas expressed in the literature, that the brand is more than a product. However the product is needed to render the brand tangible. The product is the magic box that delivers the brand experience. Without the product, the brand meaning would have difficulties in attracting customers. More studies are needed to investigate the brand-product relationship

TRADEMARK VS BRAND: A CONCEPTUAL APPROACH

In this paper we realized a study regarding the concepts of trademark and brand. There are numerous confusions between the two concepts, among theorists and practitioners. We deepened the debate related to these terms, studying a series of articles and papers in the field. Our research showed that there are differences of substance between the two concepts. If the trademark identifies a property right over an enterprise or a product, the brand is the sum of meanings and significations of a product, beyond the utility of that product or the service

CONSUMERS OF THE WORLD EXCLAIM:"WE WANT SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY, PUBLIC POLICY AND CORPORATE ETHICS!"

This study is related to public policy issues, such as the ethics of marketing practices and the dynamics of popular culture. Although textbooks often present the consumer as a rational decision maker, often harmful for consumer activities of the individual or society. Often, the consumer's worst enemy is himself. Growth is still important, even morally required, if individuals and society towards improving the living standards of the peoples of the world. Socio-philosophical concept of social justice is an attribute that you should hold shares or individual therapy or groups in society, within the existing social order and moral or desirable. Values govern our actions and personality. Knowledge and understanding of business values gives the company the ability to control and manage in a sustainable manner, its future. Managers should sacrifice their own needs in favor of employee needs, and the last would have to give up their ambitions and needs, to eliminate customer sacrifice. Equality and freedom are two forms of the same fundamental values. Current marketing is a factor of democratization. Companies traded on the market, falling into one of two dichotomous situation: the mission and their action in the service of others, the community, its employees and the environment, or choose the dishonor, deceiving their confidence. Marketing itself is a subject of intense dispute. Today, competitiveness is the productivity growth in the use of resources. All forms of pollution are manifestations of economic waste. Companies that take a code of honor are reciving medals. Lack of Ethics is charged!marketing ethics, corporate social responsibility, consumer behavior, morality, role of marketing

REVENUES MANAGEMENT IN THE MARKETING OF SERVICES

In the evolution of pricing strategy, yield management gained a significant importance in the latest years. Revenue Management/Yield Management helps businesses selling services at the right time, to the right customer, at the right price. Revenue management can be applied to all service businesses and especially to those in which lower price units have a shorter availability. This system allows companies to personalize the price so that the customer receives exactly what he has paid for. In developing yield management systems, it is important that customer retention be included in the model. Maximizing revenue today has little value if this leads to customers switching to another company. Revenue management is becoming used more and more in the Romanian economy.strategic pricing, revenues management, price personalization

ALIGNING THE BRAND IDENTITY AND BRAND IMAGE AFTER REBRANDING

The brand identity and brand image are two concepts used extensively in positioning. Many brands underwent a rebranding process attempting to improve their positioning. The rebranding process can bring minor changes or substantial changes. Following the substantial changes, there can appear a mismatch between the desired identity and brand image. Brand image is persistent and it takes time to change it. This paper explores the challenges involved by the calibration of the identity and of the image in the process of rebranding. The alignment process is a dynamic one, an interactive and not a normative one. The results of this study highlight the elements that support the brand identity and image alignment: marketing communication, product characteristics and internal brand strength. On the other side, the efforts to align the brand identity and brand image are negatively affected by the attitudes of the consumers and their past experience with the brand

The Meanings of “Made in Romania” among the Romanian Consumers

In this paper I studied the meanings of made in Romania concept among the Romanian consumers. The methodology required that respondents were interviewed about their attitudes. The results show that made in Romania has a negative connotation, and that made in Germany and made in USA are better appreciated. Still, made in Romania has obtained a better score than made in China. There are perspectives for the improvement of the meanings of made in Romania, the intentions of respondents being a guarantee. The people working in Romania obtained a better score than the results of their work, a warranty for future improvements of made in Romania appreciation

The Meanings of “Made in Romania” among the Romanian Consumers

In this paper I studied the meanings of made in Romania concept among the Romanian consumers. The methodology required that respondents were interviewed about their attitudes. The results show that made in Romania has a negative connotation, and that made in Germany and made in USA are better appreciated. Still, made in Romania has obtained a better score than made in China. There are perspectives for the improvement of the meanings of made in Romania, the intentions of respondents being a guarantee. The people working in Romania obtained a better score than the results of their work, a warranty for future improvements of made in Romania appreciation.made in Romania; country of origin effect; consumer behavior.

INVESTIGATING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONAL COMMUNICATION AND ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE

In this paper we investigated the relationship between the organizational communication and organizational culture. The starting point of our analysis is that the two variables are in interdependent relation. Our study, performed in a large public organization operating in Romania and abroad, identified a positive association between the two variables. The organizational communication helps the organization to disseminate the culture among the employees. Also, the organizational culture is developed through the interactions and communications among the staff. The management of the organizations must encourage and promote an open communication in order to create a culture that sustain the performance

Customer Experience in Fintech

The purpose of this paper is to analyse customer experience (CX) in the fintech sector. Fintech is a dynamic and innovative field that fully benefits from advances in information and communication technology. The concept of customer experience is multidimensional, analysed from various perspectives, and with distinct valences in different industries. Based on the stimulus-organism-response (S-O-R) approach, we proposed a model in which customer experience in fintech is the result of customer’s evaluation of the stimuli proposed by fintech companies. Using partial least squares equation modelling (PLS-SEM), we tested a series of hypotheses and validated the proposed model. The results showed that perceived value, customer support, assurance, speed and perceived firm innovativeness are positively related to customer experience in fintech. In turn, customer experience is positively associated with loyalty intentions of the customer. Our paper contributes in identifying the dimensions, the determinants and the outcomes of customer experience in fintech, while from a managerial perspective, we demonstrate how fintech companies must integrate customer experience in their business models