Does buyer-seller similarity affect buyer satisfaction with the seller firm?

With the increased reliance on diverse markets in multi-cultural contexts, the role that similarity can play in the relationship between a salesperson and a buyer is receiving increased attention. Similarity is regarded as the cornerstone of positive communications, and salespeople rely on the trust that can be created by this recognition of likeness. However, there are different types of similarity, and not all have an equal bearing on the salesperson-buyer relationship. In this study, we examine similarity in appearance, similarity in lifestyle, and similarity in status. Most studies go no further than examining the effect of similarity on a buyer’s satisfaction with a salesperson, and to date there appear to be few studies relating to the effect of similarity on satisfaction with a firm. This study examines the effect of similarity on a buyer’s sense of satisfaction with a firm represented by a salesperson in the banking context. The results of the study show that appearance similarity and status similarity have a significant effect on the salesperson-buyer relationship, whereas lifestyle similarity has no effect. The buyer’s satisfaction with a salesperson is found to mediate the relationship between similarity in appearance and the buyer’s satisfaction with a firm. In this paper, we discuss these findings and look at their implications for both research and practice. Findings of the study are particularly important because of New Zealand’s increasing interaction with Asia and its people, which has transformed New Zealand to become a multi-cultural and multi-ethnic country

From Cultural Chameleons to Pygmalion Performers: Impact of Service Employees’ Acculturation Behaviors on Customer Satisfaction and Commitment

This paper explores the impact of four types of acculturation behaviors (assimilation, integration, separation and marginalization) used by service employees on the satisfaction and commitment of their customers. A field-survey with retail banking customers in New Zealand (N=377), shows that assimilation and integration have significant positive effects on customer satisfaction and commitment. In contrast, marginalization (but not separation) have a negative effect on customer satisfaction and commitment. Moreover, the effects of the three types of acculturation behaviors on customer commitment are fully mediated by customer satisfaction. We discuss the conceptual contribution and managerial implications of these findings in this paper

Impact of frontline service employees’ acculturation behaviors on customer satisfaction and commitment in intercultural service encounters

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of four types of acculturation behaviors of frontline service employees (assimilation, separation, integration, and marginalization) on customer satisfaction and customer commitment. Design/methodology/approach: In total, 377 ethnically diverse customers of a retail bank in New Zealand participated in this study. SmartPLS3 was used to test all the hypotheses. Findings: Assimilation and integration have positive effects on both customer satisfaction and commitment. Marginalization has a negative effect on both customer satisfaction and commitment but separation has a negative effect only on customer satisfaction and not on customer commitment. Research limitations/implications: Future research may validate and extend the authors findings in diverse cultural settings and use experimental method to explore the socio-psychological mechanisms underlying the influence of frontline service employees’ acculturation behaviors on customer satisfaction and commitment. Practical implications: This study will help managers understand the importance of service employees’ acculturation behaviors and develop suitable recruitment strategies and training programs to improve their impact on customer satisfaction and commitment. Originality/value: This study extends current research on intercultural service encounters by looking beyond the moderating effects of four types of service employees’ acculturation behaviors, to explore their direct effects on customer satisfaction and commitment

Perumusan Dan Penyelesaian Persamaan Kesetimbangan Dalam Analisis Dinamis Pada Bangunan Tinggi Berbasis Website

Applications commonly used to solve the equations of dynamic analysis produce output that is less accurate because the use of mass implementation is less precise. Most of the applications are commercial and require the installation process before they can be used. The authors developed an application that uses website as the user interface, so that it can be accessed easily and does not require any installation process. The Website was created by using a more precise mass implementation so that the output becomes more accurate with simulated deformation and structure deflection.The Authors designed the website so that a user can have an account to make a project that is public or private, and an admin can manage the member data. Input process data are entered into tables with tabs such as node, properties, elements, joint mass, joint loads, ground acceleration, process so that the user can perform data input easily. Dynamic analysis calculation is performed by processing the input data using the Newmark method involving the creation of stiffness, mass, damping matrices the initialization of displacement, velocity, and acceleration the calculation of integration constants, the creation of element stiffness matrix, the calculation of displacement with time dependent, the calculation of displacement, velocity and acceleration.This dynamic analysis website generates outputs like all mentioned matrices in each element, structure stiffness matrix, structure mass matrix, and displacement vector that conform with the exact solution. Results of displacement vector are used to display the simulation of deformation and structure deflection at each time interval so the the structurak changes are observable from the beginning to the end

Romantic travellers’ cognitive dissonance and willingness to revisit Asian hotels

Although romantic tourism is acknowledged as an essential aspect of the tourism industry, it has received little scholarly attention. A better understanding of romantic travellers‟ cognitive dissonance and their willingness to recommend the hotel could help hotel management allocate their scarce resources to concentrate their effort on creating traveller satisfaction. This study, therefore, attempts to bridge this important gap in literature by empirically examining romantic travellers‟ cognitive dissonance and its impact on their tendency to spread negative word of mouth and its effect on their intention to recommend and revisit. Results of the study show that physical environment, physical goods, staff attitudes and customer expectations are responsible for romantic travellers‟ cognitive dissonance and willingness to recommend

Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and continuous banking service intentions

Despite the increasing popularity of pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and search engine optimization within the financial industry, there is a notable lack of research on the effectiveness of PPC on bank customers' continuous search intention and banking services intention. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the use of PPC as a tool on customers' search intention and continuous services intention in a retail banking context. Utilizing a quantitative design, we collected data and employed maximum likelihood estimation (MLE) for path analysis to analyze the empirical data. Our findings reveal several substantial results. Firstly, continuous search intentions significantly influence continuous banking services intentions. Secondly, attitude toward PPC advertising significantly affects both continuous search and banking services intentions. Thirdly, satisfaction with PPC advertising is crucial in shaping attitudes toward PPC, continuous search intention, and continuous banking services intention. Fourthly, perceived usefulness directly influences attitudes toward PPC, satisfaction with PPC, and continuous search intention. Lastly, while PPC advertising's perceived ease of use and perceived confirmation are linked to perceived usefulness, they do not directly affect attitude toward PPC. By adopting a dual intentions approach, this study contributes to banking literature by highlighting the importance of understanding the distinct roles of PPC attributes in shaping short- and long-term customer behavioral intentions

Impact of salesperson information overload on relationship selling behaviors and sales performance: a conceptual framework

Although salesperson information overload is considered to be one of the most important barrier to salesperson performance and a fruitful and healthy buyer-seller relationship formation; surprisingly, it has received minimum scholarly attention. A better understanding of how salesperson information overload impacts selling behaviour and sales performance could help salespersons as well as business organisations to correctly gather, select and use information to strengthen their selling activities. This study, therefore, intends to offer an in-depth understanding of this important issue and fills an important gap in the literature. Our conceptual model shows that salesperson information overload negatively affects both customer-oriented selling behaviour and relational selling behaviour which in turn reduces sales performance. In addition, the model shows that information overload can moderate the relationship between adaptive selling behaviour and customer-oriented selling behaviour as well as the association between adaptive selling behaviour and relational selling behaviour. Finally, our model also suggests that salesperson information overload negatively moderates the link between customer-oriented selling behaviour and sales performance and the relationship between relational selling behaviour and sales performance

Review of emotions research in marketing, 2002-2013

Study of emotions has been an important area of research for past several decades. Since emotions play an important role in purchase decisions, this area has particular importance for marketing scholars. In this study, we review the emotions research conducted within the marketing field between 2002 and 2013. Within the broad domain of emotions, this study focuses on social/personality issues, cognitive factors, the development of emotions and their interactions with other consumption factors. We found a total of 340 emotion-related articles, published in 19 marketing journals. There was a gradual increase in number of articles published every year with the trend peaking in 2009, 2010, and 2011. The review of extant literature offers interesting insights into emotion-related research, and helps in identifying clear directions for future studies