The effects of service quality and consumer-brand value congruity on hospitality brand loyalty

This research integrates the congruity and the social identity theories to better understand the consumer-brand relationships. A structural equation modelling approach was used to explore the drivers of brand loyalty in the context of upscale hotels. The findings suggest that the customers are increasingly engaging with the brands that reflect their identity and personal values. The consumer-brand value congruity and the hospitality businesses’ delivery of high service quality were found to be significant antecedents of consumer-brand identification and engagement. Moreover, we reported that consumer-brand identification is a precursor of consumer-brand engagement and brand loyalty. In conclusion, this contribution implies that luxury hotels ought to satisfy their customers’ needs for distinctiveness and self-enhancement whilst exceeding their expectations on service quality.peer-reviewe

Investigating the Rural and Entrepreneurial Development through Microfinance

Microfinance has been evolving to be a decisive factor in poverty reduction, rural and entrepreneurial development. This research aims to find out the impact of microfinance on rural/socio-economic development and entrepreneurial skill development. Particularly, this study attempts to explore the impact of microfinance on social development, financial empowerment, education, healthcare, economic independence, and entrepreneurial development. Data was collected through questionnaires taken from the beneficiaries of the National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) erstwhile Swaran Jayanti Shahri Rozgar Yojana (SJSRY) microfinance scheme in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir, India. A purposive sampling method, exploratory factor analysis, and paired sample t-test were used in this study. The findings prove that microfinance facilitates social development, improved financial empowerment, and promotes decision-making relating to education and healthcare among beneficiaries. The finding also indicates that microfinance helps to increase entrepreneurial skill development among the beneficiaries. This study offers an insight how microfinance eliminates poverty and facilitates social development as well as entrepreneurial skills. These findings have essential implications for academics, policymakers, and microfinance institutions

Unveiling the dynamics between consumer brand engagement, experience, and relationship quality towards luxury hotel brands : Moderating investigation of brand reputation

Funding This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.Peer reviewedPostprin

Promoting customer brand engagement and brand loyalty through customer brand identification and value congruity

Purpose - On the basis of the social identity and congruity theories, the present research aims to propose that value congruity directly affects customer–brand identification (CBI), affective brand commitment and customer–brand engagement (CBE), which, in turn, paves the way for advancing consumer relationships with hospitality brands, as measured through brand loyalty. As such, this study serves to enhance existing insight into customer relationship management dynamics, with a particular focus on hospitality brands. Design/methodology/approach - The present study develops a theoretical framework that is empirically investigated by using confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling analyses. Data were collected by using a self-administered questionnaire of 340 customers of four- and five-star hotel brands in India. Findings - The results suggest value congruity as an important driver of CBI, affective commitment and CBE within hospitality brands. The results also reveal CBI to act as a significant predictor of affective commitment, CBE and brand loyalty. Furthermore, affective commitment and CBE are the significant drivers of loyalty to hospitality brands. Research limitations/implications - The research is exploratory in nature and is restricted to four- and five-star hotel customers, thereby reflecting important limitations of this study. Given these issues, ample opportunities exist for further research to further explore and/or validate the reported findings. Practical implications - The current research provides new insights for marketing practitioners planning or implementing long-term customer relationship management strategies that centre on customer–brand identification, customer–brand engagement and brand loyalty. Originality/value - Despite existing insights, empirical investigation into the proposed conceptual relationships remains limited to date, particularly in the hospitality industry. By offering empirical evidence in this area, this study adds to the extant body of knowledge on CBI/CBE-centric customer relationship management

Engagement and consumption behavior of eSports gamers

Purpose – The purpose of this study is to present a conceptual model where consumer electronic sports (eSports) engagement (CeSE) acts a predictor for gamers’ online engagement in eSports-related products/firm either through direct contribution (purchase intention) or indirect contribution (co-production, community engagement, word-of-mouth and recruitment). Design/methodology/approach – Data from 262 eSports consumers aged 18–24 years were collected and analyzed through WarpPLS 8.0. Findings – The findings of this study confirm that CeSE significantly influences all dimensions of the consumption behaviors (purchase intention, co-production, community engagement, word-of-mouth and recruitment). Originality/value – This study provides empirical support for a conceptual framework developed through the social exchange theory and engagement theory. Besides, hierarchical component model approach is applied to estimate the composite model of CeSE

The customers’ brand identification with luxury hotels : a social identity perspective

This study explores the relationships between the consumer-brand identification (CBI) construct and the customers’ satisfaction, commitment, trust and loyalty toward hospitality brands. The methodology included a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) that assessed the reliability and validity of previous tried and tested measures in marketing sciences. This study has supported the scales' content validity. A two-step structural equation modelling approach was used to analyze the relationships among the latent and observed constructs. The findings have reported a satisfactory fit for this study's research model. The empirical results shed light on the direct and indirect effects on brand loyalty. This contribution implies that brand trust had the highest effect on brand loyalty, and this was followed my other determinants, including; consumer-brand identification, consumer satisfaction and commitment. In conclusion, this paper identifies its research limitations and puts forward possible research avenues.peer-reviewe

Exploring tourism-generated social media communication, brand equity, satisfaction, and loyalty: A PLS-SEM-based multi-sequential approach

Although social media-based brand equity has become a vital area of interest for brand managers, insights into its destination-based dynamics and applications remain scarce, specifically in the destination brand context. To address this gap, we develop and test a theoretical model to investigate the role of destination marketing organization-generated and tourist-generated social media communication to determine the brand awareness and brand image of the Gilgit-Baltistan region, which in turn influence customer-based brand equity (CBBE) (i.e. perceived quality), satisfaction, and loyalty. Data come from well-known tourist sites in Gilgit-Baltistan. Using the multi-sequential approach in WarpPLS 7.0, findings shows that the social media communication dimensions show differential impacts on brand awareness as a metric of CBBE. Second, destination awareness demonstrates a differential impact on perceived destination image dimensions. Third, the destination image dimensions exert different effects on the perceived quality of the destination. Fourth, perceived quality positively influences satisfaction, which in turn enhances loyalty. We offer important implications that emerged from the analyzes and also suggest directions for future research

Higher Education Quality Assurance Framework Pathway for Transformation in Pakistan: Managerial and Economic Perspectives

Higher Education Commission (HEC) in Pakistan is just established in this century, which is responsible for quality checks in higher educational institutes. This study describes the quality assurance framework and its passage toward expanding Pakistan's higher learning institutions. It intends to provide a comprehensive analysis of Pakistan's higher education initiatives, along with the forces behind such measures throughout the last decade. This study also aims to explore the role of the HEC in implementing those reforms. The research study focuses on teachers as significant players in Pakistan's cycle of improving higher education. The demand and supply of higher education are also discussed from a market approach perspective. The qualitative-quantitative aspects of higher education are analyzed. On behalf of observations, the findings presented with the core focus of the analytical approach are provided a balanced picture of the main policy proposals in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in both content and process terms. The study explored that amid many shortcomings, uncertainties, and flaws, multitudes of changes in higher education have been adopted and enforced at Pakistan's HEIs. We float and discuss many practical implications in this regard

Green supply chain management, environmental costs and supply chain performance in the hotel industry: the mediating role of supply chain agility and resilience

Although developing a green supply chain is a topic of growing interest in the hotel industry, research on hospitality green supply chain management (GSCM) is limited. This study investigates the effect of internal and external measures of GSCM on environmental cost reduction, and how environmental cost reduction improves the supply chain performance with the mediating role of agility and resilience of a green supply chain. Data were collected from 370 employees of the top-rated hotels in Tehran, Iran, and analyzed using structural equation modelling in SmartPLS software. The findings revealed that internal and external measures of green supply chain management have a positive and significant effect on the environmental cost reduction of hotels. The reduction in environmental costs directly affected the variables of green supply chain agility, green supply chain resilience and green supply chain performance. The findings also confirmed the mediating role of green supply chain agility and resilience between environmental cost reduction and green supply chain performance. Overall, the study reinforces that addressing environmental measures in the hotel industry could have favourable consequences for hotels to improve supply chain performance.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

How a mobile app can become a catalyst for sustainable social business: The case of Too Good To Go

Information and communication technology (ICT) plays a vital role in sustaining social businesses. However, little is known about how a mobile app can be a catalyst for sustainable social business. Guided by the technology affordance theory and service-dominant (S-D) logic, the present study aims to address this research gap by examining both the perspectives of providers and users, using the Too Good To Go (TGTG) app – the largest social movement in Europe – as a case study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the congruence/gap between customer value proposition (CVP) and value-in-use (VIU). The findings highlight that social, functional, and emotional values are the success factors for the TGTG app to accomplish its social missions of reducing food waste and CO2 emissions and allowing everyone to access quality food at an affordable price. The theoretical and practical implications of this study and directions for future research are also presented