The perceived value and perceived benefits experienced by customers using travel agents

Although many predictions have been made about the demise of travel agents because of the impact of the Internet on travel agencies, many customers still prefer that a travel agent should take care of their travel arrangements instead of doing it themselves. This study endeavours to identify the benefits customers perceive to obtain when they use a travel agent for their travel arrangements. The exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses following the personal in-depth interviews with 26 customers of a travel agency and an extensive literature review revealed significant positive relationships between four perceived benefits and customer loyalty. These perceived benefits were identified as financial benefits, emotional benefits, expertise and support. An assessment of the internal consistency of all these dimensions was undertaken and all the Cronbach’s alpha coefficients of the dimensions were above the generally accepted cut-off value of 0.7. The structural model’s fit statistics (X2 = 349.27; df = 125; X2/df = 2.79; RMSEA = 0.0548) suggested that the data fitted the theoretical model reasonably well

A change in tolerance towards stree trading in South Africa: a comparative study of three cities

Africa Insight Vol.33(4) 2003: 47-5

Race and attitude formation in HIV/Aids fear advertising

The study on which this article is based, examined whether fear appeal advertising increases the likelihood of adopting appropriate behavior and whether different racial groups perceive fear appeals pertaining to HIV/Aids communication differently. The extent of fear, attitude towards the advertisements, as well as threat and efficacy were also investigated to ascertain the influence of different levels of fear appeals. Social marketing programs address various pandemics and anti-social behavior, where citizens act in conflict with accepted social conduct. The use of fear as a motivation in advertising places emphasis on the severity of the threat. Marketing practitioners, believing the message is too difficult to implement, have questioned the use of fear appeal advertising messages. The findings of this study indicate differences among racial groups pertaining to levels of fear and attitude towards advertisements, as well as differences in threat and efficacy experienced after exposure to high fear appeals compared to other appeals.Social marketing communication Advertising Fear appeals HIV/Aids South Africa

The Impact of Different Levels of Fear Appeal HIV/AIDS Social Advertising and Racial Characteristics on Fear, Attitude and Efficacy

The HIV/AIDS pandemic is a major concern worldwide, and in South Africa some marketing communication campaigns do not seem to be producing the expected results. This research investigates whether the use of fear increases the likelihood of adopting appropriate behaviour and if different racial groups perceive fear appeals pertaining to HIV/AIDS communication differently. The roles of fear, attitude and efficacy are examined to ascertain the influence of fear appeal levels. The findings of this paper indicate differences among racial groups with higher levels of fear and attitudinal change, as well as differences in efficacy experienced, after exposure to high fear appeals compared to other appeals.Social Marketing; Advertising; HIV/AIDS; Fear Appeals

Demographics and consumer ethnocentrism in a developing context : a South African study

CITATION: Pentz, C.D., Terblanche, N. . & Boshoff, C. 2014. Demographics and consumer ethnocentrism in a developing context: A South African study. South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, 17(4):412-426.The original publication is available at http://www.sajems.orgThe continued growth in international trade results in the fact that consumers in many countries are exposed to increasing amounts of product offerings from various countries of origin. As the origin of products might have an influence on consumer behavior, many marketers realize that extended knowledge on consumer behavior toward both domestic and imported products can be useful in the formulation of more effective marketing strategies. Past research in the field of international marketing suggest that the concept of consumer ethnocentrism can be an influencing factor in the decision of consumers to purchase locally-produced rather than imported products. While the concept of consumer ethnocentrism has been actively researched in a number of contexts and countries, research on this phenomenon has been limited in developing countries. The present study aims to add to the existing body of knowledge on consumer ethnocentrism in developing markets by investigating the possible relationships between consumer ethnocentrism and a number of demographic variables in South Africa. A unique contribution of this study is that the investigation focused on two different samples in terms of race, namely on a sample of “white” respondents and a sample of “black” respondents to account for the ethnic diversity in South Africa. The results of the study revealed that for both groups of respondents there was a positive relationship between age and consumer ethnocentrism, while a negative relationship was found for both groups in terms of the relationship between consumer ethnocentrism and income. In terms of the relationship between consumer ethnocentrism and gender, the results differed between the two groups of respondents. The findings can be used rewardingly by marketers wishing to operate more successfully in developing markets, such as South Africa.http://www.sajems.org/index.php/sajems/article/view/570Publisher's versio

A marketing perspective on the impact of financial and non-financial measures on shareholder value

CITATION: Terblanche, N. S., Gerber, C., Erasmus, P. & Schmidt, D. 2013. A marketing perspective on the impact of financial and non-financial measures on shareholder value. South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, 16(2):216-230.The original publication is available at http://www.sajems.orgEkonomiese En BestuurswetenskappeOndernemingsbestuurThe pressure for financial accountability contributed to widespread concern about the function of marketing within the company. Consequently, marketers have become preoccupied with measuring the performance of marketing activity. Diverse financial and non-financial methods have been developed to provide evidence of how marketing activity impacts on the bottom line. This article proposes an approach whereby financial and non-financial performance measures are combined to measure the contribution of marketing to sales. Secondary data from two retail brands within the same industry were analysed whereby actual accounting data were adjusted to examine the link between marketing expenditures, specifically with regard to the 4Ps (typical non-financial measures), and sales. The results of the time series regression showed that the nature of the relationship between marketing expenditures and sales is dependent largely on the product characteristics. The link between marketing and sales depicted serves as a starting point from which to build a more robust measurement tool incorporating financial and non-financial marketing performance measures that will serve to justify investment in the marketing of a brand.jfl201606http://www.sajems.org/index.php/sajems/article/view/368Publisher's versio

Personal acquaintance measure : distinguishing among friends and good and bad customers

Evidence from social psychology confirms that strong relationships are founded on deep knowledge of others gained over long periods after sharing personal information. The existence, benefit, and management of relationships are also topics of increasing interest in Marketing. This paper reports on the results of a study of sales persons&rsquo; assessments of their personal acquaintance with friends and customers. The results indicate that personal acquaintance as a construct and measure can be successfully employed in a business context and used to distinguish among friends and good and bad customers. The findings open the way for the use of the construct in a commercial context as well as in the development of marketing theory. Limitations and avenues for future research are given.<br /