A Comparison Between Recent and Prospective Critical Success Factors in Lithuanian Printing Industry

The paper looks into the problem of identifying critical success factors in an industry. Though by definition all business organisations aim to be successful, companies within an industry differ a lot as regards their level of success. What makes some firms highly successful, when others have rather moderate success within the same industry? Can the above problems be explained by the wrong choice of strategic alternatives or inadequate strategy implementation? An empirical research of the Lithuanian printing industry was carried out with the purpose of identifying and differentiating the dominant success factors that are critical for the creation of competitive advantages.critical success factors, sustainable competitive advantage, printing industry

The Relationship Quality Effect on Customer Loyalty

Este estudio tiene como objetivo la identificación de los elementos constitutivos de la calidad de relación que permite a las empresas oferentes de servicios profesionales establecer relaciones a largo plazo con sus clientes y fortalecer la lealtad de los mismos. El marco teórico sobre el que se ha formulado la identificación de dichos elementos y de la interrelación inherente a la lealtad del cliente ha sido contrastado empíricamente sobre una muestra de 74 directivos de empresas lituanas compradoras de servicios relacionados con las tecnologías de la información. Los resultados sugieren que las variables "calidad funcional", "confianza" y "compromiso" tienen un efecto significativo sobre la lealtad del cliente de servicios de tecnologías de la información. La calidad funcional es el elemento más importante a la hora de construir relaciones a largo plazo con clientes en el mercado de servicios profesionale

Circular Economy and Consumer Attitudes in the Context of Online Second-Hand Goods

Circular economy and platforms offering second-hand goods online to consumers gain popularity in times of crisis since economic conditions worsen in the market. Moreover, the sustainability agenda for 2050 has increased consumer interest in circular economy (The Guardian, 2020). To maximise sales on second-hand goods platforms, it is important for online sellers to better understand consumer attitudes towards the second-hand goods and how consumers benefit from engaging in such behaviour. Previous research has extensively examined consumer attitudes towards products in the context of sustainability (e.g., Piligrimiene et al., 2020), but studies researching consumers in the online second-hands good market are scarce, especially with regard to renting versus buying second-hand goods as they enter circular economy. To advance our knowledge, this research aims to introduce a theoretical model of consumer attitude formation towards renting and buying second-hand goods on online platforms that enter circular economy. This study proposes a theoretical model and propositions that may be tested empirically in future research about renting versus buying online second-hand goods in circular economy

Modelling determinants of customer loyalty in services sector across different cultural contexts

Research on customer loyalty in services has regained interest among academics and practitioners alike because of economic value that international service providers can gain across different cultures due to recent developments in communications technology. International service providers have a wider variety of communication channels to use to approach their customers, but they need a better understanding of how their customer loyalty is formed across different cultures. In this conceptual paper, the authors aim to model determinants of customer loyalty and put forward propositions to be empirically tested in further studies. The originality of the paper manifests itself in the theoretical model proposed, which clearly delineates determinants of customer loyalty (i.e., marketing communication channels, perceived service quality and customer satisfaction) and emphasises the importance of strategic decisions about communication channel options to match customer preferences to predict combined effects of customer loyalty across different cultural contexts

Moderating effects of customer profitability in the retail banking services sector

Unlike many Western countries where retail banking markets can be characterised by longterm customer relationships with their chosen banks, customers in Eastern Europe are ready to collaborate with several banks at the same time or switch to a different retail banking service provider more frequently. Thus, the retail banking market in Eastern Europe faces new challenges in terms of customer loyalty. In this study, we test the commitment – customer loyalty link in the retail banking market across three customer groups segmented on the basis of customer profitability in an Eastern European country. Our results suggest a positive effect of commitment on loyalty in all three different customer segments and we find that customer profitability moderates the commitment - loyalty relationship in the context of retail financial services

Reassessing relationship equity in the retail banking services sector

This study focuses on the relationship equity – customer loyalty link in the retail banking services sector. Recent trends in customer switching behaviour in the financial retail services market have created a need to review the role of relationship equity in maintaining customer loyalty. Specifically, the authors examine the effects of relationship equity on both commitment and customer loyalty in an Eastern European country. The study findings reveal a positive effect of relationship equity on loyalty and commitment for different customer segments. Further, customer profitability moderates both relationship equity – commitment and relationship equity - loyalty links in the retail banking services sector

Cultural antecedents to the normative, affective and cognitive effects of domestic versus foreign product purchase behaviour

The paper aims to investigate simultaneous and independent effects of cognitive, affective, and normative (CAN) decision mechanisms and cultural elements on consumer purchase behavior of foreign and domestic products. The study uses a survey to collect data from 5 086 respondents across 19 nations. The findings suggest that CAN factors independently affect purchase decisions for domestic, but not always foreign goods. Collectivism and uncertainty avoidance directly and differentially affect the CAN mechanisms. By explaining the effects of CAN and cultural elements on foreign and domestic purchase behaviour and offering product positioning strategies to internationally operating business managers the study provides important research and practical implications. The originality and value of this research lies in the theoretically proposed and empirically tested model, which incorporates consumer ethnocentrism, quality importance, national identification, cultural antecedents (collectivism and uncertainty avoidance) and domestic/ foreign product purchase behaviour

Media involvement and consumer attitude formation towards digital advertising

Using a modified Elaboration Likelihood Model, product involvement, media involvement and their interaction are hypothesized to effect attitudes toward digital advertising (i.e., banner ads). Specifically, media involvement is predicted to directly affect attitudes toward banner ads as well as moderate the effect of product involvement on attitude towards the banner ad. Product involvement, in turn, will have a direct effect on attitudes toward banner ads and intent to purchase

Introduction:arts in virtual worlds

Under a heading as general as “Arts” for this issue of the Journal of Virtual Worlds Research, you could expect to find articles on everything from curatorial practices to concerts, from storytelling to sculpture. But there is nothing hodge-podge about this collection. An important single thread runs through this issue: the exploration of artistic “process”