Francisco J Conejo, Lawrence F Cunningham, Clifford E Young
Journal of Brand Management,Pages: 1-15.
Studies increasingly question the robustness of luxury marketing’s most prominent scale, Vigneron and Johnson’s (J Brand Manag 11 (6): 484-506, 2004) Brand Luxury Index (BLI). However, these studies’ isolated and occasionally obscure nature has kept this issue outside marketing’s mainstream. Given the contextual/methodological differences between these studies, calls to evaluate the BLI further, and the importance of ascertaining this instrument’s robustness, this research is the first to systematically address the issue and provide more conclusive evidence of BLI performance. This paper comprises four studies with US students, Chinese students, US consumers, and pooled data. Results consistently indicate that the BLI is factorially unstable. On average, only 30% of its items operate adequately. The present results confirm growing BLI concerns. We conclude that luxury brand dimensionality remains
Tag Archives: Cunningham
An Interview with Milton Pedraza, CEO, and Founder of the Luxury Institute on Luxury Marketing
Lawrence F. Cunningham
Journal of International Marketing Strategy,Vol. 6, Issue No. 1, Pages: 48-52.
Bridging past and present entrepreneurial marketing research: A co-citation and bibliographic coupling analysis
Fabian Most, Francisco J Conejo, Lawrence F Cunningham
Journal of Research in Marketing and Entrepreneurship,Vol. 20, Issue 2, Pages: 229-251.
Purpose Literature in entrepreneurial marketing (EM) continues to grow in volume and diversity. This paper aims to examine the topical structure of EM’s literature toward guiding research in the field. Design/methodology/approach A four-phase bibliometric research design is implemented, encompassing co-citation and bibliographic-coupling analyses, network analysis, factor analysis and correspondence analysis. Findings In total, 14 EM literature clusters, comprising 7 topical meta-clusters, are mapped and discussed: the 7 clusters are resources and capabilities, entrepreneurial orientation (EO), measurement, EO/marketing orientation (MO) integration, MO, international entrepreneurship and social entrepreneurship. Originality/value These topical streams confirm, refine and extend prior bibliometric studies. A more comprehensive, extensive and reliable picture of EM’s literature is provided, the result of using
The Role of Service Recovery in Online Privacy Violation
Bidyut B Hazarika, James Gerlach, Lawrence Cunningham
International Journal of E-Business Research (IJEBR),Vol. 14, Issue 4, Pages: 1-27.
In this study, the authors address the question of whether firms may successfully pursue service recovery strategies after severe online privacy violations. The study treats online privacy violations as a service failure and uses justice theory to measure repurchasing intention after consumer complaints in three different scenarios. The three scenarios differ in the sense that the accountability and the outcome of the service failure are different. The results indicate that despite the different instances of online privacy violation in each scenario, the service recovery efforts consistently created satisfaction with service recovery, significantly increased consumer trust, decreased perceived risk and increased repurchase intentions. The study finds that that both distributive and procedural justice plays an important role in online service recovery while interactional justice did not have any impact. Finally, even in cases of severe
PERSPECTIVES ON QUALITATIVE LUXURY BRAND ASPECTS
Francisco J. Conejo, Lawrence F. Cunningham
Journal of International Marketing Strategy,Vol. 6, Issue 1, Pages: 33-46.
AN INTERVIEW WITH FRANCK VIGNERON, PROFESSOR OF MARKETING, CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY, NORTHRIDGE ON LUXURY MARKETING, AND RELATED ISSUES.
Lawrence Cunningham
Journal of International Marketing Strategy,Vol. 5, Issue 1,
An Exploratory Study of Conflict over Paying Debian Developers
James H Gerlach, Chorng-Guang Wu, Lawrence F Cunningham, Clifford E Young
International Journal of Open Source Software and Processes (IJOSSP),Vol. 7, Issue 3, Pages: 20-38.
This article reports on an exploratory study of the causes and effects of conflict within the open source software project, Debian. Conflict arose when the project leader decided to introduce payment for select volunteers within an all-volunteer project to speed up the release of Debian. The study utilized the theoretical framework of Boltanski and Thvenot for understanding disputes. The results of the survey of Debian developers show that the conditions for conflict were complex and were driven by perception of misuse of …
[Full Text]
Apology Strategies for Informal Complaints in Service Recovery and CRM Systems
Deborah L. Kellogg and Lawrence F. Cunningham
International Journal of Information Systems and Social Change, Volume 5 Issue 3
This paper reports the results of a quasi-experiment designed to identify linkages between customer attributes and apology types in service recovery in informal resolution settings. Understanding these relationships is critical for enabling more effective and dynamic social relationships between the service provider and the customer/client with the use of technology, namely Customer Relationship Management Systems (CRM). The authors find that simple apologies decrease anger, restore distributive and interactional justice, and increase satisfaction. More importantly, the paper suggests that there are significant nuances in apology types and complex relationships between customer types and effective deployment of the apology in informal resolution settings. Further, the analysis suggests that apologies with explanations are more effective among customers with service experience and that apologies with compensation are most effective for all customers. When apologies are used with successive failures there is some evidence that the apology explanations are not equally effective for all customer types. The paper concludes with a discussion of the linkages between apology, service recovery and CRM systems in informal complaint resolution to improve senior level decision making, employee performance in service recovery, and customer satisfaction in for profit and non-profit organizations.
Service Perceptions in China
Lawrence F. Cunningham, Clifford E. Young and Hongxia Zhang
Journal of International Marketing Strategy,Vol. 1, Issue 2, pp. 39-XX
This study investigates customer-based views of generic services from a Chinese consumer perspective. The data for the study were collected using students in a university setting as surrogates for Chinese consumers and were analyzed using a multidimensional scaling technique. The study indicates that only two dimensions, customization/standardization and person/object are responsible for most of the variance in the classifications. The paper discusses the implications of the findings in both the context of theory and for service businesses operating in the Chinese environment. The study is limited by the use of university students as surrogates for consumer and the limitations of multi-dimensional scaling. Despite these limitations, the study is useful to Chinese managers of service organizations because it provides information on how Chinese consumers view generic services in general and in relation to each other in the Chinese environment. Chinese managers may gain insight into the possible ways that these managers may reposition their service in relation to other services. For Chinese service managers, this information may lead to the formulation of better strategy especially in the area of non-technical services.
[Full Text]
Comparing Hybrid Services in the United States and China
Lawrence F Cunningham, Clifford E Young, Zuohao Hu
International Journal of Information Systems in the Service Sector (IJISSS), Vol 5 Issue 1, 2013, 17-32
This paper examines how customers view a set of hybrid services (eleven generic and self-service technologies) in the US and China. The data are collected using questionnaires on location in the US and China and are analyzed using multidimensional scaling. The study indicates that two dimensions, customization/standardization and high/low contact, explain over 80% of the variance in the classifications. Although there are differences when comparing the results of the US and China samples, the results are very …
Corporate Social Responsibility and Its Impact on Service Quality, Consumer Trust and Loyalty
Moonkyu Lee, Hae, Ryong Kim, Kwanghee Yoo, Lawrence Cunningham, and Namin Kim
Journal of International Marketing Strategy,Vol. 1, Issue 1, pp. 52-XX
This study investigates the effects of Corporate Social Responsibility (or CSR) fulfillment on consumer loyalty in the service market environment by comparing them with the effects of marketing mix strategies. This study also examines two potential mediating factors (i.e., service quality and consumer trust) in understanding how CSR relates to consumer loyalty. The results show that CSR performance builds customer trust, which leads to customer loyalty. CSR activities also affect customer perceptions of service quality although their effect is weaker than that of marketing mix strategies. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the study for researchers and marketers.
[Full Text]
A comparison of consumer views of traditional services and self-service technologies
Lawrence F. Cunningham, Clifford E. Young, James Gerlach
Journal of Services Marketing Vol. 23, Issue 1, p. 11-23
Purpose – Few marketing studies look at service classifications for self-service technologies (SSTs) and none directly compare consumer-based perceptions of traditional services to SSTs. To fill this gap, this study aims to examine how customers perceived traditional services and SSTs on service classifications criteria proposed by Lovelock, Bowen and Bell.
Design/methodology/approach – In two separate studies consumer ratings for each classification method on each service were obtained. Using multi-dimensional scaling (MDS), 13 traditional services and 12 SSTs were separately mapped onto a perceptual space of service classifications.
Findings – The comparison of the two perceptual spaces reveals that consumers viewed the classifications of convenience, person/object, and delivery for SSTs differently than that for traditional services. The classifications of traditional services were represented by two dimensions of customization/standardization and person/object. In contrast, the classifications of SSTs were represented by two dimensions of customization/standardization and separability/inseparability. Thus the description of the underlying dimensions of services varied by traditional services or SSTs.
Research limitations/implications – It is possible that the results of the MDS were influenced by the use of preset classifications. Results may also be influenced by the authors’ choice of MDS method. Further research is needed regarding the classification of SSTs and the use of these classifications for SST design.
Originality/value – This research extends previous consumer-based classification research by including SSTs. The findings identified separate typologies for SSTs and traditional services. The typologies should be of interest to both researchers and managers who are interested in how SSTs are perceived by consumers.
Customer perceptions of service dimensions: cross-cultural analysis and perspective
Cunningham, Lawrence F., Young, Clifford E., Lee, Moonkyu & Ulaga, Wolfgang
International Marketing Review Vol. 23, Issue 2, p. 192-210
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present the results of a study that examined how customers in the USA, France, and Korea perceived and classified a set of 13 services based on multidimensional scaling (MDS).
Design/methodology/approach – A MDS framework was used to map service classifications and actual services in the USA, Korea and France. Results from each country were then compared to the other two countries to determine similarities and differences.
Findings – Results from this research suggest that there are two underlying dimensions that explain approximately 80 percent of the total variance in service perceptions and classifications. Underlying dimensions of the classifications across the three cultures were virtually identical. Differences among the countries were based on relative positioning of classifications and/or services on the underlying dimensions.
Research limitations/implications – Evidence from diverse cultures implies that consumers perceive services in a somewhat simplistic, two-dimensional fashion rather than the complex set of classifications proposed by researchers. Although the complex classifications may be of use to service providers in organizing the delivery of services, the presentation and positioning of those services is along a much simpler framework in the minds of customers.
Originality/value – This is the first time consumer-based perceptions of services have been examined systematically across cultures using a MDS approach.
Perceived risk and e-banking services: An analysis from the perspective of the consumer
Cunningham, Lawrence F.; Gerlach, James; and Harper, Michael D.
Journal of Financial Services Marketing Vol. 10 Issue 2, pp. 165-178.
Abstract This research investigates the premise that purchasing e-banking services is perceived to be riskier than purchasing traditional banking services. Unlike previous studies on perceived risk that typically focused on the relationship of perceived risk and information search, this exploratory study examines the dynamics of perceived risk throughout the various stages of the consumer buying process. A survey of 159 respondents reveals a risk premium for e-banking services that follows a systematic pattern throughout the consumer buying process. When viewed as a dynamic process, perceived risk for e-banking services shows more radical changes in risk levels than traditional banking services. The analyses indicate that financial risk drives the risk premium while psychological, physical and time risk play ancillary roles as risk drivers at certain stages of the consumer buying process. A major implication of this study is that there is a risk premium for e-banking services and the risk premium permeates all stages of the consumer buying process. Risk mitigation strategies are addressed.
Perceived Risk and the Consumer Buying Process: Internet Airline Reservations
Cunningham, Lawrence F., James H. Gerlach, Michael D. Harper, and Clifford E. Young
International Journal of Service Industry Management Vol. 16 Issue 4, pp. 357-372.
Purpose: This research investigates the premise that the use of Internet airline reservation systems is perceived to be riskier than traditional airline reservation shopping.
Methodology: A survey or 263 respondents investigated perceived risk at various stages of the consumer buying process.
Findings: The results reveal that perceived risk for airline reservation services follows a pattern throughout the consumer buying process. When viewed as a dynamic process, perceived risk for Internet airline services shows more radical changes in risk levels than the traditional service. The analyses indicate that performance, physical, social, and financial risk are related to perceived risk at certain stages of the consumer buying process.
Practical Implications: A major finding of this study is that there is a risk premium for Internet airline reservation services and the risk premium permeates all stages of the consumer buying process. It is further demonstrated that the Internet risk premium does affect usage levels; implying that the Internet risk premium is consequential and warrants the implementation of risk mitigation strategies.
Originality: Unlike previous studies on perceived risk that typically focused on the relationship of perceived risk and information search, this study examines the dynamics of perceived risk throughout the various stages of the consumer buying process.
Customer perceptions of service dimensions: American and Asian perspectives
Cunningham, Lawrence F., Young, Clifford E. and Lee, Moonkyu
Service Industries Journal Vol. 25, Issue 1, p. 43 – 59.
This article reports the results of a study that examined how US, Korean and Taiwanese customers perceived and classified a set of 13 services based on multidimensional scaling (MDS). Service classifications were developed on a perceptual space where the actual services were mapped for three countries, US, Korea and Taiwan. The results suggest service perceptions and classifications. The dimensions and correlations for the classifications and services displayed many consistencies and some differences among American, Korean and Taiwanese consumers. Directions for future academic research and managerial implications are cited and discussed.
Perceptions Of Airline Service Quality Pre And Post 9/11
Cunningham, Lawrence F., Young, Clifford E. and Lee, Moonkyu
Public Works Management & Policy Vol. 9 Issue 1, p. 10-25
Marketing managers must be always alert to some kind of brand crisis that can occur unexpectedly. The September 11 terrorist attack dramatically changed the business environment in the United States and elsewhere and had the most pro- found impact on the American airline industry. This article reports the results of a series of longitudinal surveys on consumer perceptions of airline service quality, risks associated with air travel, and satisfaction with airlines before and after the 9/11 crisis. The results show that although the number of trips declined over the course of the research, passengers’ overall satisfaction with the airline industry, airline satisfaction, and intention to repatronize their airline generally did not change in a statistically significant manner The implications of the results are discussed from a brand management perspective.
Consumer Views of Service Classifications in the United States and France
Cunningham, Lawrence F., Clifford E. Young, Wolfgag Ulaga, and Moonkyu Lee
Journal of Services Marketing Vol. 18, Issue 6, p. 421-432
In the services marketing literature, few service classifications are based on how customers view services, and fewer of these have been validated cross-culturally. To fill this gap, this research presents the results of a study that examined how U.S. and French customers perceived and classified a set of thirteen services based on multidimensional scaling (MDS). Service classifications were developed on a perceptual space where the actual services were mapped for two countries, U.S. and France. The results of the study suggest that there are two underlying dimensions that explain approximately 80% of the total variance in service perceptions and classifications. The dimensions and correlations for the classifications and services displayed many consistencies and some differences among American and French consumers. Directions for future academic research and managerial implications are cited and discussed.
Assessing Perceived Risk Of Consumers In Internet Airline Reservations Services
Cunningham, Lawrence F., Gerlach, James and Harper, Michael D.
Journal of Air Transportation Vol. 9 Issue 1, p. 21-35
This research investigates the premise that the use of Internet airline reservation systems is perceived to be riskier than traditional airline reservation systems. Unlike previous studies on perceived risk that typically focused on the relationship of perceived risk and information search, this study examines the dynamics of perceived risk throughout the various stages of the consumer buying process. A survey of 159 respondents reveals that perceived risk for both traditional and Internet airline reservation services follows a systematic pattern throughout the consumer buying process. Perceived risk for both traditional and Internet airline reservation systems falls during information search but recovers and rapidly increases as consumers approach the moment of purchase. When viewed as a dynamic process, perceived risk for Internet airline reservation services shows more radical changes in risk levels than the traditional service. Another major finding of this study is the discovery of a risk premium for Internet airline reservation services that permeates all stages of the consumer buying process.