Relative Importance Of Service Research Articles

Customer’s loyalty and trial intentions within the retailer: the moderating role of variety-seeking tendency

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to introduce the concept of customer’s value to the retailer (CVR) from a marketing perspective. CVR is a broad concept that has two components: loyalty intentions to the retailer and intentions to try new products or brands that the retailer offers. This study proposes a theoretical model and considers the effect of three sources of CVR in consumer goods retailing: customer’s perceived functional service value, customer’s perceived private label brand (PLB) equity and customer’s perceived relationship value. The effects of the proposed antecedents are applied to two groups of customers: variety-seeking and non-variety-seeking consumers.Design/methodology/approachThe questionnaire surveys were administered to customers of five retail firms with a nationwide presence in Spain (Carrefour, Auchan, Eroski, Mercadona, and El Corte Inglés). A total of 742 valid questionnaires was obtained.FindingsThe results show that the key differences between variety seekers (VS) and non-variety seekers (NVS) are imposed by PLB equity, which has a stronger relationship to both components of CVR for VS than for NVS. Relationship value has a stronger relationship to intention to try new products or brands for NVS than for VS. Finally, functional service value has a stronger relationship to intention to try new products or brands for VS than for NVS.Practical implicationsThe results obtained for both groups have significant implications for segmentation and management of differentiated marketing strategies based on consumers’ characteristics (variety-seeking tendency).Originality/valueThis study establishes a new concept and measurement of CVR as determined by the customer him/herself. The paper provides a comprehensive analysis of how the relative importance of service, PLBs and relationships affect CVR. Finally, despite the fact that contemporary consumers tend to seek variety, the variety-seeking profile has not been used to date as a moderating variable in studies of CVR.

Service Facet Prioritisation Using Grey Relation Approach

This article attempts to find the relative importance of various service attributes having significant influence on student’s choice set for selection of management institutes. Relative importance of service attributes in management education is evaluated and graded with the help of grey relational analysis. The result of the study indicates that management education institutions must reconsider service strategy in view of the return that specific action provides. Data revealed that tangibles and directly felt service attributes such as academic aspects, attitude and assurance are more important areas to be focused. Grey areas like non-academic aspects and spend on brand building does not receive much importance and resources may be realigned to fetch better results. The findings of the study would help the promoters of institutions and academicians to take right initiatives for ensuring the service quality of management education.

Customer Satisfaction with E-Retailers: The Role of Product Type in the Relative Importance of Attributes

ABSTRACTIt is of strategic importance for e-retailers to allocate their resources to various service attributes according to their relative importance. How does one determine the relative importance of different service attributes? Does the relative importance of different service attributes remain the same across different product categories? These questions must be addressed by researchers and e-retailers. Since customer ratings for service attributes are highly correlated, modeling methods other than traditional regression models should be used to analyze the relative importance of service attributes to overall customer satisfaction. As such, this article utilizes neural networks in order to study the relative importance of e-retailer service attributes. Importantly, this article shows that the relative importance of e-retailer service attributes varies across different product categories (i.e., convenience, shopping, and specialty goods).

Gap in relative importance of service activities closed

Overall it is evident that the relative importance of services and service activity trends in the USA and west Germany is very similar. In other words the activity structure in Germany is indeed “modern”. Also in highly productive areas of production, value adding largely takes the form of service activities. Thus the employment problem in Germany results not from outdated activity structures; the causes are rather those macroeconomic reasons to which the DIW has repeatedly drawn attention7.

The structural implications of technological change in the manufacturing sector

This paper uses a three-sector, pseudo-general equilibrium model to investigate the implications of different types of technological progress in the manufacturing sector. We show that the increased relative importance of services that has occurred could be the consequence of such rapid technological advance in manufacturing that the relative price decline of manufactured goods has reduced spending on manufactures versus services. Furthermore, we show that only labor-saving technological change in manufacturing can explain the growth in the relative importance of investment. This adds indirect support to other studies which have shown that technological advance in manufacturing has generally been of a labor-saving variety.

Benefiting from Structural Similarities Among Personal Services

Argues that all service encounters can be thought of as sharing common elements and common problems. Considers some common issues faced by a variety of personal service providers, maintaining that researchers and managers can understand consumer classification and evaluation of services by comparing functionally dissimilar services. Analyses data from a consumer survey on attitudes to 16different household and personal services. Uses cluster analysis of these services, showing two dimensions, Service Locus and Service Instigation. Examines the relative importance of service attributes across these clusters.

Trade in Services and Asian Developing Economies

The world economy has been undergoing rapid structural transformation for the last three decades. The service sector, which has often been neglected in most economic discussions, has come to play an increasingly important role in this transformation. This is most visible in major developed economies, many of which have passed from the stage of industrial societies to that of service societies. For instance, in the United States, almost 70 per cent of total output stems from the service sector, while in most western European countries, services account for between 55 and 60 per cent of national output. A similar transition has taken place in other developed economies. The exception seems to be Norway, where the relative importance of services has declined (due to the exploitation of North Sea oil). Similarly, in terms of employment, there has been a concomitant increase in the role of services, the increase being most dramatic in the last 20–30 years. In many developed countries, the share of services in total employment is more than 60 per cent and in some it has reached 70 per cent. Most Asian developing economies, however, are predominantly agricultural and are now making strides toward industrialization. As the role of industries has become increasingly greater in recent years, so has that of services. Barring a few exceptions, such as Singapore and Sri Lanka, the importance of the service sector as a source of income and employment has expanded significantly in the last 30 years…

Thoughts About Graduate Study in Physical Education, Exercise, and Sport Science

Graduate programs will be appropriate if we maintain the integrity of graduate study by insisting on a major emphasis on research by graduate students and faculty. Graduate programs will be undesirable if we award graduate degrees for what should be undergraduate programs, and/or if faculty become so involved in undergraduate or service programs that there is no ongoing focused scholarly activity. To continue to argue about the relative importance of service, practitioner preparation, and research objectives in graduate education will cause ongoing division, resulting in faltering steps toward the future. On the other hand, minor cosmetic changes aimed at achieving the image of a unified graduate program will produce stumbling attempts to go forward. Marching together boldly into the future requires respect for different missions at different levels and doing well what needs to be done by the practitioner, in undergraduate and in graduate programs. At the graduate level, it means taking seriously our mission to acquire better estimates of the truth. Three ideas that will assist that inquiry are to define graduate study in terms of (a) an extension of research, (b) relevant independent study, and (c) the kind of depth that promotes an appreciation of the breadth and interrelatedness of all aspects of our field.

An Empirical Approach to Setting Priorities Within a Department of Rehabilitation

The current need to maintain or increase levels of service, despite shrinking budgets, has prompted hospital department heads to focus increased attention on their process of decisionmaking around resource allocation. This paper presents a rational method of decision-making through priority-setting. The method was developed in x department of rehabilitation to assist with the cost-effective assignment of staff to the various services in the hospital. The method is based on a set of seventeen weighted criteria, which evaluate the relative importance of services that the department staffs. While the method has specific reference to a rehabilitation department, the authors feel that it may have application to a variety of other departments or settings.