Purpose - There is scientific consensus that employees' attitudes have a fundamental impact on customers' experiences. The paper focuses on how to create favourable employee attitudes that are relevant for the creation of the service brand. In this context, we develop a framework that combines the concept of the perceived employer brand with employee outcomes that are relevant for service branding.
Design/methodology/approach - Empirical data were collected from a sample (N = 2,189) of a worldwide operating insurance company. Data analysis was performed using structural equation modelling.
Findings - First, the findings underpin the idea of a relationship between the perceived employer brand and service branding. Second, the influence of particular drivers for employee attitudes is determined.
Research limitations/implications - Research is based on data from only one company. Furthermore, customer outcomes are not investigated directly. Thus, research needs to be taken further by investigating the creation of a service brand, simultaneously exploring employees' attitudes and customers' experiences.
Practical implications - Influencing customer experiences is a complex process that involves interactions among several stakeholder groups. In order to raise efficiency, we propose that companies focus on creating a strong employer brand as this constitutes an efficient way of service branding.
Originality/value - This paper highlights the influence of the perceived employer brand on employees' attitudes, which is especially important in service settings. The investigation of customer-relevant employee attitudes emphasizes the significance of creating a strong employer brand. Furthermore, long-term effects are considered by investigating the influence of the perceived employer brand on potential employees' identification.
Customer Value (CV) is one of the most crucial concepts in the field of marketing. Literature states that the identification and creation of CV is decisive for the strategic success of any organization. Moreover, CV was coined a hot research topic in the field of marketing for the years of 2010-2012 by the Marketing Science Institute (2011). However, there is still no clear opinion about the concept per se, as there is currently no accepted CV definition. What is more, since a broad variety of fundamental developments, such as the rise of the service-dominant and customer-dominant logic, touched the CV concept in the past years, there is a need to reflect upon them. Therefore, this article addresses this challenge and reflects upon recent developments to provide a common basis for future research. Moreover, the resulting implications for CV creation are provided. Focal questions that arise when considering CV include: What is the nature of CV and how can value be created considering the implications of both logics?
The increasing attractiveness of emerging markets (EMs), alongside the progression of internationalization, raises the question whether setting up a unified marketing strategy for EMs and high-income countries is appropriate. In this study, the authors use institutionally induced heterogeneity, which refers to distinct consumer patterns evoked by contextual differences, to elaborate on the requirements of an international segmentation that includes EMs, such as microlevel analyses and the inclusion of institutional effects. The authors numerically illustrate the established requirements by applying a multilevel finite mixture modeling of global consumer multichannel (search and purchase) behavior. Doing so provides an initial large-scale analysis that compares consumers from EMs and high-income countries. The findings broadly support the suggested requirements, contributing to the international segmentation and EM literature. Practitioners can apply the insights of this investigation to establish an international marketing strategy. The key recommendation proposes that a case-by-case analysis of EMs is necessary and that solely considering EMs derives incorrect conclusions about international segmentation.
The increasing attractiveness of emerging markets (EMs), along with the progressing
internationalization raises the question of whether setting up a unified marketing
strategy for EMs and high income countries (HICs) or not. No studies exist that
entail a focus on EMs. In this paper, we establish the requirements for international
segmentation that includes EMs and test our approach numerically by finite mixture
model with data on global consumer multichannel (search and purchase) behavior
(n=20'732). In doing so, we further enhance existing latent class models by combining
information on consumer channel usage patterns with covariates on consumer and
on country level.
resources. Previous research demonstrates its importance, but up to now no research has been done yet to linking this concept to financial outcomes, or competitive advantage. Adapting the well-established customer value (CV) concept, we consider employees as customers to conceptualize EB dimensions and to empirically investigate the relationship between EB, the Service Profit Chain (SPC), and Internal Branding (IB), constructs
determining a company's success and possibly generating a competitive advantage. As a result, an EB model that constitutes of five dimensions is established and verified across genders. The analysis employs a quantitative survey that encompassed 2,189 employees of an insurance company. The results indicate a positive impact of EB dimensions on
employees' satisfaction and on identification.
