Recent research on links between dimensions of consumer-based brand equity, as well as links to consumer involvement, has shown that it is a significant predictor of purchase behavior. The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the affect brands have on consumer involvement. We attempt to investigate how consumer-based brand equity affects the level of consumer involvement. Based on consumer behavior theory and previous research of these areas, gathered primary data (an empirical investigation of students’ attitudes) is analyzed to gain an understanding of how the aforementioned concepts relate to each other. The findings indicate that there are correlations between consumer-based brand equity and consumer involvement, and that there is more to investigate in this area. Suggestions for further research include a similar study with more measured variables for each dimension, and analyzing them separately instead of creating indexes. The results of this dissertation may be useful for marketers and manufacturers of the specific products investigated, as well as products of similar nature, in order to apply focus to the attributes which consumers value most.

Drawing from signaling theory, this study investigates the processes through which corporate image (CI) for quality affects attitudinal loyalty. The research hypotheses are examined using data from a cross-sectional survey and two scenario-based experiments. Overall, findings across these three studies suggest that the effects of CI upon loyalty are channeled through customer satisfaction and perceived value. The effects of CI on perceived value and loyalty are stronger relative to the effects of employee interaction quality (IQ) when IQ is measured as an overall evaluation. However, when employee IQ is measured in reference to a specific service encounter, it becomes a stronger driver of perceived value and loyalty relative to CI. Regardless of the context of measurement (i.e., overall evaluation vs. a specific service encounter), employee IQ exerts a stronger influence on customer satisfaction than CI. CI negatively moderates the effect of employee IQ on customer satisfaction and loyalty, rendering the effect of employee IQ upon customer evaluations less critical for service providers with stronger CIs. The findings highlight the relevance and importance of CI as a signal of unobservable quality, which should be measured and closely monitored by management. Managers should also recognize the central role of customer satisfaction, especially in channeling the effects of IQ upon loyalty, and therefore, design policies that enhance frontline employee ability and motivation to deliver satisfying customer experiences.

Drawing from signaling theory, this study investigates the processes through which corporate image (CI) for quality affects attitudinal loyalty. The research hypotheses are examined using data from a cross-sectional survey and two scenario-based experiments. Overall, findings across these three studies suggest that the effects of CI upon loyalty are channeled through customer satisfaction and perceived value. The effects of CI on perceived value and loyalty are stronger relative to the effects of employee interaction quality (IQ) when IQ is measured as an overall evaluation. However, when employee IQ is measured in reference to a specific service encounter, it becomes a stronger driver of perceived value and loyalty relative to CI. Regardless of the context of measurement (i.e., overall evaluation vs. a specific service encounter), employee IQ exerts a stronger influence on customer satisfaction than CI. CI negatively moderates the effect of employee IQ on customer satisfaction and loyalty, rendering the effect of employee IQ upon customer evaluations less critical for service providers with stronger CIs. The findings highlight the relevance and importance of CI as a signal of unobservable quality, which should be measured and closely monitored by management. Managers should also recognize the central role of customer satisfaction, especially in channeling the effects of IQ upon loyalty, and therefore, design policies that enhance frontline employee ability and motivation to deliver satisfying customer experiences.

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to determine if various measures of loyalty (satisfaction, continued patronage and share of wallet) converge or diverge. A related objective of the study is to examine the relative efficacies of merchandise quality, interaction quality, price and store environment in inducing store loyalty for two customer segments of a national automotive parts and accessories retailer in the USA. The two segments are the doityourself customers and the professional customers. Design/methodology/approach – Data for the study are collected via mail questionnaires. Usable responses are obtained from 17,034 customers. In operationalizing store loyalty, affective, conative and actionrelated measures are used. Findings – The results altogether suggest that merchandise quality is an effective predictor of loyalty but perhaps not as critical or dominant as interaction quality. Results also show that similar factors consistently exert like influence in generating loyalty for the two customer segments. Research limitations/implications – The efficacies of other antecedent variables (e.g. perceived value/value for money) as drivers of store loyalty should be examined. Also, it would be worthwhile to investigate the possible moderating role of demographic characteristics (e.g. gender) and situational characteristics (e.g. critical incident recovery) in attenuating the relationships between the antecedent variables and store loyalty. Practical implications – To reinforce loyalty among its both doityourself and professional customers, the focal retailer should continue to enhance the interaction skills of current and prospective employees via careful selection, training and motivation. Originality/value – The paper shows that the three measures of loyalty (satisfaction, continued patronage and share of wallet) converge. The strongest correlations are between affective and conative loyalty.

This study examines the within and between sex differences on the relative importances of merchandise quality and interaction quality as drivers of behavioral loyalty (share of wallet). A sample of customers of a national retail chain serves as the study setting. The results indicate that for female customers, interaction quality and merchandise quality have equally strong total influence on share of wallet. For male customers, the total effect of merchandise quality on share of wallet is significantly stronger than the total effect of interaction quality. Across sex comparisons reveal that the total effect of interaction quality on share of wallet is stronger for female customers. However, merchandise quality exerts a stronger total influence on share of wallet for male customers. Implications of the results are discussed and avenues for future research are offered.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of loyalty in consumers’ selection of brand extensions in the presence of familiar competitors. The findings show that fit may not have a linear relationship with the choice of an extension when loyalty and brand familiarity are considered. Loyal consumers’ likelihood to choose high-fit and moderate-fit extensions is not much lower than their likelihood to choose products from familiar competitors. We also find an inverted-U-shaped relationship between choice behavior and degree of perceived fit for loyal and moderately loyal consumers. Moreover, brand concepts can make a brand more elastic and extendable, increasing loyal and moderately loyal consumers’ likelihood to choose moderate- and even low-fit extensions. However, disloyal consumers are highly unlikely to choose extensions over products from familiar competitors regardless of fit and types of similarity. Finally, the effect of similarity on consumers’ choice of extensions is fully mediated by loyalty and perceived risks.

In 2018, global gross domestic product (GDP) was US$86.3 trillion, and almost a quarter of that value was due to international trade with a value of US$19.6 trillion. Air cargo accounts for about 35 percent of that trade value (approximately US$6.86 trillion). Moreover, from the perspective of the airport sector, air cargo revenue contributes between 20 to 70 percent of airport revenue. The global airport revenue for freight in 2018 was US$250 billion. Despite the interest and research activities surrounding competition and competitiveness of airports and specifically among airlines and passengers, it appears scholars have overlooked research concerning the competitiveness of airports when it comes to air cargo. This study attempts to fill the gap in the supply chain and logistics literature by putting forward a framework and ultimately operationalizing the framework highlighting the pivotal role of air cargo in the supply chain domain and within the global economy. Specifically, the framework is operationalized within the freight forwarding air cargo supply chain domain – providing insight into this important yet understudied phenomenon. The population of interest is freight forwarders from the Dubai International Airport, United Arab Emirates. The Middle East represents 18 percent of the world's air cargo volume and the region's air cargo volume has been growing three times faster than worldwide air cargo making the Dubai International Airport an appropriate and novel setting for the study. A sample frame obtained from the National Association of Freight and Logistics (NAFL) provided the final sample of 187 respondents. The survey was undertaken during the fourth quarter of 2019. The data are analyzed using structural equation modeling. The dissertation contributes to the supply chain and logistics literature by synthesizing and operationalizing a framework that measures freight forwarder satisfaction specific to air cargo. Relying on Porter's theory of industry structure and competitiveness, the results of this study find that freight forwarder satisfaction is composed of three dimensions: infrastructure, operations, and cost. Additionally, the empirical findings reveal that freight forwarder satisfaction has a significant positive effect on both loyalty and airport competitiveness. As well, loyalty partially mediates the relationship between freight forwarder satisfaction and airport competitiveness.

El sector de alimentos orgánicos es un nicho que está creciendo exponencialmente por el incremento de personas que se preocupan por mantener una alimentación saludable. Gracias a ello, apareció un nuevo concepto de minorista enfocado a los productos orgánicos, saludables y ecológicos. Estos se conocen como biotiendas o retails especializados de comida orgánica. El presente estudio abarca branding como tema de marketing. Por ello, se investigó la relación entre la lealtad que tiene el público hacia las biotiendas y los factores de la calidad percibida que inciden en ella. A partir de ello, se realizó un enfoque en dos factores: confianza y precio. Los descubrimientos a nivel cualitativo indican que estos factores podrían no incidir en la decisión de compra de la misma manera que sugiere la teoría, pues el público podría no tomar en cuenta los diversos aspectos que abarcan los factores mencionados al momento de elegir el retail al que desea acudir y frecuentar. Además, aparecen nuevos factores que podrían tener mayor incidencia en la lealtad debido al comportamiento de los consumidores en este sector en específico. / The organic food industry is a niche that is growing exponentially due to the increase of people who worry about maintaining a healthy diet. As a result, a new retail concept was developed, where it’s focus is on selling healthy, organic and ecological proucts. These new specialized stores are called biostores or organic food retails. The present study covers branding issues as a marketing field. Therefore, the relationship between the brand loyalty to biostores and the factors of perceived quality that affect it were investigated. The focus was made on two main factors: trust and price. The qualitative findings indicate that these factors may not affect the purchase decision in the same way suggested by the theory, since the target may not pay attention to the different aspects covered in each factor when making a decision to choose which retail they want to visit. In addition, new factors appear that could have a higher incidence in loyalty due to the behavior of consumers in this specific sector. / Trabajo de investigación

El propósito de este trabajo de investigación es poder analizar las diferencias entre unicanalidad, multicanalidad y omnicanalidad, describir las ventajas del marketing omnicanal y, principalmente, probar la relación positiva entre las acciones de omnicanalidad y recompra en los establecimientos de venta de electrodomésticos en Lima Metropolitana en base a tres variables principales: puntos de contacto, gestión de clientes y la interconexión de los puntos de contacto. Los hallazgos del trabajo se basan en estudios cualitativos y cuantitativos realizados teniendo como base una revisión sistemática de papers anexados en los principales repositorios académicos. Si bien no se logran aceptar las hipótesis, sí se encontró una tendencia importante: la intención de recompra empieza a ser positiva a partir del impacto de tres puntos de contacto en adelante. Este trabajo de investigación también brinda recomendaciones dirigidas a la gerencia de los establecimientos de venta de electrodomésticos, a fin de que puedan aplicar, dentro de sus posibilidades, mejoras en su entendimiento de sus consumidores acerca de la omnicanalidad. Finalmente, este estudio hace una serie de contribuciones a la literatura sobre el marketing omnicanalidad. Establece el punto de partida para futuras investigaciones relacionadas a este nuevo fenómeno dentro del marketing. / The purpose of this research document is to be able to analyze the differences between single-channel, multi-channel and omni-channel, describe the advantages of omni-channel marketing and, mainly, to test the positive relationship between omni-channel and repurchase actions in household appliances sales establishments in Metropolitan Lima. based on three main variables: touchpoints, customer management and the interconnection of touchpoints. The findings of the work are based on qualitative and quantitative studies carried out based on a systematic review of papers attached to the main academic repositories. Although the hypotheses cannot be accepted, an important trend was found: the buyback intention begins to be positive from the impact of three contact points onwards. This research document also provides recommendations for the management of electrical appliance retail establishments, so that they can apply, to the best of their ability, improvements in their consumer understanding of omnichannel. Finally, this study makes a number of contributions to the omnichannel marketing literature. It establishes the starting point for future research related to this new phenomenon within marketing. / Tesis

La cocreación es una estrategia en la que los grupos de interés de una empresa, ya sea clientes, colaboradores, proveedores, etcétera crean, junto con la marca, productos o servicios con el fin de generar valor y ofrecerles mejores bienes o experiencias. Esta estrategia es empleada para generar valor, relación con los clientes y lealtad. La presente investigación estará enfocada en el mercado de comida rápida en Perú, en donde se comprobará la existencia de cocreación, el conocimiento de los consumidores acerca de esto, el interés de participar y si esto genera lealtad. Se busca estudiar a personas de 20 a 45 años, quienes son los que más frecuentan dichos restaurantes. Se reconocerán los beneficios que motivan a la participación de la cocreación, que se presentará en forma de concurso en el que los participantes pueden crear un producto o servicio con la marca de restaurante de comida rápida de su preferencia. Asimismo, las emociones que genera el participar y ganar este concurso, y la existencia de lealtad hacia las marcas que los desarrollan. / Co-creation is a strategy in which the stakeholders of a company, whether customers, collaborators, suppliers, etc., create together with the brand, products or services in order to generate value and offer them better goods or experiences. This strategy is used to generate value, customer relationship and loyalty. This research will be focused on the fast food market in Peru, where the existence of co-creation, the knowledge of consumers about this, the interest in participating and whether this generates loyalty will be verified. The aim is to study people between 20 and 45 years old, who are the most frequent at these restaurants. The benefits that motivate the participation of the co-creation will be recognized, which will be presented in the form of a contest in which the participants can create a product or service with the brand of fast food restaurant of their choice. Also, the emotions generated by participating and winning this contest, and the existence of loyalty towards the brands that develop them. / Tesis