The study proposes and tests a model of hotel choice behavior based on the economics of information theory which incorporates relational and core service experiences as well as search attributes. The model expands the domain of inquiry beyond the initial level attributes to the higher order latent construct and composite levels. Results suggest that hotel choice behavior of male and female guests can be represented as a global construct with three viable components. Implications of the results are discussed.

The study examines how hospital libraries view patients as a target audience and their usage of the library’s analogue and digital collections, as well as what functions hospital libraries can perform for patients. There is a knowledge gap in the literature regarding the way that hospital libraries have viewed and formed relationships with the patients. The theory emphasizes relationships between the library and its user groups. The method for gathering empirical data was mainly qualitative semi-structured interviewing, which were conducted with the head of the library, a nurse and a voluntary staff, as well as qualitative content analysis of the webpage and policy document. The analysis of the empirical data and theories concluded that in a relationship marketing context the patient group corresponded to the customer market place, the nurse to the referral market and the voluntary staff to the influencer market, making the connection between the library and the customer market heavily relying on other markets in the model by Payne et al. (2005). The digital collections have mostly been built with the hospital staff in mind with the aim of aiding evidence-based health care. There is a lack of knowledge among the patients about the library’s existence and services. A potential is the patients’ own technological devices in reaching the library’s website and interacting with the staff. The hospital library has a “dually empowering effect”, referring to the physical space as a calm place to relax and finding literature in relevant fields. The aim is normalization of the patient. The lacking of resources calls for innovation, relationship building and collaboration between the parties in order for the library to reach the patients, here relationship marketing has potential.

Banking sector is one of the largest sectors dealing with individual customers directly and in fact the success and profitability of company is also based on the number of customer base and their level of transactions. The current banking industry is under immense pressure because now the customer switching is quite common but the banks are still trying to sustain their customer base by managing the customer loyalty program through effective customer relationship management. The current study revolves around the customer relationship and customer loyalty in banking sector of UK. The study has been started with objective to understand that whether relationship marketing have any significant impact on customer loyalty and customer retention in banking sector of UK. The study is based on primary research work where the customers of UK banking sector have been contacted through social media for supporting in research work. There are 2500 customers were targeted for the survey purpose but just 160 people replied with survey and the same data was used for result analysis. The convenience sampling method is used in study and the survey was conducted through survey questionnaire. The survey questionnaire was prepared on Likert Scale and the questionnaire was formed on Google Drive. The survey result is analysed with help of SPSS 22.0 and the major statistical used for study are Mean and graphical presentation. The hypothesis testing is done through ANOVA. The result indicates that there is a positive relationship between relationship marketing and customer loyalty and retention.

Att ha lojala kunder har blivit avgörande för företag i servicebranschen. När en kris uppstår i samhället där viktiga delar av människors liv förändras, där råd och rekommendationer från myndigheter gör att man inte längre rör sig ute på samma sätt tvingas företag till förändringar och uppoffringar. När denna studie utförs pågår det en pandemi av viruset Covid-19 som påverkar hela världen. För att bibehålla citykärnan i en mellanstor stad krävs det att konsumenter är lojala och fortsätter stötta servicebranschen i den mån det är möjligt. Här är alltså kundlojalitet avgörande för många företag. I denna studie har vi undersökt hur kundlojaliteten ser ut hos företag och konsumenter i Linköpings city samt hur man kan bibehålla den under en kris. Syftet med studien var då att studera vilka aspekter konsumenter anser är viktigast för att vara en lojal kund samt vilka åtgärder företagen inom servicebranschen har gjort för att på bästa sätt anpassa sig för den rådande situationen. Studien är baserad på kvantitativ data i form av enkätundersökningar hos både konsument och företag i Linköping city för att få en bredare och ett mer valid resultat. Konsumentrespondenterna var totalt 156 stycken och företagsrespondenterna var sammanlagt 20 stycken där alla är baserade i Linköpings city. En kvalitativ analys har sedan utförts genom en tematisk analysmetod där empiri och teorier från teoretiska referensramen ligger till grund för analys och slutsatsen för studien. I slutsatsen besvaras studiens tre forskningsfrågor där vi bland annat kommit fram till vilka aspekter som företagen bör fokusera på för att bibehålla kundlojalitet, vad kundlojalitet innebär, hur kundlojalitet ser ut i Linköping city samt hur den har förändrats under en kris. I slutet av studien ger vi även rekommendationer för framtida forskning. / Having loyal customers has become vital for companies in the service business. When a crisis occurs in a society where important parts of people’s lives change, where advice and recommendations from authorities makes it difficult to live like we used to, companies have to make changes and sacrifices to survive. When this research is done a global pandemic from the virus Covid-19 are affecting the whole world in many different ways. To maintain the city center customers have to stay loyal and support their local businesses to the extent possible. In this study we have examined how companies and consumers customer loyalty looks like and also how you maintain customer loyalty during a crisis. The aim of this study was to see what aspects consumers think are most important to become a loyal customer and also what actions companies within the service business have done to best adjust to the ongoing situation. The study is based on quantitative data made from surveys that got answered from both companies and consumers to obtain a wider and more valid result. It was 156 consumer respondents and 20 company respondents that answered where all the respondents were based in Linköping city. A qualitative analysis has been made with a thematic analysis where empirical data and theoretical information builds the foundation to the analysis and the conclusion. In the conclusion we answer our three research questions where we among many things answer what aspects companies should focus on in to be able to maintain customer loyalty, what customer loyalty is, how customer loyalty looks like in Linköping city center and how it has changed during a crisis. In the end of the study we give recommendations for future research within this subject.

Marketing executives of traditional retail firms who lack strategies to expand e-commerce business, can experience inhibited growth, higher transaction costs, and a loss of competitive advantage. The purpose of this qualitative single case study was to explore marketing strategies that marketing executives of a traditional retail firm used to improve online sales. Eight purposefully selected marketing executives in the head offices of a large traditional retail business in South Africa who had implemented effective marketing strategies to improve online sales participated in the study. Social exchange theory was the conceptual framework for the study. The data collection process entailed face-to-face semistructured interviews and review of company and industry-specific documentation. Data were coded and analyzed to identify emergent themes: the use of customer relationship management to drive marketing strategies; positive exchange relationships that are primarily measured in economic and benefit-orientated terms; trust that relies on safety, security, and privacy of transactions; and reciprocity in the relationship that is facilitated through electronic word of mouth and social media. The implications for positive social change from increased profitability include increased employment opportunities in the local community, improved working conditions and benefits for employees, and increased charitable contributions locally, thereby improving the quality of life for employees and the community.

Background: In the field of marketing, relationship marketing plays an important role in establishing strong and long-term customer relationships, and in addition to this, the type of relationship between companies and consumers is also worth discussing. In a sense, value is the biggest component of relationship marketing. Consumers think that the value created by relationship marketing is more important than the product or service itself, and also value is the biggest component of relationship marketing, therefore, customers will perceive the value of a relationship because of their satisfaction, trust, loyalty, experience.  Purpose: The purpose of this project is to explore what leads consumers to stay loyal.  Methodology: The methods of qualitative research and the deductive approach have been used in this paper. In order to collect data, focus groups and semi-structured interviews give the opportunity to the researcher to get a realistic perception. When conducting the focus group, 8 participants have been selected which are between 22-40 years old, 4 males and 4 females.  Findings: The findings of this research showed that in order for a consumer to stay loyal to a company, factors such as quality, service, discounts, positive experience and engagement have a specific matter. Furthermore, when these factors are met, this makes the consumer want to maintain a relationship with the company, which in other words means staying loyal.

Introduction: With the help of digital marketing, small businesses have been given greateropportunities to compete at a higher level than they previously could, which gives credence tothe term "if a small business can't be found on the internet, it doesn't exist". For small businessesto be competitive and grow, digital marketing is a must.Purpose: The purpose of this work is to investigate how a selection of small businesses utilizedigital marketing with an emphasis on SEM and SEO.Method: The present study is based on the use of qualitative methods to collect data and toprocess it. The qualitative interview approach is used to collect data, and these are conductedwith respondents at a sample of small businesses who have knowledge and insight into thecompany's marketing strategies.Results: The different companies and the respondents who represent them have a largelysimilar view of how digital marketing can be used to create growth. The clearest differencesappear in relation to the companies' financial conditions, where these largely control how muchthey can invest in the various types of marketing alternatives that are available. What is clear,however, is that all the companies work with both SEO and SEM, where it is above all thekeyword analysis that is given great importance to create growth in different ways - eitherthrough pure lead generation or a focus on increased brand awareness.Conclusion: The result in this work is not limited to small businesses. As small businesses ona general level have similar types of constraints, which this work highlighted in terms ofresources - both financial and personnel, insights from the study can highlight examples ofpractical implementations around digital marketing activities that contribute to growth thatother small businesses in other industries can benefit from.

Introduction: With the help of digital marketing, small businesses have been given greater opportunities to compete at a higher level than they previously could, which gives credence to the term "if a small business can't be found on the internet, it doesn't exist". For small businesses to be competitive and grow, digital marketing is a must. Purpose: The purpose of this work is to investigate how a selection of small businesses utilize digital marketing with an emphasis on SEM and SEO. Method: The present study is based on the use of qualitative methods to collect data and to process it. The qualitative interview approach is used to collect data, and these are conducted with respondents at a sample of small businesses who have knowledge and insight into the company's marketing strategies. Results: The different companies and the respondents who represent them have a largely similar view of how digital marketing can be used to create growth. The clearest differences appear in relation to the companies' financial conditions, where these largely control how much they can invest in the various types of marketing alternatives that are available. What is clear, however, is that all the companies work with both SEO and SEM, where it is above all the keyword analysis that is given great importance to create growth in different ways - either through pure lead generation or a focus on increased brand awareness. Conclusion: The result in this work is not limited to small businesses. As small businesses on a general level have similar types of constraints, which this work highlighted in terms of resources - both financial and personnel, insights from the study can highlight examples of practical implementations around digital marketing activities that contribute to growth that other small businesses in other industries can benefit from. Keywords: Digital Marketing, Growth, Brand Growth, SEO, SEM, Relationship Marketing.

[pt] O objetivo deste trabalho é investigar o relacionamento entre o cliente e o vendedor em vendas pessoais de seguro de vida. O estudo concentra-se no entendimento do comportamento do prestador de serviço em que o cliente tem dificuldades de avaliar a sua qualidade. Foram realizadas entrevistas qualitativas de profundidade com 15 profissionais de sucesso de uma seguradora multinacional com mais de 100 anos de existência. As entrevistas foram gravadas e transcritas possibilitando a identificação de temas e problemas, tais como a necessidade de uma maior reflexão sobre as particularidades de vendas neste mercado, a relevância do primeiro contato cliente-vendedor e o desenvolvimento de rapport entre eles. Os resultados indicam que algumas atitudes simples, tais como ouvir o cliente e comportar-se de forma educada, funcionam como combustível para o entendimento autêntico das necessidades do cliente, facilitando um relacionamento de confiança de longo prazo. O estudo contribui para aprofundar o entendimento sobre o que precede a confiança do cliente nos prestadores de serviço neste mercado em franca expansão no Brasil. Ele fornece também informações práticas sobre o gerenciamento ativo do processo de obtenção de recomendações. / [en] This work investigates the relationship between client and salesman in personal life insurance selling. The study aims to understand the behavior of the service provider. It is a specific service which the customer has difficulties in evaluating its quality. Fifteen depth interviews were done with successful professionals of a multinational insurance company which is over a hundred years old. The interviews were recorded and transcribed to allow the identification of themes and challenges, such as the demand of a deeper reflection of the sales particularities, the relevance of the first salesman-customer contact, and the development of rapport between them. The results indicate that some simple attitudes, such as to listen to clients and to behave in polite way works as a fuel for the authentic understanding of the costumers needs, enabling a long term trustworthy relationship. The study contributes for a better explanation about what precedes customer trust with the service provider, in an exponential growing market in Brazil. It also provides practical information about endeavors to gather word of mouth information.

Innovations in information technology have played an important role in the way business is conducted. Technology innovations have great impact on tourism destination marketing organizations such as convention and visitor bureaus, since they are highly dependent on information and timely distribution of it to the public. Information technology innovations such as the Internet allow CVBs to perform their marketing functions in a more efficient manner. The implementation of web-based marketing functions is impacted by organizational characteristics that either foster or hinder their implementation (Thong, 1999; Tornatzky & Fleischer, 1990; Wang & Fesenmaier, 2006; Zhu & Kraemer, 2005). Information technology innovations have been adopted by organizations in different levels of sophistication. Since the main function of a CVB is the promotion of a destination technologies that facilitate this process are important to this type of organization. Unfortunately, the marketing practice of American CVBs is still dominated by principles of mass marketing by communicating the same message to all consumers. As a result, the use of websites by American CVB has been limited to information provision functions and has lost opportunities to build relationship with customers through additional web-based marketing activities. This study proposes that CVBs should use web-based marketing activities to attract and retain relationships with customers. This study provides two main contributions to the existing literature: a) examines web-based marketing functions from a relationship marketing perspective and b) examines the impact of organizational characteristics on the sophistication level of web-based marketing functions. The use and effectiveness of web functions and its applications were examined. The results showed that the majority of the CVBs focus the use of their website to provide information. A standard multiple regression was used to investigate the impact of the organizational factors on the different web functions. The results of the regression show that size, financial resources and management team's technological expertise are the only factors that impact the level of web functions implemented by CVBs.