Yes / Building on the linguistic landscape theory and literature on customers’ experience with restaurants’ authenticity and status, this study investigates whether restaurants’ outdoor signs influence customers’ perceptions and behavioral intentions. Using an experimental design comprising two studies, supported by data collected from Chinese consumers, we test how display characters and text flow may jointly impact on customers’ perceptions of the status and authenticity of ethnic (Japanese and Taiwanese) restaurants, thus influencing their visiting intentions and willingness to pay. We find that display characters influence Chinese customers’ perceptions of authenticity and status in both Japanese and Taiwanese restaurants in Mainland China. There is an interaction effect between display characters and text flow on customers’ perception of authenticity and status in Japanese restaurants in Mainland China. This study applies the linguistic landscape theory to a restaurant context and examines how such features may influence customers’ perceptions and decisions. The findings have important practical implications on managing customer experiences and perceptions via effective restaurant sign designs.

The New Zealand hospitality sector has become increasingly competitive in the past decade. The increase in competition has prompted motel management to focus on generating favourable customers’ perceptions of their service as favourable perceptions encourage repeat purchase. Strategically, retaining existing customers and attracting new customers will be critical if motels are going to remain profitable in New Zealand’s competitive accommodation market. There is a conceptual gap in the marketing literature as there has been very limited published research on service quality, value, customer satisfaction or behavioural intentions on the motel industry. This study seeks to fill this conceptual gap in the motel industry by identifying the dimensions of service quality, and empirically examining the interrelationships among the service quality dimensions, service quality, value, customer satisfaction, and behavioural intentions. The findings of this study are based on the analysis of a sample of 349 respondents who stayed at a full service New Zealand motel on Riccarton Road in Christchurch. Of the 600 questionnaires distributed, a total of 349 useable responses were returned resulting in a 58.2% useable response rate. Support was found for use of the primary dimensions: Interaction Quality, Physical Environment Quality, and Outcome Quality as broad dimensions of service quality in a hierarchical factor structure for motels. Ten sub-dimensions of service quality, as perceived by motel customers, were determined using focus group interviews and exploratory factor analysis. These ten sub-dimensions were: (1) Staff Professionalism, (2) Accuracy of Reservation, (3) Tangibles, (4) Cleanliness and Comfort, (5) Noise Level, (5) Parking, (7) Security, (8) Accuracy of Billing, (9) Location, and (10) Pleasant Stay. Support for the hypothesised paths between Service Quality, Value (price), Satisfaction, and Favourable Behavioural Intentions was confirmed. The results of the regression analysis make a contribution to the service marketing theory by providing an empirically based insight into the Service Quality construct in the motel industry. The study also provides a framework for understanding the effects of the three primary dimensions on Service Quality and how Service Quality affects Value (price), Satisfaction, and Favourable Behavioural Intentions. Value (price) was also empirically supported as an important predictor variable that has a moderating effect on the relationship between service quality and customer satisfaction.

Competition in the mobile services industry is intense, with players in the industry offering generally similar subscription plans. Opportunities are few for differentiating one service provider from another. In the light of prior research suggesting value is multi-dimensional, the present study, which examines how these dimensions impact customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions, provides differentiation opportunities for mobile service providers through focusing on value dimensions that are important to customers. Of six perceived value dimensions examined in the present research, value for money, reputation and social value dimensions had significant effects on customer satisfaction and repurchase intentions. One way for companies in the highly commoditized mobile service industry to minimize customer defection is to enhance their relationships with customers. However, as relationship building comes with a cost, it is of interest for companies to know whether certain customer groups will reciprocate more than others with loyalty if they are satisfied. The results from the present study show customer relationship inclination, the customer attribute examined, did not moderate the relationship between customer satisfaction and repurchase intention. Finally, recent studies have differentiated measures of repurchase intentions on the basis of volition levels and have suggested that better model fit can be achieved when higher volition measures are used. Intentions-as-expectations represents the lower volition end and intentions-as-wants represents the higher volition end of intention measure. However, the present study did not find any significant differences in model fit with the different intention measures used.

The issue of behavioural intentions has attracted the attention of hotel marketers and academics because favourable behavioural intentions help hotels to retain customers. The marketing literature has identified that service quality, perceived value, image, customer satisfaction and demographic variables are significant determinants of behavioural intentions. This suggests that behavioural intentions are a multi-dimensional concept. Despite the importance of behavioural intentions, there is limited research on this construct in the hotel industry. The aim of this research was to gain an empirical understanding of behavioural intentions in the Taiwan hotel sector. A multi-level model was used as a framework for the analysis. The dimensions of service quality as perceived by hotel customers were identified through the literature review and focus group discussions. Hypotheses were formulated and tested to examine the interrelationships between behavioural intentions, service quality, customer satisfaction, perceived value and image, and to determine if perceived value plays a moderating role between service quality and customer satisfaction. Finally, customer perceptions of these constructs were compared based on demographic factors such as age, gender and income. The findings of this study were based on the analysis of a sample of 580 customers who had stayed at a five-star hotel in Kaohsiung City of Taiwan. Support was found for the use of a multi-level model and the primary dimensions: Interaction Quality, Physical Environment Quality and Outcome Quality, as broad dimensions of service quality. The 12 sub-dimensions of service quality, as perceived by hotel customers, were identified. These were: Employees’ Conduct, Employees’ Expertise, Employees’ Problem-Solving, Customer-to-Customer Interaction, Décor & Ambience, Room Quality, Availability of Facility, Design, Location, Valence, Waiting Time and Sociability. The results indicated that each of the primary dimensions varied in terms of their importance to overall perceived service quality, as did the sub-dimensions of the primary dimensions. In addition, the statistical results supported a relationship between perceived value and service quality, image and service quality, customer satisfaction, perceived value, image and service quality, and behavioural intentions, image and customer satisfaction. The results also revealed that customer perceptions of the constructs were primarily affected by their purpose of travel and occupation. The results contribute to the services marketing theory by providing an empirically based insight into the service quality, perceived value, image, customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions constructs in the Taiwan hotel industry. This research also provides an analytical framework for understanding the effects of the three primary dimensions on service quality and the effect of service quality on constructs, such as, perceived value, image, customer satisfaction and behavioural intentions. This study will assist the management of the hotel industry to develop and implement a market-oriented service strategy in order to achieve a high quality of service, upgrade customers’ levels of satisfaction, and create favourable future behavioural intentions.

The premise of this study is the in-depth exploration and investigation of the nature of Ethical Decision Making (EDM) in marketing research. More specifically, this research is concerned with exploring the understanding and the holistic conceptualisation of Ethical Decision Making (EDM) through the investigation of different moral agents in marketing research in the United Kingdom. In particular, marketing research researchers’ (MR researchers) and marketing research respondents’ (MR respondents) ethical judgements and behavioural intentions have been investigated based on two marketing research techniques that generate ethical issues; neuromarketing [NM] and autoethnography [AE], Despite the examination of the two aforementioned moral agents, at the heart of this thesis has been the investigation of MR researchers’ (un)willingness to adopt or practice (i.e. behavioural intentions) these marketing research techniques. This study employed a qualitative design and was initiated on descriptive behavioural ethics, in order to investigate MR researchers’ behavioural intentions, while it has a nonnative purpose towards norm generation in the field. Thus, the Theory of Planned Behaviour’ and the ‘General Theory of Marketing Ethics’ (i.e. H-V model) were applied for the initial theoretical considerations of this thesis. By utilising descriptive and nonnative ethical accounts, this study has found that Ethical Decision Making (EDM) in marketing research is grounded in a social contract ethics foundation of a multidimensional structural functionalistic premise. Within this ethical setting the MR researcher is considering the MR respondent’s decision making processes with regards to norm generation, governed by social consensus, social proof and conformity. This results from a multidimensional interdependent social interaction of the two moral agents. Finally, this thesis concludes that Ethical Decision Making (EDM) in marketing research is not conceptualised in a linear progressive manner, but it consists of numerous constructs that fit with each other in a rather loosely coupled modular manner depicting a rather complex and dynamic system of multilayered factors and multi-dimensional constructs.

Customers adoption of Internet banking has become a widely-researched topic, although it is fair to state that some research gaps still exist. This research aims to fill some of the research gaps by examining the factors that determine the relevant behaviour of three different categories of Internet banking customers in China (i.e. current users, non-users, and discontinued users), and by developing two conceptual models that are derived from different, but complementary, theoretical approaches. The Decision Making Model and the Service and Relationship Evaluation Model are developed in this research. The Decision Making Model is grounded in the technology acceptance model (TAM) and it incorporates an additional construct of perceived value of using Internet banking. Additionally, the Service and Relationship Evaluation Model is derived from the service quality evaluation and relationship quality evaluation literature. Unlike in most other Internet banking adoption studies, these two conceptual models are used complementarily to deliver a comprehensive understanding of customers Internet banking adoption in China. The models are tested using a sample of 614 Chinese Internet banking customers collected via mall-intercept personal interviews based on questionnaires. Partial Least Square (PLS) path modelling and mediation analysis are applied to test the hypotheses advanced in the two models. The key findings of this research show that perceived value is a major factor for explaining customers Internet banking adoption, thus indicating to the banks that they should reduce costs associated with using Internet banking while providing more (perceived) benefits to customers; the importance of incorporating perceived value in Internet banking adoption model(s) is also demonstrated. The findings also confirm that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use are important factors that determine the adoption of Internet banking by all categories of customers. Current users and non-users perceptions of their behavioural control over using Internet banking contribute to their adoption of Internet banking, and such control perceptions are shaped by self-efficacy, perceived government support and technological support. Additionally, it is demonstrated that both current users and discontinued users perceived value and perceived service quality of Internet banking have positive associations with their satisfaction with Internet banking, which lead to their Internet banking adoption. Moreover, the findings reveal that current users are more likely to continue with Internet banking if they are affectively committed to their banks; they are less likely to continue with Internet banking if they are calculatively committed to their banks due to the costs associated with leaving the banks. These therefore indicate the importance of establishing high-quality customer-bank relationships and placing less strict switching cost barriers that impose less pressure on their existing customers. This research contributes to the Internet banking adoption literature by (i) identifying the important category of Internet banking discontinued users, apart from current users and non-users; and (ii) using two complementary conceptual models, which are grounded in different theoretical streams, to investigate the relevant adoption behaviour of all three categories of Internet banking customers. It hence delivers a comprehensive understanding of personal customers adoption of Internet banking in China.

New Zealand's tertiary education sector has experienced political reform, social changes, economic changes and globalisation in the last two decades, and the sector has become more internationally competitive. DeShields, Kara, and Kaynak (2005) recommended that management of higher education should apply a market-oriented approach to sustain a competitive advantage. Therefore, understanding and managing students' satisfaction and their perceptions of service quality is important for university management if they are to design and implement a market-oriented approach. The purpose of this research is to gain an empirical understanding of students' overall satisfaction in a university in New Zealand's higher education sector. A hierarchal model is used as a framework for the analysis. Fifteen hypotheses are formulated and tested to identify the dimensions of service quality as perceived by university students, to examine the relationship between students' overall satisfaction with influential factors such as tuition fees (price) and the university's image, and to determine the impact of students' overall satisfaction on favourable future behavioural intentions. In addition, students' perceptions of these constructs are compared using demographic factors such as gender, age, and ethnicity. The findings of the study are based on the analysis of a sample of 223 students studying at Lincoln University. Support is found for the use of a hierarchical model and the primary dimensions; Interaction Quality, Physical Environment Quality, and Outcome Quality, as broad dimensions of service quality. Ten sub-dimensions of service quality, as perceived by students, are identified. These are: Academic Staff, Administration Staff, Academic Staff Availability, Course Content, Library, Physically Appealing, Social Factors, Personal Development, Academic Development, and Career Opportunities. The results indicate that each of the primary dimensions vary in terms of their importance to overall perceived service quality, as do the sub-dimensions to the primary dimensions. In addition, the statistical results support a relationship between service quality and price; service quality, image, and satisfaction; and satisfaction and favourable future behavioural intentions. However, there is no statistical support for a relationship between price and satisfaction. The results also suggest that students' perceptions of the constructs are primarily influenced by their ethnicity and year of study. The results of the analysis contribute to the service marketing theory by providing an empirically based insight into the satisfaction and service quality constructs in the New Zealand higher education sector. The study also provides an analytical framework for understanding the effects of the three primary dimensions on service quality and the effects of service quality on constructs including price, image, satisfaction, and favourable future behavioural intentions. This study will assist management of higher education to develop and implement a market-oriented service strategy in order to achieve a high quality of service, enhance students' level of satisfaction and create favourable future behavioural intentions.

The strategic importance of a well-established banking sector in an economy and the pivotal role trust plays in this sector is well-documented in banking literature. Given this accepted importance of trust, it is surprising that some banks are still exhibiting more signals of distrust than of trust as expected, shattering consumer trust and confidence in the process. In response, governments, through their central banks, occasionally resort to implementing policies that focus heavily on regulation and control. These interventions are usually designed to restore consumer confidence in the banks’ future behaviours as well as providing assurance that exchanges taking place within a banking sector are safe and secure. Surprisingly, consumer trust and confidence are still elusive in some banking sectors, despite all these measures. This mixed-methods, sequential explanatory study explores the concept of trustworthiness by investigating trustworthiness dimensions of banks that drive consumer trust in the Zimbabwean banking sector that is experiencing low trust and confidence levels. To fulfil the objectives of this study, a quantitative research approach (survey) was first employed to explore bank customers’ trustworthiness perceptions on a sample of 400 customers. A qualitative research approach (semi-structured interviews), was then employed to gain a better understanding and clarification of the survey findings. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was applied to determine the statistical model that sought to explain the relationship among the variables. Hypotheses were then tested between model constructs to determine their influence on one another. Study findings revealed that shared values, structural assurance and integrity (consistency) are the trustworthiness determinants with the highest positive influence on bank trustworthiness. A negative relationship was found between communication and bank trustworthiness. Competence was found to have an insignificant correlation with trustworthiness. Additionally, both behavioural intentions and affective commitment (relational outcomes) were found to positively influence bank trustworthiness. This study has brought to light how trustworthiness of banks is perceived in a banking sector that is not only experiencing a confidence crisis but also in a country that is experiencing an uncertain economic and political environment within an African banking context. The final model presented in this study can be applied in trustworthiness studies in the financial services sectors, particularly in sectors that are operating in similar uncertain environments. In order to reignite consumer confidence in the banking sector, the RBZ is advised to set tighter corporate governance measures that can put a stop to activities such as insider lending that end up defrauding depositors within the banks. It is also imperative that departments such as Treasury, Risk and Credit within the RBZ and in banks are managed by competent personnel who adhere to the prudential standards of banking. Bank custodians are advised to continuously exhibit trustworthiness behaviours because customers’ trust and confidence can only be restored if there is evidence of sincere behaviours that are regarded as reflecting a trustworthy image. Planning for peak periods in terms of cash and personnel, to avoid prolonged queues and cash shortages that have become an everyday occurrence in the Zimbabwean banking sector is one way banks can improve trust and confidence. Banks should also consider providing services such as financial hardship advisory services and extended loan repayment options that can go a long way in not only assisting their customers to manage their debts, but also to show that banks are taking into consideration their customers’ current challenges and needs. Key stakeholders in the banking sector are also encouraged to share information on key developments integral to the smooth functioning of the banking sector. This information should then be disseminated to the banking public in a unified voice to avoid distortion of information that leads to financial anxiety and further erosion of trust. In the absence of formal timeous communication, bank customers may resort to relying on the grapevine and engage in speculative behaviours which can be very destructive and difficult to correct. / Business Management / D.B.L.

This pilot study consists of two parts. The first part investigates the extent to which the domestic electricity consumers intend to use and use energy efficiently using the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The second part investigates the extent to which the Energy @ Home educational intervention changed the domestic electricity consumers’ behaviour. For the first part of the study an advertisement was published and a convenience stratified sample of 61 domestic electricity consumers were selected from the 290 respondents. Data was collected from the domestic electricity consumers via a questionnaire and a telephone response log. The co-relational research design was used to investigate the relationship between the predictor variables the independent variables in the constructs of the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Simple linear regression analysis resulted in F statistic for the predicted behavioural intention was 29.74 with a p value less than 0.0001 which indicates significant statistical evidence of a linear relation between the predictor variables and the independent variables. The r2 of 0.87 implies that data points that fall closely along the best fit line. Therefore the predictor variables were good predictors of the response variable. All the participants that intended to use electricity efficiently confirmed via the telephone that they were using electricity efficiently. In the second part of the study 11 out of the 61 participants were chosen to participate in the Energy @ Home educational intervention and television program. Data was collected via the Energy audit log and the electricity consumption log. The participants intended to save between 2% and 35% of their electricity consumption and the actual electricity consumption savings were between 2% and 30%. / Science and Technology Education / M. Sc. (Mathematics, Physics & Technology Education (Physics Education))

This pilot study consists of two parts. The first part investigates the extent to which the domestic electricity consumers intend to use and use energy efficiently using the Theory of Planned Behaviour. The second part investigates the extent to which the Energy @ Home educational intervention changed the domestic electricity consumers’ behaviour. For the first part of the study an advertisement was published and a convenience stratified sample of 61 domestic electricity consumers were selected from the 290 respondents. Data was collected from the domestic electricity consumers via a questionnaire and a telephone response log. The co-relational research design was used to investigate the relationship between the predictor variables the independent variables in the constructs of the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Simple linear regression analysis resulted in F statistic for the predicted behavioural intention was 29.74 with a p value less than 0.0001 which indicates significant statistical evidence of a linear relation between the predictor variables and the independent variables. The r2 of 0.87 implies that data points that fall closely along the best fit line. Therefore the predictor variables were good predictors of the response variable. All the participants that intended to use electricity efficiently confirmed via the telephone that they were using electricity efficiently. In the second part of the study 11 out of the 61 participants were chosen to participate in the Energy @ Home educational intervention and television program. Data was collected via the Energy audit log and the electricity consumption log. The participants intended to save between 2% and 35% of their electricity consumption and the actual electricity consumption savings were between 2% and 30%. / Science and Technology Education / M. Sc. (Mathematics, Physics & Technology Education (Physics Education))