The contribution of this dissertation is how model measurement allows examination of the balance between what is practical in terms of consumer concerns versus what is optimal in terms of cost control. Essay 1 examines a research framework that incorporates various service recovery strategies and simultaneously evaluates their comparative influences. Essay 2 evaluates the complex interrelationships among different factors related to the post-complaint behavioral process. Essay 3 fills a research gap by examining the role of brand equity by operationalizing a reflective model using PLS in operations management (OM) research. These three essays provide insight into the quality management domain and the value that is achieved via a data driven examination of theory. Moreover, this research will provide operations management practitioners a basis to carry out future research on quality management phenomena as well as insight into how to balance cost control and service recovery strategies with the goal of achieving a competitive advantage.

Given a lack of tactics for addressing brand hate, most managers tend to ignore brand haters, and instead dedicate their resources towards consumers who like or love their brand. Similarly, relative to the volume of research on positive brand emotions, the academic literature exploring negative brand emotions is limited. Moreover, research indicates that compared to positive brand information, negative brand information is more diagnostic, and ultimately more damaging. In contrast to such findings and practices, this dissertation proposes a strategy whereby using advertising to openly acknowledge that a brand is hated (i.e. hate-acknowledging advertising) can be advantageous for corporate polarizing brands. The findings suggest that, compared to a traditional ad (i.e., an ad which only focuses on positive brand attributes or information), a hate-acknowledging produces higher levels of brand trust through the mediating influence of ad credibility. This research also demonstrates that hate-acknowledging advertising (vs. traditional advertising) has a stronger and more favorable influence on consumer intentions to engage in positive word of mouth, and that consumer brand emotions moderate this effect. Specifically, the favorable influence of hate-acknowledging on positive word of mouth intensifies with higher levels of consumer love towards a polarizing brand.

In recent years, it is not hard to tell that in the retail market of flaming competition in Taiwan, and quality of service is worth of being paid attention. The study tries to investigate the relationships between buyer reactions to ethical behaviors of salespeople and customer-company identification. Several hypotheses are developed and tested to find out whether interactions with salespeople generates customers¡¦ ethical perceptions and impacts on customer-company identification. Moreover, the study intends to explore the consequences of customer-company identification (extra- or in- role behaviors). The study adopts structural equation modeling (SEM) to examine the path estimates among constructs. The study adopts convenience sample and the valid return of survey is 296. Results indicate that the significant and positive effects of both moral equity and relativism on customer-company identification and repurchase intention and positive word-of-mouth followed up. At last, the managerial implications of this study may help retailers with professional ethics of salespeople and create loyal customers.

abstract: In two thematically related chapters, I explore the benefits incurred as companies actively respond to consumers who share positive word of mouth in digital environments (eWOM). This research takes a multi-method approach by first addressing the psychological impact of company response on the sharing consumer, followed by an examination of real behavioral consequences in a social media setting. Across six studies in Chapter 1, I find support for a conceptual model indicating that consumers who receive a company response to their positive eWOM experience greater satisfaction compared to no response, leading to increased intentions to engage in future positive eWOM on behalf of the company, both through social media and online review websites. Furthermore, I find that consumer perceptions of response personalization lead to judgments of company effort and that these two elements mediate the effect of response on consumer satisfaction. In Chapter 2, using a dataset of firm responses to positive consumer feedback on Twitter (tweets) from 79 apparel retailers, I find that company responses to positive consumer tweets can generate consumer engagement behavior in the form of continued interaction. Company responses that use consumer-oriented language increase the likelihood of consumer interactivity. However, this effectiveness depends on whether the consumer's audience is the company or their broader network of followers. I also show that, in some conditions, companies achieve higher consumer engagement by personalizing responses with the consumer's name. Together, the findings from these two chapters point to the need for companies to strategically practice positive eWOM management, both to promote consumer engagement behaviors and to avoid the negative outcomes associated with unresponsiveness. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Business Administration 2017

Word of mouth has been considered a big factor for why brands do not need to make excessive marketing efforts, due to consumers recommending their products or services to other consumers through WoM. Given this thesis explores the relationship between WoM, complaints and repurchase intentions of consumers when it comes to fast-food restaurants, the WoM mostly is that of a negative aspect. This to see how the consumers feel about the area of fast-food and how they themselves spread their Word of Mouth, how and if they complain and what their intentions are on repurchasing. The empirical findings were obtained using a qualitative method. There were 25 interviews conducted with different consumers from three different countries. Later these findings were analyzed with the theoretical framework of this thesis.  The conclusion of the thesis is that the consumers are more likely to spread WoM, both positive and negative depending on their experience with the brands. As the theory mentions, it is the experience that the consumer is after. However, also that if a product is excessively marketed, and that the product does not live up to said marketing, how dissatisfied the consumer becomes with it. / <p>Då kursen bedrevs via zoom, så hade vi presentationen via zoom också. </p>

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