1,721,173 research outputs found
A psychometric assessment of an instrument to measure a service firm's customer-based corporate reputation
Full text linkCITATION: Boshoff, C. 2009. A psychometric assessment of an instrument to measure a service firm's customer-based corporate reputation. South African Journal of Business Management, 40(2):a539, doi:10.4102/sajbm.v40i2.539.The original publication is available at https://sajbm.orgOver the years, marketers have been cautioned repeatedly about the use of measuring instruments that do not demonstrate sufficient evidence of reliability and validity, particularly construct validity. The use of marketing instruments that do not demonstrate sufficient evidence of construct validity can lead to invalid results and erroneous conclusions. In short, construct validity is not just a "nice to have" in marketing research - it is at the heart of marketing decision-making. This study assesses the psychometric properties of a recently published instrument by Walsh and Beatty (2007) to measure the customer-based corporate reputation of a service firm, and illustrates how, by using an approach proposed by Steenkamp and Trijp (1991) to assess the uni-dimensionality of the underlying dimensions of a multi-dimensional construct, one can enhance the construct validity of such an instrument. The result is a shortened, 17-item instrument with superior psychometric properties compared to the longer 31-item instrument.https://sajbm.org/index.php/sajbm/article/view/539Publisher's versio
The controllable elements of the total retail experience : a study of clothing shoppers
Full text linkCITATION: Terblanche, N. S. & Boshoff, C. 2003. The controllable elements of the total retail experience : a study of clothing shoppers. South African Journal of Economic and Management Sciences, 6(1), doi:10.4102/sajems.v6i1.3331.The original publication is available at https://sajems.orgRetail clothing stores continually have to adapt to marketplace demands to remain competitive. Customer retention has become a major objective for many clothing retailers. This study combines the management of a number of the controllable personal and non-personal elements that a customer are exposed to and interacts within a retail store, as part of the shopping experience. The data analysis procedures closely followed the guidelines for scale development suggested by Churchill (1979). The empirical results suggest that there are five dimensions considered important by consumers when assessing their satisfaction with a total retail experience in a clothing store. These are: merchandise value, internal store environment, personal interaction with staff, merchandise variety and complaint handling.https://sajems.org/index.php/sajems/article/view/3331Publisher's versio
Measuring customer satisfaction with some of the elements of the total retail experience : an exploratory study
No full textCITATION: Terblanche, N. S. & Boshoff, C. 2001. Measuring customer satisfaction with some of the elements of the total retail experience : an exploratory study. South African Journal of Business Management, 32(2):a719, doi:10.4102/sajbm.v32i2.719.The original publication is available at https://sajbm.orgTotal retail experience is, for the purposes of this study, defined as all the elements that encourage or inhibit consumers during their contact with a retailer. This article reports on the influence of three dimensions of consumers’ total retail experience on their satisfaction levels. The items used to measure the theoretical model demonstrate sufficient reliability and discriminant validity. The theoretical model is then tested using a structural equation modeling approach. Although not a test of a comprehensive model of the total retail experience, the study does shows that the personal interaction between retail employee and customer on the one hand, and physical cues on the other hand, impact strongly on customer satisfaction.https://sajbm.org/index.php/sajbm/article/view/719Publisher's versio
Can service firms overdo service recovery? An assessment of non-linearity in service recovery satisfaction
Full text linkCITATION: Boshoff, C. 2012. Can service firms overdo service recovery? An assessment of non-linearity in service recovery satisfaction. South African Journal of Business Management, 43(3):a470, doi:10.4102/sajbm.v43i3.470.The original publication is available at https://sajbm.orgOwing to the human nature of service delivery service failures occasionally occur. Persistently poor service delivery will, however, have a harmful impact on the survival and growth prospects of service firms. Service failure thus calls for remedial action, better known as service recovery. A variety of remedies have been proposed over the years. These remedies or tactics include fixing the problem, apologising, compensation (financial compensation or other forms of redress), a timely response and offering an explanation. A general theme in the service recovery literature is that ‘more is better’. The validity of this contention has, however, not been adequately considered. In other words, in a service recovery context, is more always better? Can service recovery be over-done (known as ‘over-benefitting’)? If so, what are the consequences? Based on the results of two field-type experimental studies involving a sample of 12 800 respondents the conclusion is that over-benefitting can be counter-productive. Over-benefitting consistently produced satisfaction scores lower than service recovery that was more moderate in nature.https://sajbm.org/index.php/sajbm/article/view/470Publisher's versio
Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus infection and multiple myeloma
No full textNo abstract availabl
Risk factors for high anti-HHV-8 antibody titers (≥1:51,200) in black, HIV-1 negative South African cancer patients: a case control study
Full text linkBackground: Infection with human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8) is the necessary causal agent in the
development of Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). Infection with HIV-1, male gender and older age all increase
risk for KS. However, the geographic distribution of HHV-8 and KS both prior to the HIV/AIDS
epidemic and with HIV/AIDS suggest the presence of an additional co-factor in the development of
KS.
Methods: Between January 1994 and October 1997, we interviewed 2576 black in-patients with
cancer in Johannesburg and Soweto, South Africa. Blood was tested for antibodies against HIV-1
and HHV-8 and the study was restricted to 2191 HIV-1 negative patients. Antibodies against the
latent nuclear antigen of HHV-8 encoded by orf73 were detected with an indirect
immunofluorescence assay. We examined the relationship between high anti-HHV-8 antibody
titers (≥1:51,200) and sociodemographic and behavioral factors using unconditional logistic
regression models. Variables that were significant at p = 0.10 were included in multivariate analysis.
Results: Of the 2191 HIV-1 negative patients who did not have Kaposi's sarcoma, 854 (39.0%)
were positive for antibodies against HHV-8 according to the immunofluorescent assay. Among
those seropositive for HHV-8, 530 (62.1%) had low titers (1:200), 227 (26.6%) had medium titers
(1:51,200) and 97 (11.4%) had highest titers (1:204,800). Among the 2191 HIV-1 negative patients,
the prevalence of high anti-HHV-8 antibody titers (≥1:51,200) was independently associated with
increasing age (ptrend = 0.04), having a marital status of separated or divorced (p = 0.003), using
wood, coal or charcoal as fuel for cooking 20 years ago instead of electricity (p = 0.02) and
consuming traditional maize beer more than one time a week (p = 0.02; p-trend for increasing
consumption = 0.05) although this may be due to chance given the large number of predictors
considered in this analysis.
Conclusions: Among HIV-negative subjects, patients with high anti-HHV-8 antibody titers are
characterized by older age. Other associations that may be factors in the development of high anti-
HHV-8 titers include exposure to poverty or a low socioeconomic status environment and
consumption of traditional maize beer. The relationship between these variables and high anti-
HHV-8 titers requires further, prospective study
The in-store shopping experience : a comparative study of supermarket and clothing store customers
Full text linkCITATION: Terblance, N. S. & Boshoff, C. 2004. The in-store shopping experience : a comparative study of supermarket and clothing store customers. South African Journal of Business Management, 35,(4):a663, doi:10.4102/sajbm.v35i4.663.The original publication is available at https://sajbm.orgVarious developments continually pressurise retailers to find new and innovative ways to differentiate themselves from competitors and adapt to ever-changing and accelerating environmental circumstances. Positioning based on customers’ in-store shopping experience (ISE) offers retailers an alternative means of differentiation and is achieved by providing a superior in-store shopping experience. The ISE instrument that has been developed to measure customers’ in store shopping experience is used in this study to compare the in-store shopping experiences of customers of two diverse retailing environments (supermarkets versus clothing retailers) by assessing its impact on customer retention. A proposition is formulated and the findings reported. The implications of ISE and customer retention for retail managers are also dealt with.https://sajbm.org/index.php/sajbm/article/view/663Publisher's versio
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
The marketing of tourism services using the internet : a resource-based view
Full text linkCITATION: Elliott, R. & Boshoff, C. 2009. The marketing of tourism services using the internet : a resource-based view. South African Journal of Business Management, 40(3):a543, doi:10.4102/sajbm.v40i3.543.The original publication is available at https://sajbm.orgTaking a resource-based view of the business, this study attempts to identify the non-technology resources driving the successful use of the Internet for marketing tourism services. If these complementary resources can be identified, they can be used to leverage the use of the Internet for marketing, which in turn will contribute to a sustainable competitive advantage for small tourism businesses. Hypotheses are developed and then tested by making use of a large-scale empirical study. The results indicate that a network of effective alliances, the existence of a product champion in the business, and appreciation by the ownermanager of the broader business implications surrounding the implementation of the Internet for marketing, are important to the successful use of the Internet for the marketing of tourism services. The study makes a contribution to the literature by identifying and measuring the drivers of Internet marketing success, as well as by establishing how resource-based theory provides a valuable approach to consideration of how these factors can be managed.https://sajbm.org/index.php/sajbm/article/view/543Publisher's versio
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