Suchergebnisse

With the development of Internet technology, online brand communities have increased rapidly. Through these communities, customers can interact with other customers, gain experience with products, obtain information about the products, and enhance brand loyalty. We conducted a questionnaire
with 442 online brand community members to explore the internal mechanism of how customer-to-customer interaction in online brand communities influences brand loyalty. The results were as follows: (a) Customer-tocustomer interaction in online brand communities had a positive effect on brand
loyalty, (b) both customers' pleasurable experience with the online community and their community identity mediated the relationship between customer-to-customer interaction and brand loyalty, and (c) community identity and pleasurable experience had a chain mediating effect in the relationship
between customer-tocustomer interaction and brand loyalty. Implications of the findings are discussed.

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the impact of three types of online customer-to-customer interaction qualities on customers' participation intention through customer–firm affection in online mass service contexts to address the influence of several types of intercustomer interactions.Design/methodology/approachThe data were amassed using retrospective experience sampling. The hypothesized relationships were examined utilizing structural equation modeling.FindingsThe results demonstrate that the perceived quality of the friend-interaction (e.g. [non-]verbal online interaction with friends), neighboring customer-interaction (e.g. [non-]verbal online interaction with stranger users) and the audience-interaction (crowding) has a significant impact upon customer participation intention, mediated by customer–firm affection.Research limitations/implicationsThis research was performed in the situation of online mass services (e.g. massively multiplayer online role-playing games). Future studies could extend the findings by conducting further studies across various types of services and by comparing results across different categories of mass services (e.g. hedonic vs utilitarian).Practical implicationsOnline mass service marketers should focus on facilitating all three types of online customer-to-customer interactions (i.e. friend-, neighboring customer-, and audience-interaction). For example, online game developers may need to require users to communicate and collaborate with not only friends but also stranger users to progress and succeed in online multiplayer games.Originality/valueThe current study differs from prior research by addressing the influences of not only online intercustomer interaction qualities but also customer–firm affection on customer participation intention.

Purpose
This research paper aims to examine the power of customer-to-customer (C2C) oriented self-service technology (SST) in enhancing customers' perceived C2C interaction qualities in collectively interactive service settings where C2C interactions are crucial for value co-creation.

Design/methodology/approach
The authors collected survey data within a collectively interactive service setting (massively multiplayer online role-playing games, MMORPGs) to test hypotheses. The data were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

Findings
The results reveal that C2CSST attributes (enjoyment, usefulness) significantly influence users' perceived C2C interaction qualities (friend-, neighboring customer-, audience-interaction quality).

Research limitations/implications
The current research theoretically proposes and empirically validates new relational links from C2CSST attributes (enjoyment, usefulness) to each online C2C interaction quality in a collectively interactive service setting (MMORPG). However, future studies may need to explore further antecedents of each C2C interaction quality to help enhance the understanding of the model suggested.

Practical implications
The results of this study provide important guidance for designers looking to incorporate SST into collectively interactive services. Collectively interactive service providers should promote C2CSST attributes (enjoyment, usefulness) so that the users experience better C2C interactions, which may lead to customer-firm affection and loyalty.

Originality/value
Via the study, the present paper proposes a customized subcategory of self-service technology (C2CSST) and posits that the C2CSST attributes (enjoyment, usefulness) can be key managing targets for enhancing C2C interactions. To the best of the authors' knowledge, this research is one of the first SST studies to explore the role of C2CSSTs as enablers of C2C interactions, extending the SST literature.

The increasing emphasis on understanding the antecedents and consequences of customer-to-customer (C2C) interactions is one of the essential developments of customer management in recent years. This interest is driven much by new online environments that enable customers to be connected in numerous new ways and also supply researchers' access to rich C2C data. These developments present an opportunity and a challenge for firms and researchers who need to identify the aspects of C2C research on which to focus, as well as develop research methods that take advantage of these new data. The aim here is to take a broad view of C2C interactions and their effects and to highlight areas of significant research interest in this domain. The authors look at four main areas: the different dimensions of C2C interactions; social system issues related to individuals and to online communities; C2C context issues including product, channel, relational and market characteristics; and the identification, modeling, and assessment of business outcomes of C2C interactions.

This paper discusses a pervasive yet neglected form of social interaction, that between service staff and customers. Observational and video data from two different shop settings are used to explore three aspects of service interactions. First, queues are discussed, a mundane yet massively prevalent device for managing when and how customers are served. Queues depend on customers ability to 'work the queue', to be able to see who is queuing and their place in the queue. This rests not only on the recognition of queuing behaviour, but also its production by those queuing. Second, artefacts in shop settings have not only a material role, but are resources used in interaction. The shop counter is both a surface to place goods, and a shared interactional space between customer and staff where the placement of goods has meaning for the interaction. Third, staff and customers manage their interactions using rhetorical devices, such as using three part list display can be used to show the validity of advice being given. From these observations we draw two conclusions: Behaviour in service settings has a strong moral component in that divergences from correct behaviour (such as queue skipping) are quickly sanctioned. This morality is from those in the setting, rather than an analyst's judgement, suggesting that the morality of economic markets can be studied as an endogenous feature of those markets. Second, customer service relies upon a prevalent yet powerful 'ordinary vision' - the skills of seeing, but also producing, the predictable actions that make up the order of service.

The majority of service providers have recognized the need to develop innovative services that meet sophisticated customer needs on time. Because of structural changes in the market, rising costs and shorter lifecycles of services and technologies this has become a more demanding task than ever before. Most of the existing research focuses on the development of products rather than services. However, research in service related innovation activities is highly rewarding, as the service market is about to become a dominant factor of economic development. The objective of this paper is to provide an overview of the current state of interaction research with special focus on service marketing and service purchasing processes. A short presentation of the most important theoretical results and findings from empirical studies will be given. Furthermore, we will present results from our own case study investigating the IT Service industry. In this context, we have identified three different approaches of successful interactions between service providers and potential buyers during marketing and purchasing processes with innovative results. We will describe these approaches, show their similarities and differences and as a result, provide recommendations for the service industry and potential buyers. -- service provider ; service market ; service marketing ; service purchasing