Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

National versus local brands

National versus local brands Purpose – The purpose of this research is to investigate differences in customer perceptions of quality between credence and experience industries. The paper expands on the implications of national versus local firms and does so within a franchise context. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a sample of 349 consumers, three core SERVQUAL dimensions (reliability, security and tangibility) were analyzed to determine customer perceptions of quality. A mixed-factorial designed was used to evaluate different scenarios of purchasing intentions, measuring the main and interactive effects of service type and criticality among franchised and local brands. Findings – Significant differences were found in customer perceptions of quality between experience- and credence-based services. A significant moderating effect of the level of criticality was shown to play an important role in customers’ perceptions. Research limitations/implications – This experimental laboratory study highlights the importance for managers to understand the differences in perceptions of customers when dealing between service types and acting under conditions of varying criticality. This holds true for both franchised and non-franchised businesses. Originality/value – This study offers one of the first investigations of customer perceptions of quality in specific industry types (i.e. credence and experience) within a franchise system. Depending on the industry type, customers have different expectations of quality. The authors offer several specific ways in which managers can use this knowledge to their advantage. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png European Journal of Marketing Emerald Publishing

National versus local brands

Download PDF
25 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/emerald-publishing/national-versus-local-brands-zCFldeRCZz
Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © Emerald Group Publishing Limited
ISSN
0309-0566
DOI
10.1108/EJM-08-2012-0452
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this research is to investigate differences in customer perceptions of quality between credence and experience industries. The paper expands on the implications of national versus local firms and does so within a franchise context. Design/methodology/approach – Based on a sample of 349 consumers, three core SERVQUAL dimensions (reliability, security and tangibility) were analyzed to determine customer perceptions of quality. A mixed-factorial designed was used to evaluate different scenarios of purchasing intentions, measuring the main and interactive effects of service type and criticality among franchised and local brands. Findings – Significant differences were found in customer perceptions of quality between experience- and credence-based services. A significant moderating effect of the level of criticality was shown to play an important role in customers’ perceptions. Research limitations/implications – This experimental laboratory study highlights the importance for managers to understand the differences in perceptions of customers when dealing between service types and acting under conditions of varying criticality. This holds true for both franchised and non-franchised businesses. Originality/value – This study offers one of the first investigations of customer perceptions of quality in specific industry types (i.e. credence and experience) within a franchise system. Depending on the industry type, customers have different expectations of quality. The authors offer several specific ways in which managers can use this knowledge to their advantage.

Journal

European Journal of Marketing – Emerald Publishing

Published: Jul 8, 2014

There are no references for this article.