a b s t r a c tThe aim of this paper is to explore loyalty, loyalty schemes, and loyalty cards, as well as the internationalisation of loyalty schemes. We focus on loyalty schemes in Asia to define the primary objective of our study: to assess the impact of perceived benefits on the feelings of participants of a specific retailer's loyalty scheme, as well as customer loyalty towards the retailer. A literature review of loyalty schemes and loyalty cards is undertaken as well as the internationalisation of these cards. A survey was conducted in five Asian countries in which Toys'R'Us operates, namely Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Thailand. Data was collected among members of the Toys'R'Us Star Card loyalty programme. Structural equation modelling was used to build a model that can be used to explain the simultaneous structural relations between perceived benefits, emotional feelings, and loyalty behaviours. Invariance testing was applied in order to test whether the model holds across the five countries. Our findings suggest that perceived benefits have a weak direct effect on loyalty behaviours. However, perceived benefits have a much stronger effect on feelings, which in turn have a strong effect on loyalty behaviours. We also found subtle differences between the countries in the study, which could either be attributed to cultural differences, to marketing practices, or to both, which can only be ascertained through further research.
This study aimed to determine how work–nonwork interference and work–family enrichment operate simultaneously to influence the work-related outcomes job satisfaction, organisational commitment, and subjective career success. By employing South African work–family instruments, the study tested substantive hypotheses in this regard. A cross-sectional survey design among a sample of permanently employed married parents (n = 212) was utilised. Statistical analyses included confirmatory factor analyses and validity assessments. Second-order measurement models were utilised in a structural equation modelling to test various hypotheses in this regard. Results indicate that work–nonwork interference and work–family enrichment operate simultaneously and are independently significantly related to work-related outcomes (except work–nonwork interference with commitment). Work–family enrichment was positively related to job satisfaction, organisational commitment, and subjective career success, while work–nonwork interference was found to be negatively related to job satisfaction and subjective career success. The findings suggest that these concepts should not be viewed as opposites on a continuum, but rather as phenomena that act independently in the nomological net of the work–family domain. The findings also suggest that work–family enrichment contributes more to the work-related outcomes than in the case of work–nonwork interference. The implication is that, in order to obtain positive work-related outcomes, it is more important to focus on fostering positive interaction in the work–family context than trying to eliminate the conflict in this regard.
The high penetration of mobile phones amongst the South African population presents mobile phones as an attractive interactive marketing communication medium. This paper argues that the access and actual use of different phone device features can be productively used as a segmentation approach, which may enable marketers to be more effective in planning interactive marketing communication plans. This study, based on 330 students, developed segments derived from mobile phone usage patterns using cluster analysis. The outcome revealed four clusters that were named: Connectors, Conventionalists, Technoisseurs and Mobilarti. Connectors made daily use of a full range of communication functions.Conventionalists were inclined to limit their use of mobile phone features to talking and texting. Technoisseurs were found to use a whole range of sophisticated mobile phone facilities. Mobilarti were identified as a group of expert users; using the full range of functions available to them on their phones, despite recording the lowest percentage of 2 smartphone ownership when compared to the other groups. These groups were further profiled by analysing attitudinal and behavioural variables pertaining to two newly developed postmodern dimensions, which were introduced in the study as mobile importance as an attitudinal aspect, and social transformation as a behavioural outcome. For marketers, an understanding of the proposed segments, as well as the differences in attitudes towards mobile importance and social transformation behaviours, coupled with typical financial and social realities of these segments, allow targeting strategies that are more clearly actionable.
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