PurposeThis study aims to: first, examine the effect of interaction orientation (IO) and brand orientation (BO) on marketing capabilities and small and medium enterprises' (SMEs') performance, and second, assess the complementarity effect of IO and BO on marketing capabilities and SMEs' performance.Design/methodology/approachA model was developed and tested using a survey methodology. Data were collected from 538 SMEs located in Qatar and analysed by structural equation modelling with AMOS.FindingsFirst, IO affects SMEs' performance only indirectly via marketing capabilities, whereas BO affects SMEs' performance both directly and indirectly. Second, contrary to expectations, the complementarity between IO and BO produced a destructive/suppressive effect, rather than a synergistic effect, on both marketing capabilities and SMEs' performance, reflecting the importance of a trade-off to enhance both marketing capabilities and SMEs' performance.Originality/valueTo the authors' knowledge, this is the first paper to examine the complementary effect of BO and IO on marketing capabilities and performance.

Purpose -Since Islamic markets are growing substantially, there is an urgent need to gain a better understanding of how Muslim consumers perceive products from a religious perspective. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the brain responses of Muslim consumers to Halal and non-Halal products using a functional magnetic resonance imaging ( fMRI) technology. Design/methodology/approach -The research model is a simplified version of the theory of planned behavior. The initial experiment began by asking participants to divide a set of images into two groups: Halal and non-Halal products. The fMRI experiment uses a blocked design approach to capture brain activities resulting from presenting the two groups of images to participants, and to record the strength of their attitudes toward purchasing the products. Findings -Across all participants, the level of brain activation in the ventromedial prefrontal cortex increased significantly when Halal images were presented to them. The same results emerged when the Halal images showed raw and cooked meat. The variations in the results may be due to the high emotional sensitivity of Muslim consumers to using religious products. Research limitations/implications -This study uses a unique approach to monitor brain activity to confirm that consumers from specific market segments respond differently to market products based on their internal beliefs. Findings from this study provide evidence that marketing managers targeting Muslim markets should consider the sensitivity of presenting products in ways that reflect religious principles, in order to gain higher acceptance in this market segment. Originality/value -Although the literature reports considerable research on Muslim consumers' behavior, most of the previous studies utilize conventional data collection approaches to target broad segments of consumers by using traditional products. This paper is the first to track the reactions of the Muslim consumer segment to specific types of market products.

Purpose-The role of managerial assumptions in the formulation of organizational strategies has been well recognized by previous studies, yet in marketing literature, the effect of such imperative on marketing practice choice tends to be ignored. Therefore, this paper aims to empirically investigate how management assumptions fit with the choice of marketing practices, and how such fit affects performance. Design/methodology/approach-A model is developed and tested using survey methodology, and the data are analyzed using the partial least square (PLS) approach. Findings-The results show that different marketing practices were coupled with different frames of reference, resulting in viable matching profiles. Research limitations/implications-Given the novelty of the approach adopted in this study, conclusions about association and not causation are drawn. In addition, the study is restricted to Qatar which may reduce the generalizability of its findings and conclusions. Practical implications-The findings will help managers to examine carefully the internal logic of their marketing-related profiling, where coherent variables will enhance performance. Originality/value-To one's knowledge, this paper reports a work in an area not previously researched. In addition, this study is one of the rare papers that examines unobserved heterogeneity using the PLS-structural equation modeling (SEM) in the field of marketing.

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of service failure severity on brand forgiveness and to investigate the moderating effects of interpersonal attachment styles and thinking styles on the service failure severity–brand forgiveness relationship. Design/methodology/approach The authors used retrospective experience sampling to collect the data and structural equation modeling (AMOS 24) to analyze 570 responses collected via an online survey. Findings This study shows that the service failure severity–brand forgiveness relationship is not always negative, as different conditions may amplify or weaken it. Specifically, a secure attachment style and holistic thinking weaken the negative impact of service failure severity on brand forgiveness, whereas an anxious attachment style and analytic thinking negatively amplify the relationship. An avoidance attachment style did not appear to play a role. Practical implications This study should help hotels fine-tune their segmentation, targeting and positioning efforts and may also help in implementing more focused recovery strategies. Originality/value This study provides insights into the role of psychological traits in amplifying/reducing the negative impact of service failure severity on brand forgiveness, thus showing the importance of developing the psychological profiles of customers beyond demographic profiling. The emotional and cognitive typologies of consumers are key to understanding the dependence of forgiveness on service failure severity.

Multinational Companies from Emerging Economies (EMNCs) have become key players in the global economy. EMNCs have started to operate in highly dynamic, competitive environments where they are faced with competition from multinational companies (MNCs) from developed economies. This study applied Mutlu et al.’s (2015) awareness–motivation–capability (AMC) framework to the airline industry to investigate how EMNCs outperform MNCs. The development of each round of Mutlu et al.’s framework was tested using secondary data sources that cover 16 years, from 2001 to 2016. A fourth round, relating to the determination of ‘who will be the market leader’, was added to the framework and tested. The findings demonstrate that firms’ awareness and capabilities evolve in each round to develop the competitive advantages required to enhance their market position. The complex nature of competition requires firms to analyse information constantly to define key influential factors and to build essential capabilities and resources to initiate an action strategy quickly. From a managerial perspective, it is important for managers to build a comprehensive view of the competition and understand how this competition is evolving over time, to develop capabilities, pursue new opportunities and predict competitors’ responses.