The vacation market is segmented based upon the images held by non‐residents of a tourism destination. These images were assessed via self‐administered questionnaires, returned by more than 900 survey participants. A posteriori segmentation – performed based upon similar perceptions of natural, cultural, recreational and climate amenities – identified four market segments with distinct images. The market segment expressing the most favorable image also stated the highest intent to visit; conversely, the segment expressing the least favorable image stated the lowest intent to visit. For each segment a demographic profile is established and managerial implications, both short‐term and long‐term, for targeting these segments are discussed.

Recent research illuminates the important contribution of organizational culture and market orientation to organizational effectiveness. In an attempt to increase the conceptual and empirical body of knowledge, explores the links between organizational culture, market orientation, and marketing effectiveness in the context of strategic marketing alliances. Analyzes responses to self‐administered questionnaires returned by 128 such organizations. The findings suggest that organizational culture significantly affects marketing effectiveness, although the individual dimensions of organizational culture have varying degrees of influence upon the dimensions of marketing effectiveness. Among mechanistic or non‐adaptive cultural dimensions, increased internal culture enhances an internal market effectiveness dimension, whereas increased external culture enhances an external market effectiveness dimension. This internal/external alignment is not found for the organic or adaptive cultural dimensions. This same internal/external alignment is found, however, when examining the relationship between market orientation and market effectiveness. Internal aspects of market orientation enhance an internal market effectiveness dimension, whereas increased external orientation enhances an external market effectiveness dimension. Discusses managerial implications.

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Patients' trust in their primary care physician is a critical concept for healthcare practitioners and scholars. At the clinical level, such trust buttresses patient-physician treatment relationships; at the organizational level, such trust fosters enhanced organizational effectiveness and other positive outcomes. To empirically assess various trust-related issues on both levels, we develop a comprehensive, bi-dimensional trust scale specific to patient-physician relationships. Response analysis from two samples suggests that the scale's benevolence dimension comprises understanding patients' individual experiences, expressing caring, communicating clearly and completely, building partnership and sharing power, demonstrating honesty and respect, and keeping information confidential. The scale's technical competence dimension comprises evaluating problems thoroughly, providing appropriate and effective treatment, predisposing factors, and structural and staffing factors.

The successful standardization of service quality in the telecommunication industry across multiple nations demands, as a precondition, that the countries in question expose similar service quality dimensions and that the importance of these dimensions to overall satisfaction with the service is also similar. Investigates if these conditions are met in the telephone services sector of the telecommunication industry in the USA and Germany. Confirmatory factor analysis results of various alternative dimensionalities provide the best support for a five‐dimensional conceptualization in both countries. However, the two countries differ in their respective importance evaluations of particular service quality dimensions, which make it difficult to provide a standardized service quality solution. Briefly discusses implications of these results in terms of effective service quality design and delivery for global competitiveness.