No abstract

Purpose -By outsourcing or partnering with two or more firms to perform certain activities targeted toward customers, firms are engaging in service networks. This research begins to examine how customers evaluate firms in a strategic, B2B service network and how their assessment of firms involved in co-producing after-sales service affects their evaluations of a focal selling firm. These evaluations include the key relational outcomes of brand image, satisfaction, and behavioral intentions. Design/methodology/approach -The conceptual model examines the effects of partner firm performance on customers' evaluations of a focal selling firm. Key factors such as focal brand strength and the strength of the relationship between the partner firm and the focal selling firm are proposed to influence this relationship. Findings -Post-sale business services provided directly to the customer are likely to play an important role in building a firm's brand image and equity, whether those services are provided by the firm or its partners.Research limitations/implications -The individual firm to individual customer dyad approach that currently dominates the literature does not adequately capture the complex nature of today's B2B service relationships. This research develops a conceptual model that directly addresses the way customers evaluate service when it is performed by multiple partners. Practical implications -Discovering how customers evaluate service experiences in which multiple firms co-produce the service within a B2B service network can provide firms with the guidance needed to improve the performance of the entire network and the overall service experience of network customers. Originality/value -This paper presents new theoretical developments in the area of business-to-business service networks. This research also addresses several gaps in the industrial marketing literature, particularly B2B services and branding.

Country-of-origin research has provided inconsistent findings about how the country of manufacture (COM) affects brand image evaluations. The authors examine how the COM, vertical line extension (VLE) type, and brand concept interactively affect brand image evaluations after brands introduce products in their existing product categories. The authors draw on schema congruity theory to develop a conceptual framework and confirm it using experimental methods. Results from a sample of U.S. consumers demonstrate that the COM's influence on brand image should be considered in conjunction with the type of VLE strategy and the intended conceptual meaning of a brand. Manufacturing in a country with a favorable image does not always improve brand image evaluations. Functional brands can improve their image with an upward VLE regardless of the COM; however, if these brands pursue a downward VLE, the COM has little to no effect. For prestige brands, downward VLEs result in lower postextension brand image regardless of the COM. However, a favorable COM appears to soften the negative effect of downward VLE on postextension brand image evaluations.

The authors analyze data from two cross-national studies to explore differences in organizational buyers’ normative expectations of supplier performance. These normative expectations encompass what buyers perceive as business standards or norms, regardless of product/service, supplier, or industry. The first study (four countries) pinpoints the normative expectations that help explain why managers across countries may evaluate the same supplier performance differently. The second study provides an illustrative example of these differences in a separate sample drawn from the same four countries. The inclusion of such normative expectations of supplier performance has the potential to add explanatory power to models of performance evaluation in international business-to-business relationships. The findings suggest that if differences in normative expectations of supplier performance are not taken into account, performance ratings may be distorted indicators of actual performance.

Online product reviews are an influential source of information for consumers. With pressures to have readily available reviews, businesses must determine the best strategy for obtaining them. In 2009, for the first time in 29 years, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) updated endorsement guidelines to address concerns over possible deception within online reviews. Since that time, the FTC has issued four additional statements underlining its concerns and providing additional examples of how to comply. In 2017, the first action of enforcement was made against individuals failing to adhere to these guidelines. In light of the FTC’s guidelines and pressures to have reviews, businesses must ask which type of affiliated reviewers, if any, are the most influential. As to reviewer credibility, the literature offers contradictory predictions. Through three experiments with a total of 1,077 consumers, the authors examine effects of reviewer affiliation. The findings affirm the spirit of the FTC’s updated guidelines. However, affiliation comes at a cost. Depending on the competitive context, the cost may be worth the benefits.