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Purpose Promoting customer–company identification (CCI) has become a crucial relationship marketing strategy for service firms. The purpose of this study is to examine how customers’ perceptions of service quality and corporate social responsibility (CSR) affect CCI over time. More importantly, a comparative analysis is conducted to compare the long-term effectiveness of service quality versus CSR in forming CCI. Design/methodology/approach A conceptual framework is developed and then empirically examined using latent growth curve modeling. The study data were collected from restaurant customers in Taiwan in four waves of 213 repeated measures. Findings The results of this study show that customers’ perceptions of both service quality and CSR affect CCI. Particularly, the results of this study indicate that compared with service quality, customers’ perceived CSR has a stronger effect in the promotion of CCI over time. Practical implications This study offers a new insight for service marketing practitioners who are planning and implementing strategies for enhancing CCI. The findings suggest that relationship investments are more effective over the long term when service firms shift their investment priority over time from achieving high service quality to increasing consumers’ belief in the firm’s commitment to CSR. Originality/value Though previous research has explored the various drivers of CCI, longitudinal examinations are surprisingly scarce in this context. Using latent growth curve modeling, this study examines how CCI antecedents influence changes in CCI over time. More importantly, this study reveals that CSR has a stronger long-term impact on CCI than service quality.

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The behavioral sequence of information education services industry in Taiwan: relationship bonding tactics, relationship quality and behavioral loyalty", MeasuringIf you would like to write for this, or any other Emerald publication, then please use our Emerald for Authors service information about how to choose which publication to write for and submission guidelines are available for all. Please visit www.emeraldinsight.com/authors for more information. About Emerald www.emeraldinsight.comEmerald is a global publisher linking research and practice to the benefit of society. The company manages a portfolio of more than 290 journals and over 2,350 books and book series volumes, as well as providing an extensive range of online products and additional customer resources and services.Emerald is both COUNTER 4 and TRANSFER compliant. The organization is a partner of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and also works with Portico and the LOCKSS initiative for digital archive preservation. AbstractPurpose -To compare the selling orientation (SO) versus customer orientation (CO) selling behavior of a service employee and examine the impacts of SO versus CO behavior on customer relationship quality and retention in financial services selling. Specifically, this research hypothesizes that a salesperson's SO is negatively related to relationship quality while salesperson's CO is positively related to relationship quality. Design/methodology/approach -A conceptual framework is proposed that considers customer retention as a consequence, and a service employees' SOCO behavior as an antecedent of, relationship quality. Structural equation modeling techniques are applied to data collected from customers in the two important financial services (insurance and banking) in Taiwan to test the framework. Findings -A service employee with CO approach increases relationship quality while a SO approach decreases relationship quality with customers. Furthermore, relationship quality is verified to positively affect customers' future retention. Research limitations/implications -Although the sample may be representative of the financial industry in general, it is possible that results may vary for specific service industries. Also, the fact that data were collected in Taiwan raises the question of its transferability into other cultural regions.Practical implications -The results should lead managers to consider the importance of emphasizing a CO approach when service employees are selling services. This study suggests that service employee training emphasizing CO can add additional value to a company's service offering and influence future retention of the service firms. Originality/value -This is the first study to completely compare the CO approach with SO approach in a service selling. IntroductionFor over a decade, relationship marketing has received increasing attention in both marketing theory and practice. Relationship marketing aims to establish, develop, and maintain successful relational exchanges with customers (Berry...

Purpose -The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of brand equity in handling service failure and examine the effects of brand equity on service recovery. Design/methodology/approach -A conceptual framework is proposed which includes that satisfaction, as a mediator, accounts for the relationship between service recovery attributes (distributive, procedural, and interactional justice) and post-recovery behavior (repatronage intentions and wordof-mouth behavior). More importantly, brand equity is used to serve as the moderator in the hypothesized research model. Structural equation modeling techniques are applied to data collected from a field study in Taiwan to test the framework. Findings -Results from the current field study found that strong brand equity provides an overall advantage over weak brands in increasing service recovery satisfaction and behavior intentions (repatronage intentions and word-of-mouth behavior).Research limitations/implications -The data used in this study were collected in a single metropolitan area in Taiwan. Future research might be conducted in a variety of countries. Practical implications -Service recovery strategies in responding to service failures are part of the critical task for service managers. This paper suggests that building brand equity is a means by which post-failure satisfaction and behavioral intentions may be enhanced. Originality/value -This is the first study to completely compare the high brand equity with low brand equity in the effect of service recovery.