Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the current role of competition as one of the neglected aspects of museum marketing management. It also aims to discover whether museum professionals consider museums to be market immune and to find out what they think about the role of competition in creating and managing their existing and new services. Design/methodology/approach The theoretical part of the paper is based on a review of the literature from the multidisciplinary field of arts and museum marketing management. The exploratory qualitative research included 17 museum professionals and was carried out in 17 museums in one EU emerging market country. Findings Museum professionals are not aware of the competition, or they tend to ignore its existence. They consider the preservation of objects (exhibits) to be equally or even more important than providing services. However, additional services become important. Although some museum professionals try to engage visitors in the active creation of museum experience, most are still conservative in such terms. Research limitations The primary research limitations are related to intentional, convenience sample and the perspective of one employee (marketing manager or museums’ director). Originality/value Research findings provide valuable insights for both marketing academics and professionals engaged in the museum marketing management field. The contribution of the paper is also contextual as it helps to bridge the gap existing in museum marketing management research in the context of the emerging markets.

hospital healthcare service quality measurement represents an important approach for advancing healthcare systems. This paper presents preliminary results of a research on the quality of healthcare services provided by a large, public, university hospital centre in Croatia, based on the gaps model of Service Quality and the ServQuAl instrument. The importance of particular service quality dimensions was analyzed, as well as the gaps between patient perceptions and expectations of healthcare services provided by 18 departments of the university hospital centre. results revealed the gaps that exist at the level of the university hospital centre as a whole, showing the size variations in different service quality dimensions. The management of the university hospital centre should improve healthcare service quality in all dimensions by paying particular attention to the 'responsiveness' and 'tangibility', where the largest gap was identified.

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Purpose This paper aims to further enhance the understanding of elements relevant to creating affection for a country’s identity, culture and values. Design/methodology/approach An overview of theoretical contributions is followed by a description of exploratory research on the overall image of Turkey. Survey-based empirical data (a convenience sample consisting of 838 Croatian citizens) are analysed using Statistica v7; mean values and a t-test are applied. The importance-performance Analysis (IPA) is also performed. The level of the respondent’s actual knowledge of Turkey is analysed by examining the content of their associations. Findings Research findings support a proven multidimensionality of the country/destination image construct. Turkey has become an appealing tourist destination; its image consists of positive associations that point to the effectiveness of soap operas broadcast abroad and promotional investments into the creation of the country image in foreign markets. Negative perceptions are related to human rights and gender inequalities. Limitations implications The use of a convenience sample (with predominantly female respondents) places a clear constraint on generalising the findings. Consequently, the results should be treated only as indicative. Furthermore, the one-country nature of the study limits the implications to theory. Practical implications Findings that soap operas might be a valuable source for Turkey’s image formation, and as such affect subsequent consumer behaviour, provide valuable insights for tourism and international marketing professionals who are either already in business or who are planning to internationalise future activities. Originality/value The study adds to the existing knowledge suggesting that popular culture, i.e. soap operas, is an interesting dimension of country/destination image deserving of further research.

The purpose of this paper is to examine consumers’ perceptions of the parent brand and their attitudes towards the brand extensions by exploratory researching the topic in the new context of one emerging European market. Theoretical part gives a comprehensive description and analysis of the main features of the brand extension strategy. The purpose of the primary research is to explore and understand Croatian consumers’ perceptions about the global parent brand (Coca-Cola) and their attitudes towards its extensions on the Croatian market. Research results support the assumption that managers should introduce brand extension when they are sure of the position of the parent brand and its former extensions in the consumers’ mind. As such, results corroborate previous findings, showing how it is necessary to know the existing level of brand affect, brand loyalty, and brand trust since they have different impacts on consumers’ perceptions of the brand extension. The main contribution of the paper stems from the replication and extension of the previous research in the new context (in terms of the level of the market development and consumer culture). Research findings add to the existing knowledge with insights and results from the new market (Croatia), and as such might help in increasing understanding of the brand extension phenomena in the field of the strategic brand management in emerging markets.