Purpose A holistic understanding of sources that evoke customer emotions is essential for creating a positive emotional customer experience (ECX). Despite a significant focus on the cognitive aspect of customer experience and traditional customer behaviours (e.g. loyalty and satisfaction), limited attention has been paid to ECX and co-creation behaviours. The purpose of this paper is to address this important knowledge gap by identifying different emotions and prominent sources of ECX (i.e. emotion triggers and constructors) during service interactions. By doing so, key customer co-creation behaviours are also identified, which help enhance positive customer experience. Design/methodology/approach A combined application of the appraisal theory and thematic analysis was used to explore ECX, its sources and co-creation behaviours as observed from 1,063 TripAdvisor customer reviews of luxury hotels in Ireland. Findings The results show that a single service interaction can evoke multiple emotions during the interaction process. The findings capture prominent emotions that customers experience and various important emotion triggers (physical environment, service management and offerings and human interaction) and constructors (customer expectation, accumulated service experience and culture fusion and authenticity). Three main customer co-creation behaviours (reinforcing intention, active and resourceful behaviours), which help facilitate the co-creation of positive customer emotions, are also identified. Originality/value The study proposes a new framework that provides unique insights into ECX to guide service improvement and innovation. A novel approach of applying the appraisal theory to a netnographic study is used to develop an ECX framework, which integrates various emotion triggers and constructors, and subsequent customer co-creation behaviours in the hotel industry.

Critics of marketing commonly allude to problems with its accountability and credibility. In order to address these issues, marketing professionals have been called on to demonstrate the contribution of marketing to firm performance. A better understanding of current research in marketing performance can better enable marketing managers to justify its expense. Given the foregoing, it was determined to (1) review the current status of marketing performance studies, and (2) develop a comprehensive, yet concise model to measure the performance of marketing. To begin, the main terms used in marketing performance are clarified. Then, a detailed review of marketing performance studies is provided. An integrated Model for Measuring Marketing Performance (MMMP) is then proposed. Finally, some conclusions are drawn and some directions for future research are suggested.

This policy capturing study, conducted in China, investigated the cognitive basis of managerial decisions to make a corporate charitable donation, a global issue in the context of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) research and practice. Participants (N=376) responded to a series of scenarios manipulating pressure from the five stakeholders (government, customers, competitors, employees, and shareholders) most commonly addressed by CSR research. The independent variables examined included organizational factors (industry, ownership, previous company donation, firm size, firm age and perceived CEO attitudes toward charity) and the participants' personal values. Results indicate a large positive effect of shareholder and governmental pressure on the decision with lesser positive effects from customers and competitors. Surprisingly, employee pressure had a negative effect on the decision to make a charitable donation. Further, personal values and CEO attitudes toward charity were significantly related to the decisions participants made. In line with our theorizing, the findings indicate that a combination of personal, organizational, and institutional factors are salient in the minds of decision makers.

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Purpose – The relationship between socially responsible leaders, the key driver of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices, and organizational financial performance is a salient issue in the global context for both CSR scholars and practitioners. The purpose of this paper is to provide much-needed insights into the interplay of responsible leadership, CSR practices, and organizational outcomes. Design/methodology/approach – It analyses 85 CEOs’ behaviors and their companies’ performance in a two-year database. It thereby enriches understanding of how leaders’ socially responsible decisions impact upon CSR engagement and firm performance. Findings – The results suggest that socially responsible leaders were positively related with organizational performance of return on equity (ROE). The aspects of integrity, morality, and stakeholder relationship aspects of responsible leadership are closely related to CSR. However, CSR practices were negatively related to ROA and ROE. It implies that in China CSR activities could not boost organizational performance in the short term, at least in two years. Research limitations/implications – Our research has clear limitations. First, most selected firms are renowned large corporations, state-owned, or private enterprises. Foreign-owned enterprises are excluded. Second, the evaluation of CSP is based on the content analysis of firms’ annual CSR reports. Our research has clear limitations. First, most selected firms are renowned large corporations, state-owned, or private enterprises. Foreign-owned enterprises are excluded. Second, the evaluation of CSP is based on the content analysis of firms’ annual CSR reports. Practical implications – Our research has practical implications for the business world. First, CSR practices in China shall be conducted in a strategic way. Second, responsible leadership is of significance for the Chinese MNCs that are overseas to build trustful stakeholder relations with local stakeholders. Originality/value – Based on the data analysis, this study provides in-depth discussion of CSR situation in China and its relationship with firm performance, which is one of the first studies to examine responsible leadership in Chinese context and investigate the relationship between responsible leadership and organizational performance.

ABSTRACT. Many organizations are now paying close attention in evaluating and implementing marketing strategies with the specific aim of improving customer retention. While extensive literature has focused on the link between service quality, satisfaction, and loyalty, little research has been conducted on examining these three constructs in the context of low cost airlines. Using questionnaire data collected at two European airports, the results suggest that though both the service quality and customer satisfaction have positive influence on repurchase intentions, customer satisfaction is a much stronger driver in influencing repurchase loyalty than service quality, which implies that these constructs interact in a different manner in a low cost setting.

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Purpose Driven by the growing pressure to justify the contributions of marketing activities, marketers have shown considerable interest in improving their marketing performance measurement systems (MPMSs). The purpose of this study is to examine the neglected mediating effect of marketing capabilities on the MPMS–firm performance relationship and to focus on specific aspects of MPMSs that have been largely omitted in the prior research, namely, the comprehensiveness and uses of MPMSs. Design/methodology/approach A survey was conducted with marketing and senior managers from 210 Irish-based companies. The proposed research model was tested by using the SPSS Process macro and structural equation modeling in AMOS 24. Findings The three characteristics of MPMSs influence firm performance in different manners: while the diagnostic use of MPMSs hinders the development of market-linking capability and thus negatively influences firm performance; the comprehensiveness of MPMSs positively influences firm performance through its impact on architectural marketing capability; and the interactive use of MPMSs via externally focused learning and market-linking capabilities. Research limitations/implications Although this study used objective firm performance data to validate subjective data, the use of single-informant and self-reported measures may still be a concern, as the strong relationships between variables may be because of single-informant bias. Practical implications This study provides insights into how companies can use a comprehensive MPMS to cultivate specific crucial marketing capabilities and thereby enhance firm performance. Originality/value This study contributes to the marketing performance measurement literature by proposing and empirically validating the mediating effect of marketing capabilities on the MPMS–firm performance relationship.