Search Results (11)

In digital retail, where competition intensifies and customer expectations evolve rapidly, understanding the interplay among customer experience metrics is critical for strategic decision-making. Despite widespread adoption of feedback programmes, practitioners struggle to interpret how improvements in transactional ease, experiential quality, and satisfaction propagate across the customer journey to influence retention and growth. This study addresses this gap by examining the interrelations among Customer Effort Score (CES), Customer Experience (CX), Customer Satisfaction (CSAT), Customer Loyalty Index (CLI), and Net Promoter Score (NPS) within a unified framework. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey of recent online shoppers yielded 359 valid responses; the model was estimated with PLS-SEM. All hypothesised direct paths were positive and significant, evidencing a cascade from effort through experience and satisfaction to repurchase and recommendation intentions. Mediation analyses confirmed that CES and CX affect loyalty and advocacy indirectly via CSAT. Out-of-sample prediction validated predictive relevance. The study integrates transactional and relational indicators, establishes the empirical utility of single-item measures within PLS-SEM, and advances a portfolio view of CX metrics. Managerially, effort reduction and experience enhancement emerge as high-leverage interventions: improvements cascade through satisfaction to elevate loyalty and advocacy in digital retail. Full article

This study examines Chinese hotel employees’ understanding of customer relationship management (CRM) practices, with a focus on loyalty programme behaviour (LPB). Specifically, it investigates how three factors—loyalty programme (LP) awareness, LP knowledge, and LP concerns—shape employees’ intentions to implement loyalty programme practices (LPP) in the hospitality industry. A quantitative research design was adopted to test the proposed hypotheses. Data was collected through a self-administered survey of 893 Chinese hotel employees. To evaluate the proposed hypotheses, path analysis was performed using SPSS Statistics 24 and Mplus 7.4. The findings reveal that LP awareness and LP knowledge are both positively associated with employees’ intentions to implement loyalty programme practices, whereas LP concerns showed no significant effect. Moreover, employees’ intentions were positively linked to loyalty programme behaviour and served as a mediator between awareness, knowledge, and behavioural outcomes. Theoretical insights and practical applications are also addressed. Full article

In the world of academia, there is a great mobility of talented university professors with a high level of movement among different entities. This could be a major problem, as universities must retain a minimum level of talent to support their various academic programmes. In this sense, finding out what factors could increase the loyalty of such staff can be of great interest to human resource (HR) departments and the overall administrative management of an organisation. Thus, this area, also known as People Analytics (PA), has become very powerful in human resource management to strategically address challenges in talent management. This paper examines talent commitment within the university environment, focusing on identifying key factors that influence the loyalty of professors and researchers. To achieve this, machine learning (ML) techniques are employed, as Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for dimensionality reduction and clustering techniques for individual segmentation have been employed in such tasks. This methodological approach allowed us to identify such critical factors, which we have termed Quantitative Emotional Salary (QES), enabling us to identify those factors beyond those merely related to compensation. The findings offer a novel data-driven perspective to enhance talent management strategies in academia, promoting long-term engagement and loyalty. Full article

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs) are an emerging application of blockchain technology, with the potential to transform various industries, including tourism. Despite conceptual discussions that have highlighted opportunities and challenges associated with using NFTs—such as in digital souvenirs, ticketing systems, loyalty programmes, and conservation initiatives—there is a critical gap in the literature consisting of the lack of a structured methodological framework to empirically evaluate the impact of real-world NFT implementations. This study addresses this gap by proposing a conceptual model and methodological framework designed to assess NFT projects in the tourism sector. The framework integrates diverse data collection methods, advanced analytical techniques (including econometric analysis, natural language processing, and machine learning), and a technological workbench for tracking key performance indicators (KPIs). To demonstrate its applicability, the framework is applied to the Dalmatia NFT project, an exploratory application in cultural tourism. The considered example highlights the potential of NFTs to enhance tourism experiences while addressing challenges such as scalability, sustainability, and user engagement. This study concludes with insights into the framework’s practical implications for stakeholders and outlines future research directions for empirical validation. By bridging the gap between theory and practice, this study aims to provide a robust foundation for effectively integrating NFTs into the tourism industry. Full article

Blockchain technology has been highlighted as one of the most promising technologies to emerge in the 21st century. However, the expansion of blockchain applications is progressing much more slowly than initially expected, despite its promising properties. These considerations motivate this study, which evaluates the drivers that facilitate the adoption of this technology through blockchain-based loyalty programs (BBLPs). The analytical framework used is the conceptual groundwork known as the cognitive–affective–normative model. Thus, we propose to explain the behavioural intention to use BBLPs (BEHAV) with two cognitive variables, namely perceived usefulness (USEFUL) and perceived ease of use (EASE); two affective variables, namely positive emotions (PEMO) and negative emotions (NEMO); and a normative factor, namely, the subjective norm (SNORM). A partial least squares-structural equation modelling analysis suggests that, to explain the expected response of BEHAV, only the positive relationships of the cognitive constructs with the response variable are significant. The results of the quantile regression suggest that the cognitive constructs, especially USEFUL, have a consistently significant positive influence across the entire response range of the response variable. The affective variables are significant in explaining the lower quantiles of BEHAV but not across the full response range. NEMO consistently has a significant negative influence on BEHAV in the percentiles at or below the median response. PEMO has a significantly positive influence on some of the BEHAV percentiles below the median, although this impact is not consistent across the lower quantiles of the median. The normative variable appears to have a residual influence on BEHAV, which, when significant (at the 90th quantile), is, contrary to expectations, negative. The results highlight that, while cognitive variables are essential in the acceptance of BBLPs, emotions—particularly negative ones—play an especially significant role among potential users whose level of acceptance falls below the central trend. Full article

(1) Background: Loyalty programmes are business strategies aimed at increasing customer fidelity to brands. One of the most promising technologies of the 21st century is blockchain, whose application to the management of loyalty programmes can increase transparency and reliability, enable interoperability, and facilitate centralised management. (2) Methods: This study evaluates the antecedents of the acceptance of blockchain-based loyalty programmes (BBLPs) using a model grounded in the technology acceptance model UTAUT2. The four basic constructs of UTAUT, which we call the UTAUT-baseline, are considered explanatory factors: performance expectancy (PER), effort expectancy (EFF), social influence (SOC), and facilitating conditions (FAC). Additionally, we consider the constructs introduced in UTAUT2: hedonic motivation (HED) and perceived price value (PRI), to which we add innovativeness (INN) and trust (TRU), and we refer to these as UTAUT-extended, along with the moderating variables of UTAUT and UTAUT2: gender, age, and experience. The analytical approach used is complexity theory, which aims to capture the configurations that lead to both acceptance and rejection positions regarding BBLPs. This analysis is performed via fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA). (3) Results: Eight explanatory configurations of the acceptance of BBLPs have been obtained, in which the presence of all UTAUT-baseline and UTAUT-extended constructs is a condition in at least three prime implicates. The constructs with the greatest presence as core conditions are PER, EFF, and TRU. On the other hand, nine configurations leading to the rejection of BBLPs have been identified. The absence of all UTAUT-baseline and UTAUT-extended variables is a condition in at least three configurations. The core conditions with the greatest presence in the rejection of BBLPs are the lack of FAC, HED, and PRI. (4) Practical implications: The results obtained are of great interest to business owners, as they allow for the characterisation of different profiles of people potentially engaged with BBLPs, as well as the profiles of consumers reluctant to adopt them. Full article

To understand how to strengthen employee’s loyalty programme (LP) behaviour, this research examined the connection between Chinese hotel employee’s intrinsic motivation (IM), extrinsic motivation (EM), their intention to apply loyalty programme practices (LPP) in the Chinese hotel industry and lastly the degree to which Chinese hotel employees feel that LPP are relevant to them. Data was collected from 1047 hotel employees (893 final valid responses) in China. Path analysis was employed by SPSS Statistics 24 and Mplus 7.4 to test the proposed hypotheses. The findings suggest that both extrinsic and intrinsic motivation of Chinese hotel employees were found to have a positive impact on their intentions to adopt LPP. The employee’s loyalty programme involvement mediated the above influence process. Theoretical and practical implications are also discussed. Full article

This study examines how green training can give businesses a sustainable competitive edge. Environmentally conscious strategies and operations result in lower costs, improved reputation, increased customer loyalty, and increased market opportunities driven by environmentally conscious consumers. Sustainable business conduct requires green training programmes to enhance employees’ environmental awareness. This study examines the effects of green training on sustainable business advantage using the literature and empirical analysis. This study also examines how green supply chain practices mediate this association. Green supply chain practices include environmentally friendly procurement, production, transportation, and disposal methods. Green recruitment involves selecting and hiring people who understand environmental issues and are committed to sustainability. This method integrates eco-friendly staff. A total of 583 Saudi manufacturing contract workers were studied. IBM SPSS Amos was used to analyse the data from model testing. Green training improves sustainable business advantage, according to the study. The study suggests that green supply chain practices mediate this relationship. Green training improves operational efficiency, resource use, and environmental performance. Green training can be applied to green supply chain practices, resulting in measurable and sustainable results. This study examines green training, recruitment, sustainable business advantage, and green supply chain practices to improve sustainability management understanding. These insights help organisations align their strategies with environmental sustainability, giving them a competitive edge in the 21st century’s ever-changing business environment. Full article

The aim of studying the context in which churches were built in honour of the Theotokos or dedicated to her in North Africa, as well as in the rest of the Empire, during the sixth century, is to gain a more thorough understanding of Justinian I’s political programme, the utility of unifying dogma and the religious conversion of dissident elements, such as pagans, Jews, Samaritans etc. These issues are addressed by analysing the spatial—principally architectural—and rhetorical superposition of Orthodox Christianity on the places of worship of other communities. It is held here that it is possible to demonstrate that this redefinition of space went a long way towards reinforcing the identity of provincial populations, especially in conflictive or border areas, which had to be secured within the territories that the Byzantine Empire had recently recovered so as to guarantee their political loyalty. Full article

Instead of aiming to achieve as many members as possible, it is important to focus on retaining customers, which is achieved with the support of loyalty programmes. As the tourism and hospital industries have become the fastest growing sectors in the world, hotels have realised the potential to focus on their loyal customers. A qualitative approach was adopted to explore the attractiveness of loyalty programmes to Chinese consumers and the challenges of such programmes in the hospitality industry. The aim of this paper is to identify which aspects of a loyalty programme in the hospitality industry are perceived as attractive to Chinese customers. This qualitative research highlights the perspective of industry leaders such as general managers and executives working in the club lounges of five-star hotels in Suzhou as well as loyalty programme consultants with a focus on China. The qualitative research findings are aimed at supporting hotels in China and loyalty programmes with a focus on Chinese consumers in the hospitality industry in order to receive more knowledge and to explore new strategies on how to retain and satisfy Chinese programme members. Full article

Many people implicitly sell or give away their data when using online services and participating in loyalty programmes—despite growing concerns about company’s use of private data. Our paper studies potential reasons and co-variates that contribute to resolving this apparent paradox, which has not been studied previously. We ask customers of a bakery delivery service for their consent to disclose their personal data to a third party in exchange for a monetary rebate on their past orders. We study the role of implicitly and explicitly stated prices and add new determinants such as political orientation, income proxies and membership in loyalty programmes to the analysis of privacy decision. We document large heterogeneity in privacy valuations, and that the offered monetary benefits have less predictive power for data-disclosure decisions than expected. However, we find significant predictors of such decisions, such as political orientation towards liberal democrats (FDP) and membership in loyalty programmes. We also find suggestive evidence that loyalty programmes are successful in disguising their “money for data” exchange mechanism. Full article