Switching Costs

Retaining customers in a competitive-value driven era is seen as a herculean task. Retaining customers for a longer time and reaping the benefit of customer lifetime value is seen as a major business activity that has a manifold influence on profitability, customer base, share of wallet, free word of mouth besides customer suggestions and feedback. In this direction, switching costs play an important role in influencing the customer loyalty. Switching cost acts as switching barrier which forces the customer to remain with the existing company and strengthens the customer-company longevity relationship. In view of the growing importance of switching costs and its influence on customer loyalty, this paper attempts to review switching costs and customer loyalty with a view to make switching costs barrier an effective tool to maintain a loyal customer base.

This study, set in a credit card context, examines the impact of loyalty programs on share of wallet and explores the moderating role of attitudinal loyalty on this relationship. The authors are particularly interested in two characteristics of reward programs: their perceived attractiveness and perceived switching costs between loyalty programs. Their findings suggest that perceived switching costs are highly effective in driving share of wallet at low rather than high levels of attitudinal loyalty, and only when combined with an attractive reward program. The attractiveness of a reward program, on the other hand, has a positive impact on share of wallet regardless of the level of psychological attachment to the company. These findings are particularly important for service providers in markets characterized by undifferentiated product offerings and low perceived switching costs between service providers.

Business organizations are increasingly using relationship marketing as a core marketing strategy to acquire, retain and maintain the customer base. It has been affirmed that acquiring customers are six times costlier than retaining existing customers (Anabila, et al., 2012; Hasan, 2019). Accordingly, this paper empirically examines the impact of relationship marketing practices on customer loyalty. Data obtained from a sample of 733 bank customers shows that relationship marketing practices in unison have significant positive impact on customer loyalty. Social bond, followed by customization bond, structural bond and financial bond have significant impact on customer loyalty. The results of the study suggests that banks should concentrate on effective implementation of relationship marketing practices to create a loyal customer base for the continued growth of business.

ABSTRACT
Relationship marketing together with perceived switching costs are
seen as a distinguished strategic approach to customer loyalty.
Relationship marketing practices enable the firms to comprehend
and satisfy the customer needs, while the perceived switching costs
raise the bar for rivals to grab the gullible customers and helps
the firms to ensure the loyalty of low satisfied customers. In view
of this, present study aims to investigate the impact of relationship
marketing practices on customer loyalty with a mediating role of
perceived switching costs. The study utilized 736 complete ques-
tionnaires collected from the bank customers, by using one-stage
cluster sampling, to validate the measurement and structural
models through partial least-square structural equation modeling
(PLS-SEM). Results revealed that there is significant positive effect
of relationship marketing practices on customer loyalty.
Furthermore, perceived switching costs have significant positive
effect on customer loyalty. Bootstrapping approach to mediation
analysis revealed that perceived switching costs, in unison, par-
tially mediate the relationship between relationship marketing
practices and customer loyalty. The study suggests that banks
should invest more in relationship marketing practices to
strengthen the perceived switching costs to keep the customers
loyal to the organization.

The relationships between perceived fatigue and changes in sustained attention performance during early stages of working on cognitively demanding tasks remain poorly understood. In addition, concerns have been raised that self-ratings of fatigue may be biased by socially desirable response tendencies, potentially confounding the relationship between perceived fatigue and attention performance. In this study, we assessed perceived fatigue briefly before tracking changes in concentration performance, processing speed, and error rates among N = 110 tenth graders, while they completed the d2-R test of sustained attention. By statistically controlling for social desirability, we examined relationships between perceived fatigue and the initial levels and slopes of three latent growth-curves capturing changes in the d2-R test's performance measures. Individuals with higher fatigue exhibited lower concentration performance, a weaker decline in processing speed, and a higher error rate over the course of testing. Post hoc power analyses supported the robustness of our results. Implications for mental fatigue research are discussed.

Math fluency is the ability to efficiently solve known arithmetic exercises, and it is one of the building blocks for academic achievements and daily use. Math fluency is assessed by how many exercises individuals can solve correctly in a limited time, requiring switching from one exercise to another. Switching is one of the executive functions and involves flexibility and adaptation to changing circumstances. Switching is measured through switch cost, which represents the difference in performance between executing the same task sequentially and switching between tasks. The current study examines the switch cost in math fluency. Participants, students from higher academic institutions, performed a math fluency test applied by the Ben-Gurion University Math Fluency (BGU-MF) tool, which included simple arithmetic exercises of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. In Experiment 1, we examined the switch cost for each operation, and between pairs of operations, among 135 students (age 19 to 34). Results showed that the switch cost differs among different operations. Moreover, switch costs occur when alternating between complementary operations, but not between operations that rely on the same cognitive mechanisms, such as retrieval or calculation. In Experiment 2, we examined the switch cost in math fluency among 54 students (age 21 to 34) with high-vs. low-math anxiety. High math anxiety participants presented poorer performance in math fluency, as measured by accuracy rates and reaction times, and a larger switch cost. Our results fit the Attentional Control Theory (ACT) which suggests that anxiety impairs the executive functions. The effects of dominance, familiarity, difficulty, mental sets and executive functions on the switch cost in math fluency are discussed.

This paper presents a new non-cooperative approach to multilateral bargaining. We consider a demand game with the following additional ingredients: (i) There is an exogenous deadline, by which bargaining has to end; (ii) Prior to the deadline, players may sequentially change their demands as often as they like; (iii) Changing one's demand is costly, and this cost increases as the deadline gets closer. The game has a unique subgame perfect equilibrium prediction in which agreement is reached immediately and switching costs are avoided. Moreover, this equilibrium is invariant to the particular order and timing in which players make demands. This is important, as multilateral bargaining models are sometimes too sensitive to these particular details. In our context, players with higher concession costs obtain higher shares of the pie; their increased bargaining power stems from their ability to credibly commit to a demand earlier. We discuss how the setup and assumptions are a reasonable description for certain real bargaining situations.

Commitment is typically modeled by assigning to one of the players the ability to take an initial binding action. The weakness of this approach is that the fundamental question of who has the opportunity to commit cannot be addressed, as it is assumed. This paper presents a framework in which commitment power arises endogenously from the fundamentals of the model. We construct a finite dynamic game in which players are given the option to change their minds as often as they wish, but pay a switching cost if they do so. We show that for games with two players and two actions there is a unique subgame perfect equilibrium with a simple structure. This equilibrium is independent of the order and timing of moves and robust to other protocol specifications. Moreover, despite the perfect information nature of the model and the costly switches, strategic delays may arise in equilibrium. The flexibility of the model allows us to apply it to various environments. In particular, we study an entrydeterrence situation. Its equilibrium is intuitive and illustrative of how commitment power is endogenously determined.

Özet: Müşteri sadakatinin saglanmasında degiştirme maliyetinin oynadt~ı stratejik rol, gerek akadeınisyenler gerekse uygulamacılar tarafından önemli oranda kabul görmektedir. Bununla birlikte degiştirme maliyetinin hem kavramsallaştırılınasında hem de ölçümünde bir fikir birliginin bulundu~nu söylemek mümkün degildir. Bu çerçevede çalışmanın amacı, GSM sektöründe (1) de~iştirme maliyetinin farklı alt boyutlannın dahil edildigi bir model geliştirerek gilvenirli~ni ve geçerliligini ortaya koymak ve (2) müşteri sadakati, memnuniyeti, deg.iştirme maliyeti ve alt boyutlan ile güven arasındaki ilişkileri analiz etmektir. Toplam 1662 cep telefonu hattı kul1anıclsından anket yoıuyla elde edilen veriye keşifseL ve dowu1ayıcı faktör analizi uygulanması sonucu ulaşılan bulgular, değiştirme maliyeti için gelişdrilen modelin gOvenirlik ve geçerliliginin (aynşarma ve yakınsak) bulundugunu ve çalışmada incelenen de~şkenler arasında beklendigi gibi istatistiki olarak anlamlı ilişkiler oldugunu ortaya koymaktp.dıL Abshact: Both academicians and practitioners approve the strategic role of customer switching cost on ensuring customer loyalty. However, it's not possible to say that there is a consensus on neither conceptualization nor measuring customer switching costs. in this context, the airns of this studyare (J) to develop a model by using different sub-eonstructs of customer switching costs to prove this model's reliability and validity (discriminant and convergenee) and (2) to analysis relationships among customer loyalty, customer satisfaction, trust and switching costs' sub construets in GSM sector. To this end, the data were obtained from 1662 GSM users by using a questionnaire. The findings, reaehed from data by analyzing exploretory and confirmatory faetor analysis, show that the model of cuslomer switching costs is reliable and valid; and there are statistieally signiticant relations among vaıiables as expected. Bir firmanın, yoğun rekabetin bulunduğu bir sektörde sürdürülebilir rekabet avantajı elde etmesi ya da en azınrum varlığını idame ettirebilmesi, mevcut müşterilerini elinde tutabilmesi ve bunları marka ya da markalanna sadtk. kılabilmesine bağlıdır. Bir başka deyişle sadık müşteri ponföyü, bir firma için rekabet avantajı ve varlık unsurudur (Dekimpe ve diğ., 1997). Bu durum firmaları mevcut müşteri portföylerini korumaya; yani, müşteri sadakati yaratma çabalanna yönlendirmektedir (Jones ve diğ., 2002). (') Yrd. Doç. Dr.• Gebze Yüksek Teknoloji EnstitUsU İşletme Fakilltesi (..) Gebze Yüksek Teknoloji Enstitüsü SBE Doktora Tez Ö~encisi.

There is an increasing use of modern information technology (IT) in nearly all parts of business life -and inter-organizational relationships are no exemption from this. However the role of IT in relationships is not really understood so far. In this paper we analyze the role of IT in relation to customer satisfaction in business-to-business relationships. We argue that the way in which a customer is treated IT-wise will influence the way the customer is satisfied with a supplier. However, IT satisfaction is assumed to be only one part of the overall satisfaction besides other satisfaction dimensions such as product and service. An empirical study of 131 supplier-customer relationships reveals that IT satisfaction is a separate dimension of the overall satisfaction. Furthermore IT satisfaction has a positive impact on perceived relationship value and trust. The degree of IT use and supplier's IT know-how are identified as important antecedents of customer's IT satisfaction. Overall, IT satisfaction is an important influencer of inter-organizational relationships. Managerial implications and further research questions are discussed at the end of the paper.

Credit card rates have been shown to be very high and non-responsive to the changes in the costs of funds. The failure of price competition led to a shift of interests from price to non-price competition in these markets. Credit card issuers create switching costs for their customers by providing non-price benefits. These benefits are either direct benefits that depend on credit card usage or indirect benefits that arise from the convenience and quality of the general services of the issuer bank. This paper empirically investigates the nature of non-price competition in the Turkish credit card market using panel data, introducing the first study of this kind for an emerging market. As the main result, a significant and robust positive relationship between switching costs and credit card interest rates is obtained, confirming that as non-price benefits increase, banks charge higher credit card interest rates to their customers.

The example of the youth mobile phone market is used for pilot empirical testing of a model of consumers’ decision making, based on common features of consumer behaviour in mature markets of information and high technology products. Firstly, we discuss the key properties of mature high technology markets which affect market behaviour and strategies. These properties include: established customer and

Factors are explored of decision making in regard to buying and/or upgrading information products. Mature information product markets are considered. Comparing two cases - professional and final consumer information products - the decision making process is considered on the choice of product variant. We distinguish three groups of users according to their ultimate decisions to either not to upgrade the existing system, or to upgrade it with the existing provider, or to switch to another provider. Consumer decision is based on multiple characteristics of information product quality, network effects, price and switching costs, whereas producers have to compete not only with their competitors, but also with the previous versions of the own products. Based on the considered cases, differences in consumer priorities are discussed in the markets of professional versus final consumer information products.

Given the broad adoption of social commerce sites, like Facebook, Twitter, Google and LinkedIn, theorizing and comprehending the usage behavior and attitude of users towards the social commerce sites are prime in emerging consideration and deployment of those new advancements in future. One way to deal with such issues on various factors of social commerce sites adoption behavior is return to the TAM. The aim of this study is to identify underlying factors and causal relationships that affect behavioral intentions to use social commerce sites. Thus, this study established an extended TAM, integrating social influence and social capital for forecasting the adoption and usage behavior of social commerce sites. This study was applied exploratory correlation and path analyses to find the relationship among six constructs: perceived ease of use (EU), social influence (SI), social capital (SC), perceived usefulness (PU), intention to use (ITU), and actual use (AU) with a questionnaire survey of 579 social commerce site users. Study reveals that the social commerce adoption model anticipated during this research accepted all the hypotheses related to usage behavior of social commerce site users. Moreover, study provides a clear and well understanding of "who is and who is not using these sites, why and for what purposes".

The subject of this paper is of conceptual nature and its aim is to show that, besides the huge amount of books written about the subject, the concept of relationship marketing is still in the early stages of development. This paper shows that the boundaries of relationship marketing are permeable and elastic. Relationship marketing consists of a fragmented sort of different approaches, partly independent partly overlapped, inspired by different theories, with a multitude of aggregation levels and several units of analysis. The paper helps to clarify the scope of this domain and suggests a number of critical issues which remain unresolved. Is the concept of relationship marketing ubiquitous and can it be applied to any context? Are relationships alike whatever the market considered? In the following sections, some relevant theories are presented, in order to establish an investigation background for further inquiry about the legitimacy of a domain extension to B2C markets.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to analyze consumer trust during a financial crisis, studying its antecedents and consequences. The perceptions of older and younger consumers are also compared.Design/methodology/approachThe theoretical model of trust formation is tested on a random sample of 634 individuals from the three largest Spanish cities, Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia, in a period of economic crisis. Structural equation models were used to verify the global hypothesized relationships. Additionally, the total sample was divided into two groups (younger and older consumers) in order to test the moderating effect of age in the proposed relationships.FindingsIn a period of financial crisis, older consumers’ trust is protected by an emotional and experiential shield from the effects of negative news in the surrounding environment. In contrast, trust, although important, is not the core variable for the younger segment, whose preferences are the consequence of a broad range of...

 The authors wish to thank the Finnish Central Securities Depository for providing stock ownership and trading data and the Helsinki Stock Exchange for providing transactions data. We also thank several anonymous Finnish brokers who generously gave us detailed explanations of the mechanics of the Finnish brokerage business. * G.

Purpose-There are a number of assumptions inherent in relationship marketing, including claims that a relationship should be developed with all customers in all situations. This paper seeks to show that marketers should not automatically use relationship marketing techniques for all products and for all customers. Design/methodology/approach-This paper reports the results of an empirical survey of 287 consumers for five service products in which consumers were asked to assess the strength of the relationship between themselves and their supplier. Findings-Relationship strength was found to vary significantly between service products and individual customers, and the impact of duration of the relationship and the frequency of purchase on relationship strength depends greatly on the nature of the service product. It was also demonstrated that some customers want a closer relationship with service providers than other customers, and this aspect significantly affects the strength of relationship perceived by the customer. Practical implications-This paper clearly shows that the use of relationship marketing techniques for service products needs to be much more thoroughly researched to provide guidance for practitioners and marketing theorists. The complexity of the "relationship" construct in marketing is clearly shown and there is as yet no known set of "rules" that indicate when relationship marketing techniques should, or should not, be used. Originality/value-The contribution of this paper is to empirically demonstrate that not all customers want to develop relationships with all service suppliers.

Due to ERP high failure rate, Enterprise resource planning (ERP) implementation issues have been highly addressed in the literatures. Some studies have concentrated on the effect of perceived usefulness (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU) on behavioral intention (BI) based upon the theory of technology acceptance model (TAM), others focused on the critical success factors (CSF) of ERP implementation from personal or organizational perspectives. However, few studies put them together to examine the influence of PU and PEOU on BI which are key factors to ERP acceptance besides investigating the most important critical success factors of ERP implementation. This study is a specific attempt that developed a framework extending TAM model with computer self-efficacy (CSE) to examine behavioral intention to use ERP and then explored the major ERP key success factors that can turn the process of the implementation to a success in Qatari environment. Data has been collected from 40 different organizations of different business lines in Qatar out of which 321 valid responses were analyzed. Descriptive, Reliability, and correlations analyses were conducted on the sample respectively, then followed by Linear Regression Analysis that was done to validate the model's significance. PU, PEOU and CSE, indicated significant relations with the behavioural intention to use ERP systems in Qatari organizations and contributed to 56% of its variation. Then a Descriptive Analysis was conducted to rank the CSFs in order of significance from ERP end user iii perspective. The study concluded that PU, PEOU and CSE are significant factors to predict ERP implementation and adoption. Moreover, it explored the major critical success factors that brings success to implementation process in Qatari organizations, which are Top management support, followed by User training on software, and finally Project management process.

It is a fact that the competitiveness of the firms depends on its hability to create sustainable competitive advantages, being the value creation one of its fundamental pillars. This can be seen from three different perspectives: the buyer's perspective, very analyzed in marketing, the supplier's perspective, and the perspective combined buyer-seller, also called co-production approach. Although, the value co-production has received little attention, nowadays, it becomes a critical factor due to proliferation of the relationships among firms, mainly alliances and networks. Ramírez (1999) indicates that the co-production alternative implies that the customer does not simply destroy value, as traditionally considered, assuming a new role as a value creator. It is therefore, of a value generated mutually by both actors: customer and supplier. This work seeks to analyze which they are the ways that lead to the value creation in co-production, analyzing the role of the switching costs within this process.

The way in which switching costs (SC) moderate the satisfaction-repurchase behavior link is unclear. We synthesize both an amplifying and a lock-in effect to theorize the moderating effect of SC. We find evidence for an inverted u-shaped moderating effect of SC. The inverted u-shaped moderating effect varies for different SC-types. The inverted u-shaped moderating effect is stronger for positive than for negative switching costs.

The purpose of this research is to gain a better understanding of the impact of perceived service quality, corporate image, customer satisfaction, and switching costs on customer loyalty in a Vietnamese private bank. Additionally, this research aims to investigate the relationships between perceived service quality, corporate image and customer satisfaction. The data was collected from 400 respondents using SERVPERF survey instrument. The research outcomes reveal that all factors have a significant correlation with customer loyalty. The findings also show that there are relationships between perceived service quality, corporate image and customer satisfaction.

The aim of the study is to develop an empirical model for the assessment of brand switching behaviour (BSB) among newspapers subscribers. Although many studies have investigated the potential determinants of brand switching, existing literature has fallen short in studying the indirect relationships involving other antecedents. The study is analysed for a total of 675 utilisable questionnaires. Partial least square structural equation modelling was used for exploring the research model. A few studies have analysed the direct effects among the variables. The current work contributes to the emerging marketing literature by examining the direct and indirect relationships between social ties and customer loyalty and their effect on brand switching behaviour among different brands of newspaper subscribers. The results show the positive correlation between perceived quality, social ties and customer loyalty and the negative correlation among brand switching behaviour. This shows the existence of weak relationship due to strong social ties. The mediation effect was partial between social ties and brand switching behaviour.

The much awaited mobile number portability took effects in Kenya on April 1st 2011. The objective of porting was to accord consumers flexibility of shifting from one service provider to another without worrying of loosing their preferred numbers. The free movement of subscribers was expected to open a new competition front within the telephony market, with the small operators expected to benefit. However the porting process has not been so smooth. Over a year since the process started, only 47,206 subscribers have switched out of the possible twenty two million. Methodology: The study used descrptive design whereby a sample of 142 subscribers was taken. Ten factors were identified as influencing mobile number portability in kenya. These were exit barriers, cost, process,customer service, satisfaction among others.

Relationship marketing together with perceived switching costs are seen as a distinguished strategic approach to customer loyalty. Relationship marketing practices enable the firms to comprehend and satisfy the customer needs, while the perceived switching costs raise the bar for rivals to grab the gullible customers and helps the firms to ensure the loyalty of low satisfied customers. In view of this, present study aims to investigate the impact of relationship marketing practices on customer loyalty with a mediating role of perceived switching costs. The study utilized 736 complete questionnaires collected from the bank customers, by using one-stage cluster sampling, to validate the measurement and structural models through partial least-square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results revealed that there is significant positive effect of relationship marketing practices on customer loyalty. Furthermore, perceived switching costs have significant positive effect on customer loyalty. Bootstrapping approach to mediation analysis revealed that perceived switching costs, in unison, partially mediate the relationship between relationship marketing practices and customer loyalty. The study suggests that banks should invest more in relationship marketing practices to strengthen the perceived switching costs to keep the customers loyal to the organization.

Recent meta-analyses provide clear insights into how service firms can benefit from relationship marketing, whereas investigations of customers' relational benefits (1) are unclear about the absolute and relative strengths by which different relational benefit dimensions induce different customer responses and (2) have not simultaneously examined the various mediating processes (including perceived value, relationship quality, and switching costs) through which relational benefits reportedly affect customer loyalty. To consolidate extant research on the benefits of relationship marketing for customers, this meta-analysis integrates 1242 effect sizes drawn from 235 independent samples across 224 papers disseminated in the past two decades. The results reveal that all three relational benefits affect loyalty, though confidence benefits and social benefits have the strongest effects. Among the three identified mediation paths through which relational benefits influence customer loyalty, the sequential path through perceived value and relationship quality is the strongest. From a service research perspective, this study provides novel empirical generalizations; managerially, the findings suggest that a primary goal for service managers should be strengthening confidence and social benefits.

Purpose In tourism, the adoption of Information and Communication Technologies (hereinafter ICT) and variables concerning firms’ links with suppliers have been recognized as key determinants to improve companies’ competitiveness. From the perspective of efficient management of company resources, segmentation has become a key tool and is particularly significant and current in the business-to-business context. The purpose of this paper is to study the segmentation of firms in the tourist industry according to perceived ICT use and relationship value and benefits. In addition, from the management approach, the authors seek to describe the segments that enable the development of differentiated strategies aimed at consolidating relationship benefits in the long term. Design/methodology/approach Using a sample of 310 travel agencies who evaluated the relationship with their main supplier, the authors attempt to examine the utility of these variables as segmentation criteria for identifyi...

An experimental study examining the relationship between anxiety and psychomotor performance is presented. Boys practicing amateur boxing (younger juniors) within the age range of 16-17 served as subjects. Level of anxiety was determined with Spielberger's STAI. Psychomotor performance was examined by means of the SMA-3 co-ordinometer produced by Bryans Co. A relationship was found between anxiety as a personality trait and one of the indicators (skill increment) of learning efficiency of the psychomotor task. It was also found that state anxiety has a primarily negative effect on the structure of psychomotor activity at its initial stage of eye-hand coordination task learning. No relationship between anxiety and sensomotor reaction time was found, however.

Para cada negcio importante para manter uma clientela fiel a ele para ajud-lo a sobreviver no tempo. Esta situao ainda acentuada na medida em que aumenta a concorrncia e aumenta incerteza. No momento estas so duas caractersticas que so realmente desenvolvidos. Por causa da profunda crise em que estamos, e outros elementos, tais como a globalizao eo desenvolvimento de novas tecnologias e sistemas de comunicao que enfrentamos um cenrio manifesta enorme concorrncia e incerteza encontrar. , portanto, mais do que nunca necessrio conhecer em profundidade como conseguir clientes para ser leal, e desenvolver verdadeiras estratgias de fidelizao. Neste artigo, apresentamos seqencial de formao abordagem lealdade do consumidor a fim de aprofundar a compreenso do conceito. Alm disso, podemos concluir estudar o efeito combinado dos custos de comutao como um elemento que promove a continuidade com a relao. Isso d ao consumidor faz um processamento cognitivo mais informaes em suas primeiras avaliae...

Credit card rates have been shown to be very high and non-responsive to the changes in the costs of funds. The failure of price competition led to a shift of interests from price to non-price competition in these markets. Credit card issuers create switching costs for their customers by providing non-price benefits. These benefits are either direct benefits that depend on credit card usage or indirect benefits that arise from the convenience and quality of the general services of the issuer bank. This paper empirically investigates the nature of non-price competition in the Turkish credit card market using panel data, introducing the first study of this kind for an emerging market. As the main result, a significant and robust positive relationship between switching costs and credit card interest rates is obtained, confirming that as non-price benefits increase, banks charge higher credit card interest rates to their customers.

To the best of my knowledge and belief this thesis contains no material previously published by any other person except where due acknowledgment has been made. This thesis contains no material that has been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university.

Purpose-This paper aims to reexamine the commitment-trust model in the context of premium banking services. In line with Toncar and Munch, the authors seek to develop an extension to the model because of the need to encapsulate contextual variables that constrain the link between the core relationship marketing constructs of trust and commitment.

Normative data of neuropsychological tests typically take into account the effect of demographic variables like age and education on performance. However, a broad literature has shown that, after the school age, other cognitively stimulating experiences (e.g., occupational attainment and a variety of leisure-time activities) may increase and build up cognitive reserve (CR), which is positively associated with better performance in neuropsychological tests. With these premises, we investigated the predictive ability of education and a life-experience proxy of CR on a widely used cognitive screening, i.e., the Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA). Results show that including the more comprehensive life-experience CR proxy is better than considering only education in predicting expected cognitive performance. Based on the results of our analyses we provide normative data and cutoffs on 440 Italian individuals aged 50-90 years, by taking into account, for the rst time for the Italian population, a CR index, together with demographic variables and Education, in the calculation of regression-based norms. Accounting for life-experience CR proxies can improve the accuracy of normative data and allow a ner estimation of cognitive performance, which lead to a more tailored approach to patient assessment. 2005) does not tell something speci c per se, unless there is a way to interpret what this observed score may imply. There are many ways to obtain some reference scores, often called clinical cutoffs , that may help the interpretation of an observed performance (e.g., Crawford, Howell, & Garthwaite, 1998; Crawford, Garthwaite, & Porter, 2010). If the aim of the test is a classi cation of some speci c clinical condition (e.g. having a Mild Cognitive Impairment vs having Alzheimer's Disease), speci c methods, that are based on classi cation (as the Receiver Operating Characteristic, or ROC), allow to identify the optimal scores that help in classifying the belonging to one condition or to another (see Nasreddine et al., 2005). On the other side, if a cognitive test aims to identify the potential presence of speci c or general cognitive impairment, cutoff scores are typically obtained from a reference sample of healthy people often referred to as "normative data" (Borland et al., 2017;

Multi-Tier Loyalty Programs (MTLPs) have become a popular marketing instrument to develop customer-firm relationships. Within a MTLP, customers are assigned to different tiers based on their purchase behavior. In this article, we examine whether and when tiers in the MTLP are effective in influencing customer purchase behavior, specifically share of wallet (SOW). A unique business-to-business dataset of a firm in the German agricultural market from 2009 to 2017 is used for the analysis. Data is available on the customer-specific tier level in the MTLP each year. We utilize a Tobit-style panel regression model for the analysis which is inspired by the Regression Discontinuity Design approach. This study makes several important contributions. First, it examines the effect of status in MTLPs and uses causal design to quantify the hitherto intangible effect of customer tiers. Second, this study reveals important insights on how the tier levels interact with other drivers of customer-firm relationships. Third, we use an interesting dataset from a B2B market and thereby contribute to the limited existing literature on the effectiveness of loyalty programs in B2B markets. Armed with a new understanding of how customers respond to tier levels or the negative effects of tenure especially in the highest tier, academics and managers gain new perspectives of whether and how loyalty programs affect customer behavior and drive desired outcomes in the marketplace.

A four-dimension scale of loyalty that reflects Oliver's [Satisfaction, a Behavioral Perspective on the Consumer, McGraw-Hill, New York, 1997] conceptualization of a sequential loyalty chain is proposed, operationalized, and tested. Further, through both synthesizing and building on existing research into loyalty, trust, satisfaction, value, and service quality, a framework is proposed and tested that positions trust as a pivotal driver of loyalty. Data is collected and analyzed from two surveys of online customers, the first being purchasers of books and the second being a study of online flight purchasing. Analysis suggests that the hypothesized cognitive-affective-conative-action loyalty sequence is statistically most likely out of all possible variations. Although some differences emerge in the two studies, structural modeling largely supports the hypothesized framework and positions trust as central to service dynamics.

In the era of open banking, the phenomenon of bank switching will intensify. The aim of the current study is to answer the following question: is switching, or not switching banks, a result of conscious and independent decision-making? The results from primary data demonstrate that the switching group clients are more conscious than non-switching group clients. They are more likely to compare offers from different banks, visit blogs about finances, demonstrate independence in making financial decisions, and use more service providers which improves their knowledge concerning the offers. The analysis of perceptual maps shows that the switching group is differentiated by various switching costs.

Recently customer loyalty has appeared as a factor for obtaining sustainable competitive advantage. A firm, desiring to customers loyalty, should provide customer satisfaction and acquire its customers trust. On the other hand, though customer switching cost has a potential importance for loyalty, it s seen that studies about the effect of customer switching cost on loyalty have been very limited. In this context, current study s aim is to examine the customer switching costs effect on loyalty in GSM sector. For this reason, data, containing 1662 GSM users, was formed via questionnaire. Findings, obtained analyzing of data with regression analysis, shows that customer switching cost plays a significant role (moderator effect) in positive effect of both customer satisfaction and trust on loyalty

Relationship marketing together with perceived switching costs are seen as a distinguished strategic approach to customer loyalty. Relationship marketing practices enable the firms to comprehend and satisfy the customer needs, while the perceived switching costs raise the bar for rivals to grab the gullible customers and helps the firms to ensure the loyalty of low satisfied customers. In view of this, present study aims to investigate the impact of relationship marketing practices on customer loyalty with a mediating role of perceived switching costs. The study utilized 736 complete questionnaires collected from the bank customers, by using one-stage cluster sampling, to validate the measurement and structural models through partial least-square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). Results revealed that there is significant positive effect of relationship marketing practices on customer loyalty. Furthermore, perceived switching costs have significant positive effect on customer loyalty. Bootstrapping approach to mediation analysis revealed that perceived switching costs, in unison, partially mediate the relationship between relationship marketing practices and customer loyalty. The study suggests that banks should invest more in relationship marketing practices to strengthen the perceived switching costs to keep the customers loyal to the organization.

Mobile telecommunications markets across the world are characterized by a modest number of suppliers and a large number of subscribers. Nevertheless, the degree of market concentration varies from country to country. The purpose of this paper is to establish a methodological framework for measuring and analysing market concentration in the mobile telecommunications market in Serbia. The degree of market concentration is calculated using the annual data for the period 2009-2014. The research is made by applying a set of statistical-mathematical methods for measuring market concentration, comparative analysis and descriptive statistics. The analysis finds that mobile telecommunications market in Serbia is highly concentrated and that the degree of concentration exceeds the average of European Union member states. The study is useful to Serbian authorities such as Commission for the Protection of Competition and Regulatory Agency for Electronic Communications and Postal Services, provi...

Nowadays, protecting market share against rival firms is more important than ever due to the decline in market growth rate and the increase in the competition. The main requirement for protecting market share is to create loyal customers. Switching costs are one of the strategies for reaching this goal. Switching costs are important factors in terms of both banks and customers. Switching costs occur, when a customer prefers a different brand in his new purchasing decision process and they contain financial, procedural and psychological dimensions. In this study, the aim is to develop a third-order measurement model with all the dimensions. Such dimension as multi-dimensional switching costs is used to determine switching costs value of subscribers in Turkish credit card market. We also examined the existing studies in literature on switching costs with regard to credit cards. It may have been previously studied but in the literature we didn't come across any metrics for measuring the switching costs and perception costs of the customers in considering three dimensions of this structure or model. We developed a third-order measuring model and tested the third-order measurement model's validity and reliability and it was verified using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis. We used a survey of switching costs and perception costs associated with the banks and credit card users. The survey was sent to 1020 credit card users. 450 users responded to the survey. A return rate of the survey was 45%. Psychological switching costs were found to be the most important factor.

Günümüzde mü teri sadakati, firmalar n sürdürülebilir rekabet avantaj elde etmesinde önemli bir unsur olarak ön plana ç kmaktad r. Bir firman n mü teri sadakatini sa layabilmesi için ise mü teri memnuniyetini artt rmas ve mü terilerin firmaya güven duymas n sa lamas gerekmektedir. Di er yandan mü teri sadakati için çok önemli derecede öneme sahip olmas na ra men, de i tirme maliyetinin mü teri sadakatinin sa lanmas ndaki rolü konusunda yap lan çal malar n s n rl düzeyde kald görülmektedir. Bu çerçevede çal man n amac de i tirme maliyetinin GSM sektöründe mü teri sadakatinin sa lanmas ndaki rolünü ortaya koymakt r. Bu kapsamda; 1662 cep telefonu hatt abonesinden anket yoluyla elde edilen verinin regresyon analiziyle incelenmesi ile elde edilen bulgular de i tirme maliyetinin, mü teri memnuniyeti ve operatör firmaya duyulan güvenin mü teri sadakati üzerindeki pozitif etkisi üzerinde anlaml bir rol oynad n (l mla t r c etki) göstermektedir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Mü teri sadakati, güven, de i tirme maliyeti, mü teri memnuniyeti, l mla t r c de i ken, GSM sektörü.

Günümüzde mü teri sadakati, firmalar n sürdürülebilir rekabet avantaj elde etmesinde önemli bir unsur olarak ön plana ç kmaktad r. Bir firman n mü teri sadakatini sa layabilmesi için ise mü teri memnuniyetini artt rmas ve mü terilerin firmaya güven duymas n sa lamas gerekmektedir. Di er yandan mü teri sadakati için çok önemli derecede öneme sahip olmas na ra men, de i tirme maliyetinin mü teri sadakatinin sa lanmas ndaki rolü konusunda yap lan çal malar n s n rl düzeyde kald görülmektedir. Bu çerçevede çal man n amac de i tirme maliyetinin GSM sektöründe mü teri sadakatinin sa lanmas ndaki rolünü ortaya koymakt r. Bu kapsamda; 1662 cep telefonu hatt abonesinden anket yoluyla elde edilen verinin regresyon analiziyle incelenmesi ile elde edilen bulgular de i tirme maliyetinin, mü teri memnuniyeti ve operatör firmaya duyulan güvenin mü teri sadakati üzerindeki pozitif etkisi üzerinde anlaml bir rol oynad n (l mla t r c etki) göstermektedir. Anahtar Kelimeler: Mü teri sadakati, güven, de i tirme maliyeti, mü teri memnuniyeti, l mla t r c de i ken, GSM sektörü.

This article aims to understand the impact of retailer brand name substitution on consumer trust. Based on brand substitution research, this paper proposes variables that may explain consumer trust when a brand name is substituted. Thus, the emphasis is placed on the role of the country's image in customer evaluations following the substitution. The results of this research highlight three variables that can contribute to building consumer trust during a retailer brand name substitution, namely (1) information about the change; (2) perceived quality of service place; (3) the similarity between the new and the initial brands. They also showed that the country's image (Qatar) has a moderating effect on the relationship between trust and its determinants. This paper helps practitioners to identify the key success determinants that can easily transfer consumer trust from the old retailer brand to the new one. It reveals guidance for successful retailer brand name substitution.

Along with the rapid development of information technology, cloud computing has brought many benefits to users in handling work via the internet, especially in the field of accounting. However, Vietnamese enterprises are still at early stage of cloud computing accounting implementation. The purpose of this study was to apply the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in the applications of cloud computing technology in accounting in Vietnamese enterprises. Data was collected through a Structured questionnaire from 112 accountants and managers in Vietnamese enterprises through purposive method. After collecting, the data is synthesized by excel file, processed by SPSS 20 software with descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis. The research model was established with 4 factors effecting the intention to use cloud-based accounting software: (1) Perceived usefulness, (2) Perceived ease of use, (3) Perceived convenience, (4) Perceived safety and privacy. The result indicates that perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use had positive impacts on the enterprises' intentions to use cloud-based accounting software. Additionally, the study found a positive relationship between perceived convenience and perceived ease of use on perceived usefulness; perceived convenience also had a positive impact on perceived ease of use. However, perceived safety and privacy did not significantly affect the intention of cloud-based accounting software use.

The presence of switching costs and persistent patient preferences generates demand inertia and links current and future choices of hospital. Using a model of hospital competition with demand inertia, we investigate the effect of patient expectations (whether and how patients anticipate the future) on quality provision. We consider three types of expectations. Myopic patients choose a hospital based on current variables alone, forward-looking but naïve patients take the future into account but assume that quality remains constant, and forward-looking and rational patients foresee the evolution of quality. We rank equilibrium quality provision and show that it is higher under naïve than myopic expectations, while equilibrium quality under rational expectations may be highest or lowest. This result also holds for patient welfare, suggesting that rationality does not always benefit patients. We also show that only under rational expectations may quality be lower than in a market without inertia and switching cost reductions beneficial.

We analyse the institution of information sharing in a model of repeated banking competition. In the presence of switching costs we find that information sharing renders poaching more profitable in future rounds of competition, since the poaching activities can be targeted to creditworthy borrowers. Thus borrower poaching may occur even when it would not be profitable without information sharing. At the same time information sharing reduces relationship benefits, and competition for initial market shares is weakened. Overall we find that information sharing enhances equilibrium profits weakly in general and strictly in the presence of switching cost.