Editorial
Article Type: Editorial From: Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, Volume 24, Issue 2
We have some great news to share and celebrate with our authors and readers. Based on our latest records for 2011, we would like to congratulate Mitchell and Imrie, whose paper “Consumer tribes: membership, consumption and building loyalty” has recorded the highest number of downloads (4,781 downloads). This is a great achievement. We would also like to take this opportunity to extend our congratulations to other top downloaded papers that have recorded high number of clicks from our researchers and readers. Overall, we have recorded a grand total of 120,054 downloads of APJML articles in 2011. This is a testament to the high caliber of papers that APJML publishes,and obviously special thanks go to the authors for choosing APJML as an outlet for their work.
This issue opens with Zhihong Gao, Na Li and Elaine A. Scorpio paper which explores the links between consumer psychology and puffery between China and the US consumers. The authors found that puffery had limited effects on brand attitude and purchase intention. In addition, marketing and strategic implications were also delineated. The second paper by Erdener Kaynak and Ali Kara examines the value changes in Cambodian society and its effect on the tourism industry. The authors also took a step to evaluate the events that have potential impact on tourism development in the country. Using a Delphi qualitative forecasting technique, the authors found that there will be more structural changes in the tourism and hospitality industry but less changes in value orientations of Cambodians. Further implications for practitioners and policy makers were also presented. The third paper by Le Nguyen Hau and Liem Viet Ngo examines the impact of relationship marketing orientation (RMO) on customer satisfaction and whether the specific RMO components affect customer satisfaction. Based on a B2B context in Vietnam, it was found that certain key components of RMO such as trust, bonding, shared value and reciprocity have positive influence on customer satisfaction while other components like communication and empathy showed no influence on customer satisfaction. It is highlighted that managers should focus on the important individual RMO components to enhance the pertinent relationships.
The next two papers focus on the booming economy of India. Arpita Khare,Anshuman Khare and Shveta Singh investigate the moderating effect of value on credit card attributes, age and gender in credit use among Indian consumers. Using a mall intercept method in six metropolitan cities in India, it was found that use and convenience are major determinants of credit card use among consumers. Based on the findings, the authors provided implications for both International and Indian banks to instill confidence and motivation to use credit cards through various means. Dheeraj Awasthy, Arindam Banerjee and Bibek Banerjee also examine the Indian consumers by examining how prior product knowledge influences the amount of information search. It was found that the relationship between prior product knowledge and information search is mediated by motivation to search. Furthermore, perceived ability to search was postulated to have strong influences on motivation to search.
The next paper by Bonaventure Boniface, Amos Gyau and Randy Stringer looked at the effect of price satisfaction on competitive performance and business success in the Malaysian dairy industry. By using partial least squares method,the study revealed that relative price; price-quality ratio and price fairness influence producers’ loyalty and improve perceived business relationship performance. The study provided deeper insights into the relationship between price satisfaction and business success in an agriculture industry. Next,Jong-Chul Oh, Sung-Joon Yoon and Byung-il Park use Kano’s (1984) model to evaluate quality attributes of e-shopping malls, and examines the relationships among e-shopping malls’ attributes, customer satisfaction, flow experience and trust. According to the results of the study, the authors have highlighted implications of strategic value for managers.
This issue closes with a paper by David H. Wong, which provides some reflections and viewpoints on e-learning strategy for the next generation of students. This paper delves into providing implications of an e-learning strategy that is increasingly employed by many higher education institutions. Wong highlighted a model of student-faculty and student-student interactions using interactive Web 2.0 technologies in e-learning and explained using literature from service-dominant logic research. This paper offers fresh new perspectives and food for thought into how value is co-created by both faculty and students. There are a number of implications drawn such as key challenges for higher education institutions. This paper serves as an introduction into growing education perspectives around the world. Furthermore, Wong is one of the Special Issue Editors for the upcoming APJML Special Issue for Higher Education in Asia that is due to be published in the second half of 2012. I am sure it will be a very valuable issue for marketing academics in the region.
Most importantly, we would like to thank the EAB and reviewers for the timely and constructive reviews, and the contributing authors for submitting their papers of consistently high quality. We sincerely value the contribution and support of fellow practitioners and researchers to which only we can build a better platform to share ideas and derive new research directions.
Ian Phau
